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Bush living!


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Guest Guest26012

The bush fires in NSW have got me thinking? Ok, we live in suburbia, near the beach, nice for us. Have a friend that lives deep in the bush on a 5ish acre property. It's awesome. The house has a wrap around verandah and they have animals galore. Love it! Used to think I could live there? Don't think I could anymore? The bush fire risks for them are enormous. Could you? Or do you?

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Guest The Pom Queen

We are surrounded by rainforest, never ever thought we would have fires here. Thankfully the trees hold water so they were no where near those of NSW or Vic.

No it wouldn't stop me moving more remote either. Love the isolation.

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Yes , I moved from the UK to 27acres in rural WA ... my son has removed a lot of mature trees from around the property planted by the previous owner ... he / we do all we can to make it as safe as possible ... absolutely love it here ... just the sound of the birds ... and glorious views ...

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Yes I do well very close to the bush 100 metres or so, we have been in the same position as NSW but not on the same level of course, 71 houses lost and no lives lost (Thank God), but my parents and 3 friends lost their homes and for them to rebuild and move on was nothing we can understand, just be there and love and support, would any of them move, not in a million years, because the support from the community at large was unbelievable although we are classed at the worst areas in Perth (well close to it one of the worst), we were only in our home 3 months when the fire happened we were very lucky, but no one has any idea what it cost people to rebuild, as you can imagine most of the houses are on blocks that are low level or high level sothe cost of retaining came in at upto $100,000 at least for a lot of people because things have changed a lot since houses were built in the 70's and 80''s, which meant a lot of people were uninsured if that makes sense, the fires were caused by a silly accident and the man that made that accident has had a terrible time since, people have now made a civil action against him which my parent and friends want nothing to do with. That man has to live with his accident forever that is enough in our minds.

I hope and pray that the people of NSW will be okay and enough had insurance and the person who died RIP, but would I stay to save my home NO, my parents left and didn't realise as they walked out the front door the back roof of the house was already on Fire, I live 250 from my parents and before I had even left my home theirs was already gone!!!, We have only recently discovered which you usually don't appreciate when it's right in front of you, that we have at our doorstep what everyone drives to MR for except the beaches and wineries for, if people love where they live I don't know if this would change theirs minds, yes they maybe more cautious and make sure their land is clear from trees near the house xxx

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Good one Mrs MC thumbs.gif

 

My place backs onto a National Park and we have cleared a strip of land to help keep any fire threat down.

Almost every day, we have to clear away dead leaves, a few fallen dead branches etc and put these items in a few piles. The rural fire chappies come along supposedly every 2 years during the cooler months to burn off these piles.

 

30 metres from my back boundary.

 

1782011004_zps531b3680.jpg

 

Cheers, Bobj.

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No, I definitely chose not to live among the gum trees, we looked at Mount Eliza but hilly and too many gums. I have gums in the garden but even though there is no area that cannot be affected on the fringe by bush fire, I feel I have minimised the risk.

 

A few years ago we took out a large leylandii hedge mainly because of the dryness underneath and they burn like b...............y.

 

I can get all the nice views etc without living in the bush.

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No, I definitely chose not to live among the gum trees, we looked at Mount Eliza but hilly and too many gums. I have gums in the garden but even though there is no area that cannot be affected on the fringe by bush fire, I feel I have minimised the risk.

 

A few years ago we took out a large leylandii hedge mainly because of the dryness underneath and they burn like b...............y.

I can get all the nice views etc without living in the bush.

 

Quite understand that, Petals. even though I do like them and their distinctive aroma when squeezed between fingers.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

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Guest Guest26012
Good one Mrs MC thumbs.gif

 

My place backs onto a National Park and we have cleared a strip of land to help keep any fire threat down.

Almost every day, we have to clear away dead leaves, a few fallen dead branches etc and put these items in a few piles. The rural fire chappies come along supposedly every 2 years during the cooler months to burn off these piles.

 

30 metres from my back boundary.

 

1782011004_zps531b3680.jpg

Cheers, Bobj.

 

 

Wow Bob! Scary!

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Yes, I do...even though I am less than 6 km from the Hobart CBD.

Each summer I worry about the fire risk - January and February are our problem months - but the alternative of moving to "safe" surburbia surrounded by houses on all sides, fills me with dread. From time to time I lust after other houses...but they are all in fire risk areas also! :rolleyes:

 

Once upon a time when there were two of us and we were younger, we were all prepared to defend the house.

Now there's only me it will be a matter of 4 cat carriers, 4 cats, the computer back up drive...and we're off!

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Our house is in a bush fire prone area, and it is something that we considered very carefully before we bought it. However, the pro's for us of living in this beautiful area which does back on to national park, far outweigh the risks. We are still in a suburban area, with good road links etc, but we are right on the fringe, if that makes sense. I wouldn't want to live in a more built up area, in the UK we lived right out in the countryside, and didn't want to live in too busy an area here. In August the RFS came and back burned the bush behind our house, so hopefully if the worst happens, that may afford us some protection.

 

Bushfire2.jpg

Bushfire1.jpg

Bushfire1.jpg

Bushfire2.jpg

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I could but it wouldn't be my choice. My son and his family live in the bush (dirt road quality isolated bush) and having seen the aftermath of the Canberra and Vic fires in person I am scared witless for him but I guess in his position I'd probably be as scared/aware as he is. It isn't the risk of fire that stopped us moving to the bush (my husband's plan for retirement) but the isolation from services as we grow old. It'd be a whole lot better if the Greenies hadn't hamstrung the forest management and home builders, so much so that the expertise is disappearing.

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I do and I have all my life. I could never live in suburbia, I need to be near nature.

 

I was in the thick of the Ash Wednesday fires as a 1 year old. Our house survived despite most of the area getting practically wiped out. If you come to the same area now you would never know there has ever been a bushfire. Lush vegetation, green farmland and some of the grandest gardens in the country.t

 

Bushfires are a constant threat in summer but you learn to deal with them. The vast majority of the time you don't get anything too serious. It's getting worse with climate change but even so, most years only see relatively minor fires. It's only the occasional year you get the catastrophic fires like we are seeing in NSW atm and Black Saturday in 2009, Ash Wednesday 1982 etc.

 

The benefits of living out in the forested areas with all the wildlife, flora and fauna and peace and beauty far outweighs the risks of fires to be honest.

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We are surrounded by rainforest, never ever thought we would have fires here. Thankfully the trees hold water so they were no where near those of NSW or Vic.

No it wouldn't stop me moving more remote either. Love the isolation.

 

I was up around Cairns in August and it was pretty dry around there and there appeared to be a lot of burnt out vegetation around the place, I'm not sure if they were wildfires or fuel reduction burning. I can imagine it's a very different story in January though.

 

A lot of the most bushfire prone areas in NSW and VIC are actually wet forest with tree ferns and mountain ash and pockets of temperate rainforest with soft leaved species. The main problem is when it dries out in summer and you get the searing winds from the desert about 2000km away (which only happens on the odd day). The eucalypts are full of highly flammable oils, similar to pine oil that combust very readily. There aren't that many eucalypts up in the north eastern tropics which reduces the risk of fires.

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as the Pom Queen knows, we are up in the picturesque Dandenong ranges.

 

We didn't live in Oz at the time, but the ember attack from the Ash Wednesday fires fell on the town 10/15km's further away, during black Saturday we sat up till 1-2pm every night listening to the emergency radio for the latest info. we could see the fires glowing over the hill behind us.

 

Would I give up what I have. No way.

 

You need to have lived here to understand why people choose to live in these sort of areas.

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I love the Australian bush. It had far more appeal to me than beaches (although I love them too). It was the main reason I chose to come to Aus.

My house backs onto a bush reserve and I felt a little nervous the other night when smoke was billowing everywhere. However, I'm not in a rural bushy area so the risks aren't nearly as great.

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My parents live on the edge of a national forest.

 

Each fire season mum packs the caravan with clothes and her photo albums and dad drags it into a storage area in the closest large town.

 

Their fire plan is therefore very simple. On a catastrophic risk day, they load the horses into the horse float, chuck the dog and cat into the back and drive down to us.

 

If it gets so bad that we have to evacuate as well, we plan on going down to Frankston beach and watch the whole state burn from the safety of some blow up boats out in the bay.

 

The houses are insured. Grab the hard disk with the photos and get out. It's not worth anyone's life to save possessions; its not like you can take them with you in the end anyway.

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