No Plan Dan: Time for a Barbie?

Just in time for the summer holidays, No Plan Dan shows just what can happen when a barbeque goes terribly wrong.

Play it safe this summer, and always check if a Total Fire Ban is in force. Read about Total Fire Bans on the NSW Rural Fire Service website.

Phone Trees



http://artofeloquence.com/cpp/

Community members sometimes ask the Rural Fire Service about using phone trees as a way to spread warnings about bush fires.

Phone trees usually work best when the community has full ownership and takes responsibility for the set up and ongoing management of the phone tree. Phone trees can be a good way to increase community connectivity and resilience but should never be relied on as the only source of information.

Mount Hunter Bush Fire Survival Awareness Program

Ryan Clarkstone from Mount Hunter Rural Fire Brigade shares their Bush Fire Survival Awareness Program and describes what worked, what they would change and how the community has responded.



Participants in the Mt Hunter workshop learn how to put out spot fires



High Risk Roads: A Cudgegong District approach

We interviewed Jayne Leary (District Services Officer, Cudgegong District) about a recent workshop tailored to a community living on a high risk road. Subscribe to Engagement Matters before the October edition is released, to learn more about Jayne's other community engagement programs.

New Public Awareness Campaign: Planning to Make a Plan is Not a Plan

Since 2009, the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has been running the 'Prepare. Act. Survive.' public awareness campaign, with the aim to increase community awareness about the risk of bush fires; knowing the Fire Danger Ratings and having a Bush Fire Survival Plan. After measurable success, this three-year campaign has since concluded, with a brand new campaign being launched.

Bush Fire Danger Period – it’s here!

Since 2009, the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has been running the 'Prepare. Act. Survive.' public awareness campaign, with the aim to increase community awareness about the risk of bush fires; knowing the Fire Danger Ratings and having a Bush Fire Survival Plan. After measurable success, this three-year campaign has since concluded, with a brand new campaign being launched.

On 16th October 2012 the Police and Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher formally launched the new NSW RFS public awareness campaign, reminding the public of the need for a completed Bush Fire Survival Plan.

Open Day vs 'Closed Day'

Open Day kits have gone out and we know you are in the last stages of preparation. Exciting!

Below are 6 tips to help you to create an ‘open’ and engaging event (as opposed to a ‘closed’ event that feels like a one-sided information day).

Can you read this?

Did you know that according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics almost half of Australians aged between 15 and 74 years have literacy skills below the minimum level required to understand and use information and fill out forms?

In Australia, literacy levels are likely to decrease with age, and levels of literacy are lower in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities. People can also have other conditions or a disability that impacts their ability to read.

People with low literacy can often only read short pieces of text and understand one specific piece of information at a time. If text isn't written in clear language and presented in a simple layout, they may have trouble understanding it.



Would a person with limited English
skills be able to understand our factsheets
if they received it in the mail?



Think about the way we share information about bush fires with the community. Some of our methods include:

• websites and social media
• factsheets and brochures
• posters and signs
• events such as the NSW Rural Fire Service Open Day
• community and street meetings
• doorknocks
• property assessments
• working with community or FireWise groups.

Review this list and think about how someone would learn about bush fires through each method if they couldn't read, or could only read at a basic level. Do we use simple English, or have we used jargon and complex words that someone with only a basic understanding of English might not understand?



People with low levels of literacy may be unwilling to admit it because they are embarrassed. Often when given information they will take it and indicate they understand and are able to use the resources. Because they rely on receiving information by word-of-mouth, much of the information they receive is secondhand and less reliable. This means they may not be prepared for a bush fire.



Look for clues that people may not be able to read. They may express frustration when asked to fill out a plan or an evaluation form. Things that you could listen for might include:

• “I’ll sign us all in”
• “I left my glasses at home”
• “I need to take the comment sheet home and think about it then I’ll mail it back”
• “I want to tell you what I think”
• “Tell me how this will affect me”.

Printed information is really important but we do need to be aware of its limitations. By including photos, diagrams, graphics and videos, we can explain our message to people that may have difficulty reading. For people that can read to a basic level, the pictures and diagrams will help them understand more of the message we are trying to share. Use simple English where possible. If you are using a complex word or phrase, explain what it means the first time you use it.



Use photos, graphics and video to demonstrate key messages



Whether someone can read or not, the best and most effective way to communicate is face-to-face, and you can use radio or audio recordings as well. People may find it easier to listen than to read, so using audio resources is another option we should always consider.

This display at the Hawkesbury Show incorporates text, video, photos and diagrams to share information

Be considerate with the amount of written information you hand out. Too much can be daunting or end up in a pile that people 'intend' to read.

Don't forget: illiteracy is not an intellectual disability. A person may be illiterate because they didn't have access to education, or English may be their second language. Make an effort to know your audience, as you may find out that you need to be more creative in how you share your information with the community. 

Commissioner interviewed about community engagement

We are sharing interviews on community engagement with key people in the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) on the Building Community Resilience blog.


 

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM



 This interview is with NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM.

1. Why does the NSW RFS do community engagement?

The Rural Fire Service is in the business of community engagement because it is a key part of the fire management package.

'You can’t have a well informed and a well serviced community if you don’t engage meaningfully in educating that community."

More importantly we should be engaging them in doing their part to help improve their personal safety, as well as the safety of the community, the RFS and other Emergency Service agencies.

2. Did the Victorian fires change our approach to working with communities? If yes, how?

Nationally we certainly learnt from that tragedy. We came together in a very, very short time period and realised the need for more concise, more simplified, and more consistent language to alert people to their vulnerability and to make sure at risk communities understand they have a key role in managing fire.

It has certainly strengthened our approach in many areas. There have been changes to the way we communicate public information during fire events. We have also started to prepare local community protection plans where we profile local communities and seek to tailor solutions or treatments that will work best for them.

There is no doubt that the Victorian experience has seen us take a more proactive approach to community engagement and initiatives like Neighbourhood Safer Places and Community Protection Plans. We have ‘one stop shop’ information in our customer service centres to assist Districts and community members and we have improved accessibility to online tools. These tools will help people to understand their level of exposure and the sort of things they should be doing to prepare for and better protect themselves from fire.

Before the Victorian fires NSW was doing very well when it came to development control, planning assessments and building in bush fire prone areas. Our integrated fire fighting and state emergency management arrangements made everyone’s responsibilities very clear. The enormity of the Victorian tragedy mandated that we all needed to do more – and we have.


3. How could members encourage their brigades to get involved in community engagement activities?

I see some wonderful community engagement programs at brigade level across NSW and I think we need to continue to market and promote the positive results and the initiatives being done by individual brigades. Increasingly at the Annual General Meeting there are individuals, or a number of individuals, identified and voted in as Community Engagement Coordinators for their areas and it is being recognised as an important role in local brigades.

Depending on your brigade and your classification as a brigade your community engagement activity will vary considerably. What occurs in a village type brigade or a remote rural brigade will obviously be somewhat different because of the population or geography. Leveraging off each other, seeing what other people are doing, seeing what other brigades are doing, accessing some of the community engagement resources and better understanding what sort of things you can do as a brigade is really important.



There are many roles for Brigade members (Penrose Brigade)

 "We are being very deliberate in looking at our flexible membership model. We need to have more recognition of the importance of non traditional fire fighting roles. Having a well informed and a well prepared community is equally important to fire fighting. Recognising the equality, importance and value of community engagement at an organisational level is really important."

4. How can we encourage our members to share their good stories?

We have members across the state that are doing wonderful things everyday but they don’t gloat about them, they don’t put their hands up and say we have a wonderful thing going on, they just do it.

We usually rely on District Managers and other senior people of the District to say, “hey there’s a good thing happening in our area”, simply because a lot of community engagement people aren’t inclined to promote what they do. They may regard it as everyday business whereas someone else may see it as worth talking about. The community engagement forums are effective in sharing and exchanging ideas with other community engagement people, but how much of that goes out to the broader organisation is unknown.

It’s the same for any of our focus areas, for example our aviation people know what’s new and happening in the Aviation business, but I suspect there are many in the organisation that wouldn’t have a clue. We should be targeting this wider audience as well.

We are looking at a new newsletter that will introduce new and wonderful things going on across the State. There will be news snippets and if people want to read more about a particular note, they will be able to click onto a hyperlink and read a more detailed story about what the brigade or member is doing.


5. What is your opinion on people that want to join a brigade and don’t want to qualify for Basic Fire-fighter (BF), but would like to undertake a support role?

"I have been outspoken about this for a long time now and I think it is critical to our future. We need to advertise and promote the Flexible Membership Model, which values and recognises so many other roles in our organisation other than fire fighting."

The classic example I would use is from a Brigade close to home about 5-6 years ago. Every time there was a bad fire weather day, the local brigade was relied upon to send crews up to the top of the fire tower. They kept a visual out for smoke and then radioed reports back as an early detection system. The local Captain there at the time questioned why he was sending crews up the tower on bad fire days when in fact he needed fire fighters on the truck in case a fire started.

The Brigade put a little note in the local community newsletter, asking residents if they would like to play an important role in the RFS. They asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to assist their community and the RFS but didn’t want to get involved with actual fire fighting. They just needed to undertake some basic fire awareness training and not be afraid of heights, do some training in map reading, radios, etc.

The Brigade was inundated with people that wanted to do something different. There were retired members who had stopped fire fighting and people who have always wanted to get involved but were fearful of the fire fighting. They came on board and did their training courses on map reading and how to use a radio, some basic fire knowledge (wind effect on smoke, etc). They became a Tower Brigade and the tower is staffed regularly every time there is a TOBAN or a bad weather day and it all comes without having to compromise the fire fighting workforce.

I am a big supporter for making sure we continue to diversify roles and recognise diversification of roles and functions in this organisation. There is an old adage in the military that says something like “for every person out in the field holding the rifle, there are three to five other people doing really important roles to make sure that soldier is serviced, protected and looked after”. We are no different and we have an army of people that need to come together, whether it’s catering, community engagement, communications, fire protection, mitigation or technologies, and I am a very big supporter of it.


6. Do you think brigades would benefit from having community engagement training in areas such as our key messages and products such as Neighbourhood Safer Places?

I think it’s critically important. It should be done as part of brigade training and brigade familiarisation. Also at certain times of the year we could update everybody on the key messages and send some posters or fact sheets out to the stations to hang on the walls, carry in their pockets, as well as having them all available on MyRFS. Then everyone has a quick reference point.

I remember very vividly one of the skits at a previous Community Engagement Conference at Newcastle where they did role plays. Members in the role play weren’t quite aware of what the messages were and the poor community member was trying to get from fire fighters what the message meant. If our fire fighters don’t have knowledge and make it up, dismiss or belittle the information, then the whole thing is lost and we lose a good opportunity to help make people safer.


7. Are there any groups in the community that are a priority to engage with?

It is obviously a priority to engage with those that live, work or travel in bush fire prone areas, but particularly we need to look at our vulnerable community members. We need to look at what options are available to them and what treatments can be delivered. I think we will benefit from the new work we are doing on Community Protection Plans. They will enable us to take a more detailed look at our communities and work more closely with them. Part of the benefits of delivering Community Protection Plans is working with Brigades and community members to identify their risks and what treatments are available, and what individuals can do on their property or when working as a collective with neighbours.



Workshopping Community Protection Plans at the 2012 ACE&FA Conference

 We have just been through the two wettest successive years on record in NSW. With all that moisture, which is very widespread, we have an abundance of grassland growth the likes of which we have not seen for 30-40 years. In some areas that 30-40 years difference is a generational change and you’re dealing with people that will have very limited experience of fire in their area. For the last 20 years with extraordinary, protracted drought situations the risk has been moderated significantly by the absence of fuel on the ground. We have to take a good look at grassland communities.

8. How do you think a history of doing community engagement with a community helps with other fire fighting and brigade activities?

There is a multi faceted benefit to the local brigade. Firstly the local Brigade can build trust and familiarity with members of the community. There is also a reciprocated awareness for Brigades of knowing who in the community is doing what and how engaged and capable they are. From this they will know how prepared a particular community and individuals or groups therein, actually are.

"I’ve also seen brigade community engagement activities or programs that have inspired the community to join their local brigade, become active in their local brigade or to become good fire fighters in their local brigade. This also brings community members together. Neighbours are introduced to each other, collaborate on different things, and work with the brigade to deliver shared treatment regimes to protect the community, not necessarily just for individuals."

At the end of the day our brigades are a key part of their local community.

9. Is there any message you would like to give to our members passionate about community engagement?

I would like to commend community engagement people and their colleagues in all other streams of the RFS business, who have been at it for a long time. Years ago we started out with community education and engagement at such a rudimentary level, but the transformation in approach, the transformation in techniques, materials and messages has all been quite extraordinary. There is no doubt that when you see well informed, well prepared and well engaged communities impacted by fire matched with a good fire fighting effort you get really good results in that local community.

I think our community engagement members ought to be very proud of the role they play in the RFS and in making a difference in the communities across NSW. Our community engagement conference is so well regarded it is one of the most popular programs attended not just by people from NSW but from colleagues across Australia and beyond. I think that speaks volumes. My simple message would be a big congrats and keep up the good work because there is still a lot to be done.

Celeste Geer Keynote RFSfireup2012

Listening to Celeste Geer, Director of 'Then the Wind Changed' & a Strethewan resident "why would you expose yourself to bush fire if you had a chance not too?"

'It can be totally crushing when a fire is that extreme you cannot do anything but have people dying' Celeste Geer, Strathewan resident

 RFSfireup2012

Community engagement program winners RFSfireup2012

Four of our Community Engagement Programmes received awards. HUGE congrats Otford, Wollombi, Kenthurst and Canyonleigh Brigades! RFSfireup2012

Taken from Engagement Matters (an e-newsletter for members of the NSW RFS)

Good news stories: Award winners

This year we introduced the Community Engagement Program Awards, which were awarded at our conference. We would like to congratulate and thank the following brigades for the quality of work they are doing in their communities:

· Kenthurst RFB
· Canyonleigh RFB
· Wollombi RFB
· Otford RFB.

These brigades were found to be running programs that were considered outstanding against the selection criteria below.

· Evaluation and continuous improvement as part of their programme.
· Actively sought to share their programme with other brigades.
· Delivered the programme over several years.
· Worked to involve brigade members and their skills in their programme.

Kenthurst Rural Fire Brigade’s ‘Community Inclusion Programme’ encouraged the community to take responsibility for their own preparedness. A letter box drop is used to promote workshops that run through fire behaviour, preparing your property and Bush Fire Survival Plan, and includes a site visit to look at a prepared home and run through how to use pumps and hoses. This program includes live demonstrations so that participants can experience what radiant heat feels like, and practice techniques to put out fires. The Brigade prepared a DVD and has visited other brigades to share the program.

Canyonleigh Rural Fire Brigade's ‘Women’s Bush Fire Awareness Program’ encourages all brigade members to contribute and has now been running successfully for a few years. Workshops run through fire behaviour, preparing yourself and your property, hands on skills training and property assessments in the following months.

The workshops are effective because of their hands-on nature. Women are expected to complete activities under stress created by loud noises, time pressure, heat and darkness, giving them a taste for what it will be like to make a decision when there is a fire. This multi-award winning transfers skills to the community, with an emphasis on warmth, welcome and follow-up with participants.

Wollombi Rural Fire Brigade’s ‘Community Preparedness Program’ consists of workshops (including one for women only) followed up by a Firewise cafe, where people are introduced to the risks of bush fire,the importance of preparing a Bush Fire Survival Plan and factors they need to consider when deciding whether to Leave Early or Stay and Defend. Follow-up surveys have found that 94% of attendees completed a Bush Fire Survival Plan or felt they had sufficient knowledge to complete one following the workshop. A core feature is robust planning and adaptation to local needs. The brigade strongly supports shared learnings and the program contains a strong element of evaluation.

Otford Rural Fire Brigade’s ‘Urban Interface Program’ is cleverly marketed as pre-incident planning. The program includes bowling hoses, intelligence gathering and community engagement all rolled into one. All brigade members are involved and improves their knowledge of property access and defendability. This is an ongoing program for the Otford Brigade who plan to visit the majority of properties in the area. Residents are encouraged to take responsibility for their own property, complete a Bush Fire Survival Plan and ensure their property has suitable access. The program has been shared with other brigades and improves brigade familiarisation with the area.

Agenda and conference networking tips

We are pleased to announce the agenda for the 2012 Australian Community Engagement & Fire Awareness Conference (31 May – 2 June 2012, Novotel Northbeach, North Wollongong).
Click here (http://bit.ly/hdXIs8) to download the agenda. It is not necessary to print a copy of the agenda as it is in the printed handbook (program) that each conference delegate receives.

You will see we have increased the number of workshop sessions and speakers. We suggest you spread members of your brigade or organisation across a number of these sessions in order to get the most out of the conference.

New this year is the ‘Meeting Hub’. It is a space to take a break, have a cuppa, and use those networking skills. Look at the map at the back of the agenda to see the location of the Meeting Hub.

Anton Arathoon (North Rocks Rural Fire Brigade) is a member of our Conference Working Party. We recently discussed networking and he has shared two tips below:

• Don’t be shy - If you’ve ever wanted to meet someone specific, go over and introduce yourself. What better place and time than at a conference you’re both attending?

• Be a good listener – When you talk to people about a particular topic, you’ll be surprised at what you learn. This recognises that you don’t hold all the answers.

I found this great blogpost when searching for networking tips. It’s called ‘How to Network: 12 Tips for Shy People’, mentions networking at conferences and contains tips on how to build your skills and confidence - http://bit.ly/MRvHE6.

Do you have any other networking tips to share?

Don’t forget – If you are on Twitter we have a conference hashtag of #RFSfireup2012.


See you soon!


Community Engagement Team

NSW Rural Fire Service

Quote from the NSW Minister for Emergency Services at the Building Resilient Community Summit 'You can't have a responder on every street but you can have a response on every street.'

Assistant Commissioner interviewed about community engagement

This month on the Building Community Resilience blog we will share several interviews on community engagement with key people in the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS).

Assistant Commissioner Dominic Lane

Our first interview is with Dominic Lane AFSM, Assistant Commissioner and Director of Regional Services.

1. Why does the RFS do community engagement?

While we may have called Community Engagement different names over the years, the RFS has a proud history of working with people to help protect their properties and communities, and help them understand key information like Fire Danger Ratings. For a long time we’ve had a proactive approach to getting the message out, with people who are passionate about community prevention and community safety and want to get involved.

2. Did the 2009 Victorian bush fires change our approach to working with communities? If yes, how?

The Victorian fires did change our approach in a way, but essentially reinforced the need to work closely with our communities. The changes were more significant for Victoria, who had encouraged people to decide between staying or leaving in a bush fire. NSW recognised that there will always be a fire where everyone needs to leave. We take a pragmatic approach to working with our communities by providing them with the information to make informed decisions about their safety and actions.

3. How could members encourage their brigade to get involved in community engagement activities?

"It’s important to keep lifting the

profile of community engagement.

We need champions."

If everyone had a base knowledge of community engagement they may be more willing to get involved. All members of the service would benefit from developing basic skills across all disciplines relevant to the Service, including fire fighting, logistics, aviation support, communications and community engagement. They could then specialise in specific fields of interest. 

4. What is your opinion on people that want to join a brigade but don’t want to fight fires?

I’m a big supporter of flexible membership, where everyone has a valid role, and also support the development of community engagement brigades in areas willing to create them.

Members should complete Bush Fire Awareness training as a minimum before specialising in community engagement, as they need sufficient expertise in topics relating to bush fires to effectively engage the community on bush fire preparation.

5. Do you think brigades would benefit from having community engagement training in areas such as our key messages and products such as Neighbourhood Safer Places?

Absolutely. There is value in key messages being included as part of the standard training doctrine for Brigades, so that members understand what they should be telling the community about topics like Fire Danger Ratings and Neighbourhood Safer Places.

I believe the RFS needs to improve its understanding of community engagement and that staff and members would benefit from at least a minimum level of awareness about the aims of engagement.

6. Are there any groups in the community that are a priority to engage with?

I think grass fires will be a priority for the near future. There are farmers in the west of NSW that have started preparing fire breaks now for the next bush fire season in October. We need more farmers like that, who understand the risk we face and prepare for it. The biggest challenge in achieving change for this group is geographic isolation.

I also think we need to maintain a focus on the parts of Sydney where the bush goes right up to the edge of urban areas. There are always new people moving into high bush fire risk areas, which means we constantly need to educate people about bush fire prevention and mitigation.

7. How do you think a history of doing community engagement with a community helps with other fire fighting and brigade activities?

"Community engagement activities strengthen

 Brigades and give them a reason for being

during quiet times."

You can see which towns have brigades with good engagement programs. There are better relationships between the Service and local government, fire messages are displayed around town, the Brigades have a good knowledge of the community, and there is a lot of activity from proactive members recorded in the Bushfire Risk Information Management System (BRIMS).

"Community engagement is not a

‘support’ role: it is core business."

A prepared community, one that is aware and has prepared for a bush fire so knows what to do, can be a huge benefit and make a lot of difference to when we do have to fight a fire. A prepared home is also a much safer property for our fire fighters to defend.

8. Is there any message you would like to give to our members passionate about community engagement?

Keep up the good work!

What do you think of these as RFS Principles for community engagement?? Your thoughts????
Clarity of purpose – we clearly define why engagement activities are occurring, their context and the goals of our engagement Accessibility – we plan engagement activities to ensure needs of targeted individuals and local groups are considered in order to maximise their ability to participate
Hospitality – we provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all face-to-face engagement activities
Communication – we support two-way communication processes that provide accurate and timely information, and invite and value feedback
Evidence – we establish good engagement practices that are based on sound research and quality information
On message – we reinforce organisational key messages and identify locally relevant key messages to ensure we communicate consistently and effectively
Working together – we establish partnerships with relevant individuals, local groups, community networks and other stakeholders to build capacity and add value
Broaden the reach – we endeavour to involve individuals and local groups to move beyond established networks, to tap into significant knowledge and expertise within communities
Continuous learning – we report our engagement activities to ensure they achieve meaningful outcomes and can be monitored and evaluated for future improvement
Integrity – we build relationships by ensuring our engagement activities are open, accountable and designed to improve individual and group understanding of bush fire preparedness; to increase community trust and confidence in us.

No Plan Dan: The Dribbling Hose

Ok so what has been going on in No Plan Dans head?

He hasn’t really planned and prepared for the bush fire season. Sure, he’ll tell you he has a plan, but it won’t be fully thought through. It won’t be written down, even though the NSW Rural Fire Service have been handing out Bush Fire Survival Plans for years. No Plan Dan actually has two of them, one in a drawer in his home office and the newer one hanging on the side of the filing cabinet, untouched since the day he put them there.


This is because No Plan Dan doesn’t really believe that anything will happen to him and his family. He knows there have been bush fires in the area before, but because bush fires aren’t all that regular, it won’t happen to him. After all, he is a local, knows the area and the fires happened ages ago! Naaaaa what are the chances? If it happens he will deal with it then...





No Plan Dan is out of water and out of luck

So when the fire does come, No Plan Dan doesn’t have a proper plan. Instead he does what he has seen so many times on television: he gets out the garden hose, puts the old ladder against the wall, climbs up and starts wetting down the walls and roof. He’s dressed in shorts, singlet and a pair of thongs and is hoping that the water from the garden hose will somehow protect his home from the approaching storm of embers and flame. His neighbours are all using their hoses too, so it’s not long before the water pressure drops. Just a little at first and then as the fire starts to get closer, it plummets to a mere trickle.



Does No Plan Dan look safe to you?

Several things have happened. The power has gone out, so the pumping stations that move the water around the water pipes have stopped working. There is still a bit of pressure caused by gravity, but it’s not a lot. Then No Plan Dan and his neighbours have all started using their garden hoses which has greatly increased the use of water. Finally, those few fire trucks that can get into the area have connected to the main pipes and are taking water to protect homes and try to deflect the worst of the fire. The pipes are almost dry.



Not the best shoes for a ladder...





  










As the sky darkens, the noise approaches and it sounds as loud as jet airplanes. A hailstorm of embers start to arrive, the water finally gives out completely and No Plan Dan realises that it’s time to get off the roof. He’s being burned by the embers that are falling on him and it’s becoming hard to breathe because of the thick smoke. As he climbs down the ladder, eyes streaming from tears caused by smoke and ash, he misses one of the rungs, his thong-clad foot slips and No Plan Dan drops like a stone onto the concrete driveway.

No Plan Dan thought bush fires only happened 'to other people.' A familiar, safe and welcoming environment can become dangerous, dark, extrememly noisy and life threatening when a bush fire occurs. You may lose power, water and telelphone services for hours or days.

Dont be like No Plan Dan.

Protect Your Family.

Protect Your Life.

Complete you Bush Fire Survival Plan!

No Plan Dan: Dressed to Kill

We are very pleased to introduce you to No Plan Dan! A series that utilises story telling to help share our bush fire safety messages. Thanks to those who have been involved in the development of No Plan Dan and his fellow characters , and worked so closely with the Community Engagement team to help bring this series to life.  Episodes of No Plan Dan will appear in the Building Community Resilience Blog over the next month, with Dan, his family and his neighbours expected to make appearances in other Community Engagement resources soon... So let the story begin!

We see him regularly on the telly, sometimes on his roof or between his home and an advancing fire, dribbling hose in hand, steadying himself to fight off radiant heat and a storm of embers. He’s clad in little more than stubbies, thongs and his singlet. Good old No Plan Dan is dressed for comfort with no thought for personal safety. It’s hot and dry, as total fire ban days tend to be, so he is padding around the house in as little as possible.

No Plan Dan 'defending' his home. Can you pick out Prepared Pete?

Even once he knows there is a fire coming, No Plan Dan doesn’t think about what he’s wearing. He sees firemen running around at the end of the street in full-length yellow gear, with gloves, boots, masks and stuff, but it must be as hot as Hades inside all that gear. So No Plan Dan sticks with his traditional dress. As he runs around doing a few last-minute things, No Plan Dan notices his neighbour, Prepared Pete, is dressed in jeans, boots, long-sleeve shirt and floppy hat. He even has a pair of goggles on!

No Plan Dan is alerted to the fire’s approach by a wave of embers raining down, getting inside his singlet, in his hair and even between his feet and the soles of his thongs. The sensation is something like being bitten by a dozen really large ants all at once, but No Plan Dan tries to ignore the burning marks on his skin as he uses the last of the water from his garden hose to wet himself down. He sees the sky is darkening and, for the first time, notices the noise and strong winds. Prepared Pete yells something out, but No Plan Dan can’t hear him and just waves an arm in acknowledgement.

No Plan Dan is feeling the embers and heat!

Wondering where all the rest of the fire trucks are, No Plan Dan heads into the back yard armed with a bottle of water and an old hessian bag, pounding desperately at flames as half a dozen patches of his lawn catch alight. As the flames flare and surge between his feet, the hairs on his legs vanish in a stinging instant. More embers start to hail down, kinda like rain in one of those heavy summer storms, getting in everywhere – even burning holes through his favourite singlet!

Suddenly No Plan Dan feels as though someone opened the door of a blast furnace nearby, as his skin senses megawatts of radiant heat from the fire front. His arms and legs feel like they’re inside an oven and, as he sucks down large gulps of air, No Plan Dan notices that his throat is burning too. He can hardly see because of the smoke, which is making his eyes water like crazy, and that’s not helped when he feels a sharp pain in his right eye as a large spark finds its new home.



Do you think No Plan Dan is coping?


Feeling faint, No Plan Dan tries to get back to the house, but is unsure of which direction to go. There is so much smoke he can hardly see his own hand in front of his face, even with his good eye. The whole world is orange and red, an almighty noise assaults his ears, it’s hot – oh so hot – and he can’t breathe. Now he’s not in front of a furnace, he’s inside it.

What will happen to No Plan Dan? What could have been different? Who do you think will have managed the best, No Plan Dan or his neighbour Prepared Pete?

Another adventure with No Plan Dan will be featured next week!

Reminder: Conference registrations close 16 March

Get in quick smart to register to attend the 2012 Australian Community Engagement & Fire Awareness Conference.


Registrations close Friday 16 March i.e. next week!


For more information and to complete our online registration form go to - http://bit.ly/hdXIs8.



Kind regards,



Community Engagement Team

Community.engagement@rfs.nsw.gov.au

02 8741 5416

A Community Protection Plan for Guerilla Bay

Thank you to Kelwyn White, Community Protection Planning Officer, Batemans Bay for writing this article and doing all the consultation work

In October 2011, I began work on the Guerilla Bay Community Protection Plan (CPP) as one of four initial trial locations in NSW. Working in the Customer Service Centre in an area that wasn’t familiar to me was a huge change to doing community engagement at a District/Zone/Team office. With that in mind I knew that unless I built rapport with the community, local Brigades and the District, and developed those trust networks, consultation with the community would not be successful.

The Guerilla Bay community are familiar with the CPP concept as they had a Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan implemented about five years ago. I made contact with a community member that lives in Guerilla Bay, who was heavily involved with the development of the Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan and also contacted a member of the Malua Bay Rural Fire Brigade. These meetings were a great starting point. These two people introduced me to the Guerilla Bay community and provided me with contacts in the community I could consult about the CPP.

I then made contact with the President of the Guerilla Bay Association, giving them written information on what a CPP was and what it would provide for the Guerilla Bay Community. I asked the Association to promote the CPP to residents and arrange a community meeting. The Association set the meeting date and forwarded invites to all members. From there I was in regular contact with the President of the Association as we prepared to take the CPP to the community. Making contacts and getting some background information on the community was an important step to take before doing any other consultation.



Bush Fire Preparation Map, Guerilla Bay

The next step was to meet with the local Malua Bay Rural Fire Brigade. I introduced the concept of CPPs and discussed the existing Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan, and examples of the Survival, Preparation and Operational Maps. I asked the Brigade to:

• highlight any concerns they had with operations in the Guerilla Bay area

• explain what they would like to see on the Operational Map

• provide comment on the existing mitigation measures in Guerilla Bay

• highlight any additional work they would recommend.

This meeting was also an opportunity to encourage the Brigade to attend the community meeting in Guerilla Bay, to show their support for the community and to continue building rapport between the Brigade and residents. The Brigade was really supportive of the planning process and looked forward to seeing the finished product and how they could put the maps to use operationally, for training and for community engagement activities. They were keen to be involved in the development and to work closely with the community.

The Brigade felt that one of the big advantages of the plan was that it would provide essential local information to Brigades assisting from other areas during a bush fire. The visitors would be able to get information on asset protection zones, bush fire risk, available access etc on a far more localised map than the current Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan.

My next port of call was the Eurobodalla Bush Fire Management Committee (BFMC). I introduced the process to all the members, gave them information on the development of the Guerilla Bay CPP and most importantly collected BFMC knowledge on Guerilla Bay.

The community meeting was held in January 2012 with 60-80 residents attending. Consulting the residents is the most vital part of the planning process, increasing their understanding of their bush fire risk, providing them information that will assist in the preparation of personal Bush Fire Survival Plans and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the development of the CPP.

As residents arrived, they were asked to put a sticker on the map to identify their property. Besides allowing us to see where people were from, it gave the residents an idea of the risk to their property.

The meeting was started with a quick survey to determine the resident’s thoughts, which had interesting results:

• 97.44 % believed they were at risk from bush fires in Guerilla Bay

• 79.49% already had a Bush Fire Survival Plan

• 92.31% had taken steps to prepare their homes

• 12.82% were members of the Guerilla Bay FireWise Group

• 64.10% were familiar with the existing Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan.

We then discussed the development of the CPP. The community had experienced a fire event in September 2009. We discussed how things could have been different had the fire been at a different time of year or started in a different location. We also talked about fire behaviour, Neighbourhood Safer Places and other safer locations.

We presented the community with examples of the Bush Fire Survival Map and Preparation Map, and invited the community to come up and view the maps, draw ideas on them and write questions for us. As the community had previously been involved in the development of a Mitigation Plan, they were keen to interact and take part in the discussion. Guerilla Bay is a very informed and educated community. This twenty minute exercise encouraged robust debate and clarified resident queries. The community really appreciated the lengths we went to consult with the majority of them over the holiday period.



Bush Fire Survival Map, Guerilla Bay

Residents were very interested in safer places, as Guerilla Bay only has one access road and no Neighbourhood Safer Place. They were also very interested in warning systems, because there is poor mobile phone reception in the area. They discussed the feasibility of having some sort of formal signal, such as a flag on their letter box, to let fire fighters know that they were home and defending their property. Residents’ concerns about large logs and fallen timber that remained after hazard reductions was reduced after we explained that they weren’t a significant fire hazard on their own. Another concern was the reliability of mains water supplies during a fire.



Through this process, we learnt more about community demographics and the community’s informal plans for action during fire events. When asked about the location of vulnerable residents, everyone agreed that they didn’t want to be considered as ‘vulnerable’. It was understood that everyone knows who they are and where they live, and it was generally felt they would be looked after if a fire occurred. Following the meeting we discussed the option of mapping where vulnerable residents live, but question whether this then means that we are then accepting the responsibility to help them, which may not be possible during a fire and isn’t really the job of the Brigades.

The meeting was concluded with a post meeting survey to determine if the information presented had changed the resident’s ideas:

• 12.82% now believed they were at greater risk of bush fire than before the meeting

• 79.49% were going to review or develop their Bush Fire Survival plan

• 69.23% were going to take additional steps to prepare their homes for bush fire

• 33.33% wanted more information on FireWise Groups

• 92.31% believed that the CPP was going to enhance their own planning

• 15.38% asked for specific follow up from the Rural Fire Service.

 

After the meeting we have continued to have regular contact with the Association to distribute clarification on queries raised at the meeting, and to update them on changes to the CPP. The BFMC endorsed the CPP on 1 March 2012. We can now start promoting and implementing the plan!