Fireproofing Your Quarry

The CFA have produced a publication Preparing your property, that aims to assist you to fireproof your properties in the country, including quarry sites. This is summarised below.

YOU can reduce the spread, speed and heat of a bushfire by preparing your quarry sites. These preparations must begin well before the bushfire season. It is recommended that whether you are planning to leave early or want to stay to defend you should prepare your site.

You will have to consider:

• If you have adequate defendable space and how you will manage the vegetation.
• How your site is best maintained and what improvements can be made.

MANAGING VEGETATION – DEFENDABLE SPACE

By managing the vegetation around your site you can create some space around your home that will reduce bushfire intensity. This is known as defendable space.

Creating such a space limits the ability of a moving fire to spread directly to your site. The vegetation around your site and whether your block is fl at or sloping will influence the amount of vegetation management required to get the optimal defendable space.

As a general rule you may need much more defendable space if there is dense forest all around you. However, if you are surrounded by grass or manicured gardens you will need less. This needs to be considered for up to 100 metres around your site.

However, there is a critical 10 metre space around your site. This is known as the inner zone.

As some general guidance for all residents:

Create a space around your site by having a 10 metre area (inner zone) with:

• No shrubs over one metre next to or below windows. In many bushfires, burning shrubs that are up against a building have cracked windows and allowed embers to enter .
• Grass no higher than 10 centimetres.
• No overhanging tree branches.
• No plant-based mulch or leaf litter more than one centimetre deep.

Further out from the 10 metres to your site boundary, or where possible, manage the vegetation up to 100 metres so that:

• Only half the area has shrub coverage and grass is kept short. Severe fires are less likely to occur without fine fuels, ladder fuels and shrubs underneath them.
• There are breaks between clumps of vegetation. This makes it more difficult for the fire to move from one area to another and reduces the fire intensity.

As with any vegetation management, when clearing space consideration needs to be given to environmental concerns, including potential for weed invasion.

Keep in mind that mature trees can provide useful shields against radiant heat and embers and can play a useful role in the protection against bushfire.

SITE MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENTS

Managing the vegetation around your site will help to reduce the radiant heat and direct flame contact away from the site. The next step is to prepare your site to reduce the impact of embers. One of the main causes of property loss and damage is from ember attack.

Some measures you can take to protect your site from ember attack include:

• Protect underfloor spaces with non-combustible sheeting or metal mesh. This will prevent embers from landing under the house and starting small spot fires. Remove any combustible materials stored beneath the floor.
• Seal or repair any holes, cracks or damage to flooring and walls.
• Cover all external vents with metal mesh (not aluminium) and keep clear of debris to prevent embers from entering your home.
• Protect evaporative coolers with metal mesh screens. You will need to check with your evaporative cooler supplier to ensure the performance of the system is not compromised by installing the mesh.
• Ensure any external timber cladding is regularly maintained and all gaps are sealed.
• Place weather stripping around the inside of doors and windows to eliminate any gaps.
• Make non-combustible fire screens to cover external skylights.
• Fit fire resistant leaf guards to gutters to prevent a build up of leaves.
• Install fencing made from non-combustible materials such as metal or brick.
• Ensure that fuel and chemicals are properly stored and not surrounded by fine fuel such as leaf litter.

Maintenance activities

During the bushfire season there are some maintenance activities that will help keep you fire ready:

• Clean leaves out of gutters.
• Clear accumulated leaf litter and other fine fuels from around the house. On days of strong winds you will notice where leaf litter accumulates around your house. This is where embers will land during a bushfire.
• Remove flammable items from around your house, such as paper, boxes and crates LPG cylinders have a vent pipe that should be faced away from the house .
• Move woodpiles away from the house.
• Store fuel supplies and chemicals away from the house.

More information is available fr om the Publications/Fire Ready Kit of the CFA Website www.cfa.vic.gov.au

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