Bushfire

By Tania Martin
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has been chosen to pilot a program to help older Victorians plan for bushfire evacuation.
Community Services Minister Gavin Jennings last week announced a $150,000 pilot program to help vulnerable people such as the elderly prepare for emergencies.
Announcing the funding at a workshop in Montrose, Mr Jennings said the program would focus on community based approaches to help ensure vulnerable groups such as older Victorians, people with disabilities and young people were equipped to deal with emergencies, especially bushfires.
“We recognise that there are groups of people that need a different level of help to plan and recover from an emergency,” he said.
Mr Jennings said workshops funded by the pilot program would provide valuable advice to aged care operators on the best way to support the elderly in the case of an emergency.
He said neighbourhood houses would also hold three-hour workshops to help residents to develop draft fire and recovery plans.
“This program delivers on the commitment we made to Victorians to meet the challenges of the future and invest in the services that matter to families,” he said.
Mayor Tim Heenan said the workshops would give aged care providers the tools to make the right decisions when faced with emergencies such as bushfires.
“This (the program) makes a lot of sense because there are a lot of aged care facilities that are so close to bushland and on extreme fire danger days they need to know when to make the decision to leave or stay,” he said.
Mr Jennings said that as part of the program tips on emergency evacuation will be given to people living in the shire.
He said one of the initiatives of the program will be a Fire Away Bag which contains a checklist of recommended items needed in an evacuation including medications, toiletries, coins and a foldable card for residents to list phone numbers and insurance details.