By Tyler Wright
While a local brigade prepares to host an open day on Sunday 26 February, Kalorama and Mount Dandenong locals will be able to learn how best to prepare their homes for bushfire as the Yarra Ranges enters the fire danger period.
Both the Yarra Ranges and Cardinia Shire will enter the fire danger period – where the CFA restricts the use of fire in the community due to higher risk – on Monday 30 January at 1am.
Kalorama Mount Dandenong Fire Brigade captain Bill Robinson said the areas are about a month behind other regions in the declaration of the fire danger period because the Hills are usually wetter and colder than the flatlands.
“Once the fire danger period comes in, we don’t get fires out of control… people are no longer burning piles of rubbish and stuff in their backyards,” Mr Robinson said.
“The job the other day…the one that was out of control in Montrose, that was from somebody burning off and it got out of control, so once the fire danger period comes in, you haven’t got that problem.”
At the open day, there will be two talks; one at 11am and the other at 1pm, where attendees can learn how to find information on the VicEmergency app
“If it’s a total fire ban day and you don’t think you can cope with a bushfire, get off the hill, go to the pictures or go to the beach or do something rather than stay around the hill and stress yourself out with the weather.”
While Mr Robinson said he has not seen much angst within the community so far this summer, things are drying up quickly.
“We did have a fire down in Montrose [recently] and we had 20 trucks, and they had to bring their helicopter in to slow it down, so that’s how quickly things were escalating in that time,” he said.
“From before Christmas Day when people were going ‘is it ever going to stop raining?’ to now…within the next month or so, things will be really really ready to burn, so that’s when they’re going to start call total fire ban days.”
Mr Robinson said coming into fire danger periods, brigade resources can be used to help other services, including the Tasmania Fire Authority and New South Wales’ Rural Fire service.
“One of our vehicles spent nearly two months in Tasmania a couple of years ago…and we just kept sending change over crews,” he said.
“We were in [New South Wales] two years ago… District 13 were sending a crew out every four days.”
The Kalorama Mount Dandenong Fire Brigade station is located on the corner of Falls and Ridge roads in Kalorama, with the open day running from 10am until 2pm.
There will be a free sausage sizzle and an opportunity to speak to local community volunteers about what they, and residents, can do in relation to emergencies.
