Blog

A Realistic Fire Prep Checklist for Your Property This Spring

Every year, there are a few warm days in September or October that seem to come out of nowhere.

The garden’s still looking green, fire season feels like it’s still a few months off, and then suddenly you’ve got a Total Fire Ban. Jobs you were planning to get done, like burning off or using certain power tools outside, may no longer be an option.

I’ve watched enough customers get caught out by this timing that I’d rather flag it early than let anyone find out the hard way. Doing the prep now makes life a lot easier later. Here’s what I’d actually put on the list.

Think about embers, not just the fire front

When people picture a bushfire, they usually imagine a wall of flames moving towards the house.

That’s not necessarily what causes the damage.

Embers can travel a long way ahead of a fire, landing in gutters, under roof tiles, in garden beds or against fences. A house can look completely safe from the fire front and still be vulnerable to embers.

Gutters are a good example. A few handfuls of dry leaves sitting in a gutter don’t look particularly dangerous on an ordinary day. Put a burning ember in there on a bad fire day and you’ve suddenly got a fire burning right beside the roof.

So rather than just asking “where would the fire come from?”, walk around your property and ask: if embers landed here, what could they actually ignite?

That makes the rest of the checklist much easier.

Roof and gutters

This is always where I tell people to start.

Clean out the gutters and remove any leaves, bark and other debris that’s collected in the roof valleys. These are the spots where everything tends to end up anyway.

If you’ve got gutter guard, have a look underneath it as well. It can stop larger debris getting in, but fine leaf litter can still build up over time.

It’s also worth checking the downpipes while you’re there. If they’re full of debris, clear them out. A blocked downpipe is annoying when the next big storm arrives, and it’s usually a good indication that there’s been a lot of material sitting in the gutter for a while.

Right around the house

Next, do a lap of the house and look at everything that’s within easy reach of the walls.

Clear away dry leaves, bark, mulch and other material that could catch and hold a fire against the building.

You don’t need to turn the whole area around your house into bare dirt. The point is to avoid having a layer of dry, flammable material sitting right against the walls.

Have a look up as well.

Any branches hanging over the roof or sitting against gutters are worth dealing with. Even branches that are green now can dry out, and vegetation close to the house gives embers somewhere to land and burn.

10–30 metres from the house

Once you’re past the walls, this is where keeping vegetation under control starts to make a real difference.

Keep grass short, particularly if you’ve got a larger block or paddock. Around 10cm or less is a useful target where practical, rather than letting grass grow long and cure.

If you’ve got a paddock that’s already getting away from you, spring is a much better time to deal with it than waiting until everything is dry and you’re staring down the barrel of fire restrictions. I say this every year and there’s always a handful of customers who ring me in November wishing they’d started sooner.

Dense shrubs are worth thinning out too, particularly where they’re clustered close to the house. You don’t necessarily need to remove everything. Creating some separation between areas of vegetation is often more useful than simply trying to clear as much as possible.

The basic idea is pretty simple. Don’t give a fire one continuous path of fuel from the garden to the house.

Sheds, fences and other buildings

People concentrate on the house and forget everything else. I do it myself if I’m not paying attention.

Have a look around sheds, garages, workshops and other outbuildings as well. Clear away long grass, leaves and other dry material around the base of the building.

Fences deserve a look too, especially timber ones. A fence with long, dry grass growing along both sides can effectively become a path for fire to travel towards the house, carport or shed.

Don’t forget the loose stuff

Move things like wood piles, outdoor furniture cushions and doormats away from the house where you can.

Gas bottles should also be kept appropriately clear of buildings and vegetation.

None of these jobs takes long, and out of everything on this list, they’re probably the ones I see skipped most. Usually because nothing’s permanently attached to the property, so it’s easy to walk right past.

If you want something to print off and work through room by room, CFA puts out their own Guide to Property Preparation (PDF), which covers a lot of the same ground with a bit more detail on building improvements and permit requirements.

Do it before fire season gets busy

Once the first run of hot weather arrives, grass dries out quickly and fire restrictions can start limiting what you can do. Everyone else also suddenly remembers that they need their paddock slashed, their gutters cleaned and their green waste dealt with. I see it every year, and bookings tighten up fast once that happens.

A few weekends of jobs in spring can save you a lot of hassle later.

Get the big jobs done without spending every weekend on them

Most of this work isn’t particularly complicated. The problem is that some of it is hard work and time-consuming.

Cleaning gutters off a ladder, cutting back a large amount of vegetation, chipping branches or dealing with an overgrown paddock can easily turn into several weekends of work.

If you’d rather knock the bigger jobs over quickly, that’s where hiring the right equipment can make a difference. A chipper can turn a pile of branches into something much more manageable. A scissor lift can make gutter and roof access easier. A slasher can make short work of long grass across a paddock or larger block.