Tips to prepare your home for bushfire season

With summer fast approaching, now is the time to ensure your property is adequately prepared for bushfire season.

While everyone should have a bushfire survival plan, those living in or near bushland need to take extra precautions - the more you prepare your property the better the chance it will survive a bushfire, even if you are not there at the time.

Before bushfire season, you should:

• Remove combustible material such as dry grass, dead leaves and branches from your backyard and keep your lawn regularly mowed.
• Clean leaves from gutters, roofs and downpipes regularly.
• Trim low-lying branches two metres from the ground surrounding your home, and maintain a minimum two metre gap between your house and tree branches.
• Ensure garden mulch is kept away from the house, and do not pile wood against or near the house.
• Do not deposit tree loppings, grass clippings and other materials that could fuel a fire on your property, or on council reserves or bushland.
• Install fine steel wire mesh screens on all windows, doors and vents and install an ember protection screen on evaporative air conditioners to keep sparks and embers out.
• Block any gaps under floor spaces, in the roof space, under eaves, external vents, skylights, chimneys and wall cladding.
• Make sure any LPG cylinders are upright and relief valves are pointed away from the house.
• Regularly recycle newspapers and cardboard - don’t store piles of recycling material close to the house.
• Purchase at least one garden hose that reaches the perimeter of your property. Use metal hose fittings for taps as they are less likely to melt.
• Check that pumps, generators and water systems are in good working order. Consider purchasing a portable pump to use from your swimming pool or water tank.
• Pool chemicals can ignite if placed near other flammable liquids so store them separately from other potentially dangerous chemicals.
• Make sure your home insurance policy is up to date and adequately covers your property and its contents for bushfire damage.
• Make sure that if there is a fire hydrant outside your home, it is easily located and not obstructed.
• Check that your first-aid kit is fully stocked.

For more information or advice, visit the DFES website.