Check – Clear – Prepare

Know what you can and can’t do without a permit.

If you live in a rural or regional area you may not need a permit to clear trees, branches and scrub from around your home. Reducing the vegetation from around your home is one of the most important things you can do to keep your home safe in a bushfire.

Depending on where you live, the 10/30 rule and the 10/50 rule might apply.

Risk of Fire

Risk is most extreme if your home is surrounded by or near a forest or woodlands. By recognising and understanding your risk will help you to prepare your property for fire.

Understanding how fire behaves is another great step in being prepared. Bushfires are unpredictable and vary greatly according to the local conditions, but the worst ones will start on hot, dry and windy days.

CFA has a wealth of resources to help you understand your fire risk and know what to do before and during a fire. One of the best ways to start planning is to look at where you live. Click on the link below that best describes where you live:

• I live next to or near bush
• I live next to grassland 
• I live one or more streets away from grassland

Community Information Guides are a key source of information for communities in high bushfire risk areas. They are an important tool to help you understand your local area’s plans for bushfire and how everyone works together.

CFA run Bushfire Preparation Meetings and planning workshops to guide you through the process to develop your own fire survival plan step-by-step. Find a meeting near you to share views and experiences on managing bushfire risk and make contacts.

As a quick start, you can take the FireReady Quiz – 10 simple questions to get you on the road to being FireReady.

Staying to Defend your Property

• If you intend to stay and defend – Defending your home is risky – you could be seriously injured, suffer psychological trauma or die. The safest option is to be well away from the threat.
• Defending your property – Learn what it takes to defend your property and understand the risks involved.
• Livestock and equipment – On a farm, fire management planning is essential to help you protect your assets.
• Preparing yourself – How to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the bushfire season.

Leaving Early

• Leave and live – Leaving early is the safest way to survive a bushfire. People die during bushfires trying to leave their homes at the last minute.
• On fire risk days – leaving early – A practical guide to leaving early.
• Pets and fires – Things to consider to help keep your pet safe.
• What to take with you – How to put your emergency kit together.
• People who need help leaving – If you’re frail or elderly, have a physical disability, or have problems thinking clearly or acting quickly under stress, you may need help.
• When it’s too late to leave early – Plan and know your survival options if leaving early is no longer an option.
• During a fire – if you cannot leave – Know your shelter and survival options if a fire is in your area and you cannot leave.

What if you’re Traveling

Safety while touring or traveling – Use CFA’s Traveller’s Checklist, and never travel into any high-risk bushfire area where a Code Red has been declared.

VicEmergency App

The VicEmergency app aligns with the VicEmergency website to provide a centralised location for Victorians to access timely emergency information and warnings.

The app includes warnings and incident notifications for fire, flood, storm, earthquake, tsunami, weather warnings, shark sightings, beach closures and more.

In order to receive location specific app alerts when warnings are issued or incidents occur, you need to set up your watch zones.

You can download VicEmergency from the App Store or Google Play.