May 2012 – Harden Up eNews

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May 2012

Dry season heats up

As winter approaches and our skies dry up, we encourage you to get ready for bushfire season. There was significant rainfall over summer and where there's rain, there's growth. This means there is lots of vegetation around to fuel bushfires coming into winter.

Is your family and home at risk? Do you live within a few kilometers of bushland? Does your local area have a bushfire history? Is your home built on a slope? Do you have trees and shrubs within 20m of your house? Is your bushfire survival plan more than one year old?

If you answered 'yes' to one or more of these questions you might be at risk in the event of a bushfire. We recommend logging into your Harden Up plan and following the preparedness tips for bushfires hazards.

While thankfully no homes were threatened, a bushfire near Warwick last month is a clear reminder that we are now in bushfire season.

Who is at risk?

You don't have to be surrounded by bushland to be at risk, just nearby. That can mean semi-rural and urban residential estates on the outskirts of cities and towns; just about anywhere except inner city areas.

Top bushfire preparedness tip

This weekend, make some time to remove flammable materials away from your home. Clean leaves from gutters and fit quality metal leaf guards. Keep your lawn short and the backyard tidy, move woodpiles and other flammable materials well away from the house and keep them covered. Once you've completed these steps, login to your Harden Up plan and tick them off.

Case Study: Mt Archer Fire 2009

2009 was a particularly disastrous season for bushfires in Queensland as well as Victoria. While we all remember so clearly the devastating Black Saturday fires in February, in Queensland, a large bushfire threatened homes near Rockhampton for several days in October.

Welcome, The Weather Channel

Green Cross Australia - the creators of Harden Up, Protecting Queensland - are proud to announce a new partnership with The Weather Channel. Appreciating the importance of our community preparing for natural disasters to minimise damage, The Weather Channel is generously helping distribute the preparedness message.

Always have wire cutters inside and close to hand. Then it's only a matter of cutting the three wires and the fence is down and you can save any animals.