Bushfire Safety Awareness

10/09/2026

If you live in a region where bushfire is a possibility, now's the time to start preparing.

We have a free download to inspire and inform your bushfire preparations.

The Bushfire Safety Primer is an extract from Joan Websters "Essential Bushfire Safety Tips.” It's one page of info that could save your life.

Just comment "PREP" below and we'll send you the link.

Also very soon we plan to host a Bushfire Forum - stay tuned for news of that on our channels.

05/09/2026

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30/08/2026

Essential Bushfire Safety Tips mentioned! Make sure you refresh the core primers - or grab a copy from Holmgren Permaculture’s Melliodora Publishing

16/08/2026

Wildfires & Bushfires 2026: Be Prepared, Be Planned, Be Practised. Be Cleared, Be Clothed, Be Contained.
As Europe, Canada and the United States face severe wildfire seasons, leading fire experts Professor David Bowman and former NSW Fire Commissioner Greg Mullins warn that Australia is entering a new era of more intense and less predictable fire behaviour. (see ABC's 7.30)
Key Messages
• Fire suppression alone is not enough.
• Hazard reduction and landscape-scale fuel management remain essential.
• Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme fire conditions.
• Australia faces elevated bushfire risks as fuel loads remain high and fire seasons continue to lengthen.
• Stronger long-term preparedness is needed at government, community and household levels.
What This Means for Australia
• An emerging El Niño pattern may increase bushfire activity.
• Heavy vegetation growth since the Black Summer fires has increased fuel loads.
• Wet periods followed by extreme heat are making hazard reduction more difficult.
• Overlapping northern and southern hemisphere fire seasons reduce opportunities for international firefighting support.
• Australia needs greater self-reliance and preparedness for future fire seasons.
Spring Preparation for a Safer Summer
Now is the time to act:
✅ Clear and manage vegetation around your property.
✅ Maintain homes, sheds and outbuildings.
✅ Review and practise your bushfire survival plan.
✅ Clean gutters, repair roofs and seal ember entry points.
✅ Install metal screens, gutter guards and maintain water supplies.
✅ Prepare a bushfire survival kit, including protective clothing and a pure wool blanket.
✅ Establish firebreaks and refuge paddocks for livestock.
The Central Message
Preparation remains our strongest defence. Reducing fuel hazards, strengthening homes, improving landscape management and building community resilience are all critical to living safely with fire.
Learn More
Essential Bushfire Safety Tips
A practical guide packed with simple actions to reduce bushfire risk and improve preparedness
Purchase here:
https://au.permacultureprinciples.com/product/bushfire-safety-3ed/?fbclid=IwcGRvZgNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE2cjQ3YlVQeHUyN29adjA5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTE0NzcxNTY5MjI4MDYxAAEeowO7tejHnJH6OnKGZoZ73jO9UOjkHedhIy0FkA4rmXpua926PExPeiePVe4_aem_NSrO6lmixoENYAzx-qA3PQ
The Complete Bushfire Safety Book
A comprehensive guide covering home protection, emergency planning, livestock safety, fire behaviour and community resilience.
Available from Penguin Australia:
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-complete-bushfire-safety-book-9781740510349?fbclid=IwcGRvZgNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE2cjQ3YlVQeHUyN29adjA5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTE0NzcxNTY5MjI4MDYxAAEe0wGjwNVlReGhrUkvOtgLgLhfduG7d0mVO3x40EHyt40aQ7jPadNf7X1uzCQ_aem_n7h6yZ0C4tSTvl2WxkGjog
Bottom Line
With summer approaching, the best time to prepare is now. Small actions taken today can significantly reduce risk and help protect lives, homes, livestock and communities when bushfire danger peaks.

The complete, comprehensive, unequalled guide to bushfire and wildfire safety in Australia.

01/02/2026

Many thanks to https://www.facebook.com/MelliodoraHepburnPermaculture, the Bushfire Safety Primer is now free to download.
If you have the slightest concern about bushfire affecting your property, print it out and stick it on your fridge! The Primer is the preface to Joan Webster’s Essential Bushfire Safety Tips, which brings a message of hope and empowerment: that with appropriate knowledge, preparation and awareness, towns, homes and people can survive wildfires. We hope that you, your family and your home stays safe this fire season. Download the primer here: https://holmgren.website/bushfire-free-download" https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D6rn4msZm/

The Bushfire Safety Primer is now free to download.

If you have the slightest concern about bushfire affecting your property, print it out and stick it on your fridge!

The Primer is the preface to Joan Webster’s Essential Bushfire Safety Tips, which brings a message of hope and empowerment: that with appropriate knowledge, preparation and awareness, towns, homes and people can survive wildfires.

We hope that you, your family and your home stays safe this fire season.

Download the primer here: https://holmgren.website/bushfire-free-download

05/01/2026

Always timely to refresh and share the knowledge.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN EMBER IS BLOWN INSIDE A HOUSE
What happens when an ember is blown inside a house, it ignites some item, smoulders and flares. It may ignite curtains and send flames quickly to the ceiling.
Or land on and ignite carpets, furniture, bedding, or papers. Flames spreads through furniture and furnishings, clothes and kitchen contents, papers and plastics and fly-sprays and volatile cleaning fluids. Bottles explode The intense heat generated as all this burns melts fridges and washing machines. Fire moves on through the house and structure until only ash and twisted metal remain.
Closing internal doors is a safety precaution that can prevent such spread.
When embers enter the roof/ceiling space, they ignite highly flammable dust which eventually burn rafters. Fire here grows slowly if it has been cleaned and insulated and can take hours to develop. Or quickly if the space contains stored goods, birds’ nests, or is very dusty. Heat then builds until flammable gases are produced that lift off the roof and the ceiling collapses.
This is why it is so dangerous to shelter in an inner room, and necessary to have easy access to an exit door.
DANGEROUS FURNISHING MATERIALS:
Cotton, rayon, linen, and acrylic; the plastic coating of fibreglass fabrics; nylon, terylene, dacron and other synthetics; polyurethane foam padding; synthetic carpets. Smouldering wall linings, fittings and bench tops can give off lethally toxic gases.
PROTECTIVE FURNISHING MATERIALS:
Pure, untreated, heavy quality wool; natural leather; good quality vinyl; good quality lino; tiles and slate floors.
EMBERS CAN ALSO
• lodge in cracks in timber walls and infiltrate through vents, smouldering until a flame from them flares up the wall cavity.
• Blow under the house. If this has not been cleaned out, they burn dry grass or stored goods and spread fire to floorboards and frame.
• Land on and ignite doormats, sending sparks under the door.
• Land in and ignite fibrous hanging baskets, sending flames to the eaves.
• Lodge in rough gaps between deck timbers.
• Catch in creepers on walls and pergolas, endangering the timber beneath them.
This is why pre-bushfire ember proofing of a house gives it the best chance of surviving a bushfire even if no-one is there to protect it.

29/11/2025

The next few days are predicted to bring severe bushfire weather.DON’T WAIT to prepare for a bushfire to appear. NOW is the time to put your plan into action: whether it is to evacuate, defend or simply shelter. If your plan is to evacuate, you should be preparing now to leave this evening.
Evacuation, home protection and sheltering in place each have their own perils. Either choice can lead to injury, death or survival. Thorough knowledge and careful preparation are imperative for safety.
THE ABILITY TO EVACUATE SAFELY DEPENDS ON:
• Severity of weather conditions, particularly of air dryness and wind speed.
• Multiplicity and distribution of fires burning throughout your greater region or state.
• Severity of ember shower and speed of any fire in your area.
• Having protective clothing, a pure wool blanket and water flask.
• Leaving well before a fire starts in your area or is likely to start near your route.
• Sufficient advance packing and safe storage of precious possessions.
• Knowing where to go for refuge, whether community shelter or private house.
• The ability to get there safely.
• A reliable car, and thorough knowledge of how to shelter safely in it.
THE ABILITY TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSE SAFELY DEPENDS ON:
• Its distance from volatile vegetation in forest or garden.
• Its distance from neighbours’ buildings.
• Thorough preparation of grounds by plant management and clearance of hazards.
• Thorough preparation of house and outbuildings to minimise ember entry.
• Frequent practice of bushfire emergency plans.
• Protective clothing, a pure wool blanket and water flask.
• Enough physical, mental and emotional strength and determination.
• Sufficient and suitable fire extinguishing facilities.
• Thorough knowledge of how to shelter safely if this becomes necessary.
THE ABILITY TO SHELTER SAFELY DEPENDS ON:
• A shelter location that gives protection from radiant heat, smoke and toxic fumes.
• In-house shelter being near a door that leads to a non-hazardous outside area.
• Ability to check safely what stage the fire has reached.
• Protective clothing, a pure wool blanket and water flask.
• Exiting when flames have died down and flammable shrubs/grass are black.
• Any outside shelter site being distanced from flammable vegetation.
STAY/GO DATA
• During most bushfire threats, well-prepared homes can provide safe shelter.
• Stayers who have died have usually not known how to do so safely.
• Most well-prepared and knowledgeable people can safely defend their homes.
• The house survival rate more than doubles when someone is present.
• Early-enough and careful evacuation may provide personal safety.
• But leaves your house vulnerable. Increased losses are almost inevitable.
• Most deaths occur while evacuating through embers, flames or smoke.
• The close second highest is when people are outside and not protectively clothed.
• The third highest is when people shelter inside too far from an exit.
EXCERPTED FROM the CFA endorsed ready reference Essential Bushfire Safety Tips (‘A book that certainly could help save lives within the community’)
To be safe from bushfires you need to start preparations early.
To prepare, you need the best possible information.
Essential Bushfire Safety Tips provides this.Feel free to also share your tips here. READERS’ COMMENTS:
• ‘Your tireless efforts have been the only reliable safety advice for some time.’ - N P Cheney PSM FIFA, former Head of CSIRO Bushfire Behaviour and Management.
• ‘Essential Bushfire Safety Tips is truly an outstanding achievement.’ - Steven Warrington, Former Chief Officer Country Fire Authority, Victoria
- ‘Kangaroo Valley is arguably the best example of a prepared community. Much of this on account of Essential Bushfire Safety Tips. This book definitely saved lives and property in Kangaroo Valley on January 4, 2020.’ - Matthew Gray, Chairman, Community Bushfire Planning Committee, Kangaroo Valley, NSW.
• ‘I am alive today because I read Essential Bushfire Safety Tips’ – Robyn Mitchell, Woombah, NSW, 2020.
ESSENTIAL BUSHFIRE SAFETY TIPS https://store.holmgren.com.au/product/bushfire-safety-3ed/
THE COMPLETE BUSHFIRE SAFETY BOOK https://www.penguin.com.au/.../the-complete-bushfire...

Essential Bushfire Safety Tips covers everything needed to protect lives and homes and make the best bushfire safety plan to suit your situation.

11/09/2025

With increased bushfire risk forecast for northern and central NSW, southern WA, and later in summer for Victoria, and above-average temperatures predicted nationwide, experts urge all Australians to prepare for dangerous bushfires—even in areas with normal risk levels. The best preparation includes staying informed through official channels, creating and practising a bushfire survival plan with your household, ensuring your home is clear of flammable debris, and packing an emergency kit with essentials. Every household should have a reliable bushfire safety resource such as the Complete Australian Bushfire Safety Book or Essential Bushfire Safety Tips, which offer practical advice relevant anywhere. Regularly review and refresh your plan and supplies to ensure you’re ready to respond to any bushfire situation.
To be safe from bushfires you need to start preparations early.
To prepare, you need the best possible information.
Essential Bushfire Safety Tips provides this.Feel free to also share your tips here. READERS’ COMMENTS:
• ‘Your tireless efforts have been the only reliable safety advice for some time.’ - N P Cheney PSM FIFA, former Head of CSIRO Bushfire Behaviour and Management.
• ‘Essential Bushfire Safety Tips is truly an outstanding achievement.’ - Steven Warrington, Former Chief Officer Country Fire Authority, Victoria
- ‘Kangaroo Valley is arguably the best example of a prepared community. Much of this on account of Essential Bushfire Safety Tips. This book definitely saved lives and property in Kangaroo Valley on January 4, 2020.’ - Matthew Gray, Chairman, Community Bushfire Planning Committee, Kangaroo Valley, NSW.
• ‘I am alive today because I read Essential Bushfire Safety Tips’ – Robyn Mitchell, Woombah, NSW, 2020.
ESSENTIAL BUSHFIRE SAFETY TIPS https://store.holmgren.com.au/product/bushfire-safety-3ed/
THE COMPLETE BUSHFIRE SAFETY BOOK https://www.penguin.com.au/.../the-complete-bushfire...

Essential Bushfire Safety Tips covers everything needed to protect lives and homes and make the best bushfire safety plan to suit your situation.

30/04/2025

And meet the "Man Who Saved His Home From LA's Wildfire!"
A short excellent video and account. Pacific Palisades resident John Carr, 65 defied evacuation orders and saved his home. He nails how it’s all about the embers.
And for your preparation and planning:
Essential Bushfire Safety Tips
https://store.holmgren.com.au/product/bushfire-safety-3ed/
and in the USA
https://us.permacultureprinciples.com/.../bushfire.../
The Complete Bushfire Safety Book
https://www.penguin.com.au/.../the-complete-bushfire...

Pacific Palisades resident John Carr, 65, defied evacuation orders to save his family home from the devastating wildfire that ravaged his neighborhood. Armed...

30/04/2025

Another gem from Ben Marden. The Historic Wonboyn Lake Bush Fires of 2020: Stay and Defend. Lessons Learnt. A written and photographed account by By Ian Williamson and John Stapleton.
"From the first minute of the sky going dark I tried to keep a photographic and video record of the fire and the recovery. We survived and our property remained intact for one simple reason, we were prepared."
https://asenseofplacemagazine.com/the-historic-wonboyn-lake-bush-fires-of-2020-stay-and-defend-lessons-learnt/.
And for your own preparation and planning:
Essential Bushfire Safety Tips
https://store.holmgren.com.au/product/bushfire-safety-3ed/
and in the USA
https://us.permacultureprinciples.com/.../bushfire.../
The Complete Bushfire Safety Book
https://www.penguin.com.au/.../the-complete-bushfire...

Surrounded by nature reserves and national parks, Wonboyn Lake is a spectacular waterway nestled within the absolutely beautiful wilderness of the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia.