A new fire safety campaign called #myplanis was launched at Eltham Festival on 10 November.
The idea behind the campaign is to encourage members of the public to share their key fire plans online with family and friends, so that everyone can have a fire plan and everyone will know what to do regardless of the situation.
In launching the campaign, Eltham Fire Brigade Community Safety Coordinator, Greg Heaven, encouraged all members of the local and wider community to share their fire safety messages with each other so we can learn from a shared community experience.
“Many people are not aware of the risks they face leading into summer and in Eltham we have some very valuable green spaces, but with that also comes the risk of fire. It’s now almost ten years since Black Saturday, and many of the new residents to the area won’t understand how to plan for the that risk. Hopefully both we and the local community will share their fire plan ideas and then others can learn from them. That way we all become safer communities.”
Eltham has set up a page on its website at www.elthamcfa.org.au/myplanis which provides some guidance to those looking to understand their risks and they types of simple plans people can own. The #myplanis statements can be as simple as “My plan is to leave early on the bad day” or “My plan is to check on my family and neighbours” or “My plan is to ensure my key documents and valuables are with me if I leave early”.
People can then develop their ownership of their own specific fire plans in a variety of circumstances. Before the fire season, during the fire season, when travelling, the day before a “bad day”, on a “bad day”, when a warning is issued near them, if being impacted by fire, and after an event should it occur.
“Every person’s and every family’s situation will be different, but regardless of those circumstances, it’s important to know what you will do in event of a fire, or the potential threat of fire,” Mr Heaven said. “We hope that there will be enough shared ideas and knowledge so that everyone will be able to find the right plan for them, and then share that again”.
Members of the community are asked to publicly share their fire plan using the hashtag #myplanis and have a safe summer.