Liam McNally
How to defend yourself from a fast moving grassfire was the focus, but there was also time for games and food at Eynesbury CFA’s 2 Streets Back campaign information session on Saturday, February 11.
Attendees met at the Eynesbury Recreation Reserve at 2pm, and were taken on a walk along St Arnaud Road to the CFA building, where there was an information session, a firefighting demonstration, and kids activities.
The focus of the information session was the 2 Streets Back Campaign, which highlights the safest place to be during a grass fire.
Eynesbury Brigade Community Safety Coordinator Adrian Kendall said that it’s about understanding how a grass fire moves.
“The fire moves very, very rapidly through grass, but once it hits the street and houses it slows quite dramatically and we can actually attack the fire very well from there, and the likelihood of it getting two streets back is almost zero on a grassfire, so it’s the safest place to be.”
The event was also a chance for CFA to inform people about the updated fire danger rating system. The ratings changed last year to 5 levels – no rating, moderate, high, extreme, and catastrophic.
Mr Kendall said there is also a change in how the levels are decided, in that it used to be based on wind and heat levels, but now ground-fuel is also taken into account.
“It was a great chance to meet and interact with the community, get to know everyone a little bit better,” he said.
Eynesbury CFA are currently seeking new members, and are hosting an open day mid-March. For information on volunteering and the event see the Eynesbury CFA Facebook page.
Details: www.facebook.com/Eynesburyfirebrigade/
