Summer and fires

[zebra363]

Last weekend's weather and nearby fires finally brought home to me that in those conditions it would be impossible to protect my house, or quite possibly my life, with nothing more than garden hoses and mains water. Last Saturday it was 44C (111F) when I got home at 2pm and the wind so strong it felt like it was melting my eyeballs. I went out to

Comments

[victorian_tweed]

I'm so sorry to read about the horrible heat and the fires! I hope you get rain and soon!

I'm looking into rain water tanks too. Does WA offer rebates for them?

That book sounds interesting, and revolutionary! I might have to take a peak.
I bought a magazine called ReNew about alternative technology, but Mr Tweed ran away with it, and I haven't been able to read it yet. The magazine has a website though, in case you are interested: http://www.ata.org.au/

(I know you are far more on the ball with these matters than I, but just in case it is any help etc!)

[zebra363]

Our fires have been nothing like yours so far this summer, but they lost a bunch of homes south of Perth last week. I haven't had any really close to me yet, which is good as I am woefully underprepared. The woman who was killed was about 20 minutes from here - a young teacher at the local primary school, very sad. It's terrible when it takes something like that to spur you into action. I'm counting the days until I can get that tank installed and filled with water!

The guy who wrote the book was on Australian Story a couple of years ago, though I didn't see it. There's a transcript here and here.

Thanks for that link. I'd love to make my place more self-sufficient. If I put in big enough tanks I should be able to provide most of my own water, as well as keeping a reserve for fires. Solar panels are definitely on the list and my BIL keeps mentioning windmills, too.

I will definitely have to come visit you in Daylesford. It's such an alternative area it must be full of good examples of this stuff.

[shrydar]

I was about to point out the Australian Story appearance - it was an interesting episode. Inspirational in terms of what he's learned and achieved, but also frustrating for his tendency to make his life so much more difficult than it needed to be.

I didn't realise you were so close to where that woman was killed - all the more heartbreaking knowing that the house she was evacuating was actually spared.

[zebra363]

I wish I'd seen it. I'm trying to decide whether I should spend $66 to buy it from the ABC.

That woman was near Toodyay, which is about 20 minutes away. I wasn't clear - I meant that she was a teacher at her local school, not mine. Still much too close for comfort! They say you should decide to leave your property early or else stay put and I guess what happened to her demonstrates why. Still, I can easily imagine panicking as the fire approached and trying to make a run for it.

[victorian_tweed]

Oh wow, that is scary, Zebra, that this poor young woman perished! I so cannot imagine you being underprepared though - you are probably the most prepared and sensible person I know!

Thank you for the link to the Australian Story - what an amazing, determined man! The issue of using exotics in the landscape reminds me of when I visited my friend in Geelong. She told me that the local council, in their wisdom, removed all the pretty agapanthus from the median strips etc,chucked them down the tip and replaced them with native grasses. Come the drought, the native grasses died and became a fire hazard! Meanwhile, aganpanthus and lavender, and all other blue coloured plants, are thriving in the drought!

[zebra363]

It definitely is. I can't imagine anything much worse.

and sensible

You know this isn't so!! :) Let's just aim for prepared. Which I haven't been in this matter - no two ways about it! However I spoke to someone from the local fire brigade today about the equipment I plan to buy and now understand the procedure: Wet house with high-pressure hoses as fire approaches. Go inside house as fire front passes. Then go outside and put out anything that's burning. It sounds simple, put like that. We'll just ignore the terror associated with 1 and 2 in particular, not to mention animal burns.

He has an interesting point that a lot of the native plant species Australia used to have aren't here any more, and the original balance probably can't be maintained with only the ones we have left, particularly when most of our grazing animals are introduced. He's not a big fan of eucalypts, because of the way they discourage grasses growing underneath them.

[victorian_tweed]

Oh okay, that sounds simple!

I hate to ask, but what do you do with your horses and the girls?

[zebra363]

I'd probably just move them all to my "house paddock", unless I had enough time to safely evacuate them and somewhere safe to take them! The area between the house and sheds, plus the driveway, is all gravel, and I mow all the grass short in winter, so come summer there isn't much to burn. They say horses are usually mostly all right in a fire, as long as they aren't wearing halters or rugs that can burn/melt (which mine never do, being "au naturelle" types!).

One disadvantage of the camelids' pads over the horses' hooves is that they're much more prone to serious burns, as you'd no doubt know. The breeder we bought from said bad foot burns usually means the animal has to be destroyed. :(

[zebra363]

Also, I missed responding about the rebates - I think some might be available and will look into it. Every house should probably have a tank. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't become compulsory.

That book has some truly dire predictions about what salinity could do to our water supply. It makes you want to be catching your own instead of relying on town water!

[victorian_tweed]

Absolutely!

I was talking to someone I used to work with today and she has had to MOVE (her, hubby, tribe of kids) from her farm to somewhere with water. It is mindboggling.