Bushfire Survival Plan checklist
< Instructions are listed throughout this template >
< Download Your guide to Bushfire Safety for the information you need to complete this plan >
< Every situation is different and your plan should take into consideration your personal circumstances >
< We’ve provided suggestions and examples, but you need to decide what is best for you and your family >

Sections:
•	Plan checklist
•	Pre-season checklist
•	Leave Early Plan
•	Stay and Defend Plan

This Bushfire Survival Plan is for:  Point Boston - Community Corporation 25691 Inc

When living at: Point Boston Peninsula

Our Fire Ban District is: Lower Eyre Peninsula

Important phone numbers	
Fire, Police, Ambulance: 000 (TTY 106)	Insurance Company: 	
Doctor: 	Insurance Policy number:  	
School: 	Water Supplier: Point Boston CC Inc 2569, Whittles Corporation manager 08 82912300	
Vet: 	Local Council: D.C.L.E.P     086821622	
Bank: 	Electricity Supplier: 	
<Other>: 	Gas Supplier: 	
<Other>: 	<Other>: 	

Family	Friends	
Name	Number	Name	Number	

		

		

Information Hotline 1800 362 361 (TTY 133 677)
Frequency of our local ABC or other radio station broadcasting emergency warnings: 
Other ways we will stay informed: 
Our nearest Bushfire Safer Place is: The Beach
Our nearest Bushfire Last Resort Refuge (if all plans fail) is: The Beach

This bushfire survival plan checklist is for the whole community of Point Boston only.
All Lot Owners, Residents and Tenants should Plan & Prepare an Individual bushfire survival plan for the occupy.

Leave early – Who is going to leave early? (list names and complete the leave early plan)	
Name	Phone	

		

Stay and defend – Who will stay and defend? (list names and complete the stay and defend plan)
Anyone staying to defend must be involved in completing the plan so that they know what to do	
Name	Phone Number	

		

Pre-season checklists
Before the bushfire season, it’s important to prepare your property and your family.
•	Know your risk
•	Prepare your property
•	Prepare your emergency kits
•	Practise your plan
Knowing our risk:
•	I know the bushfire risk and history of the area
•	I know the bushfire risk of my property (you can use the Household self-assessment tool)
•	I have read this season’s Your guide to Bushfire Safety or attended a community meeting with the CFS
Preparing our property:
< delete details that don’t apply to you, add details specific to your property >
CFS Recommends: 
•	Check that trees and shrubs still have space between them (horizontally and vertically) so they don’t form a continuous canopy. Prune if needed.
•	Remove dead vegetation from around your home and prune lower limbs of trees.
Check with your council to see if a permit is required to burn off garden waste, or dispose of the material through mulching or at a council rubbish dump
•	Remove bark, heavy mulch, wood piles and any other flammable materials close to our home and sheds.
•	Ember-proof your home: seal gaps and areas under your home, verandahs or balconies; repair any loose tiles or gaps in your roof; cover windows, crevices and vents with fine wire mesh or flywire; repair or fill nooks and crannies where leaves or embers could gather.
•	Slash or mow long grass and remove cut material (unless it can rot down before summer).
•	Remove weeds.
•	Cut back trees overhanging your home.
•	Remove fallen branches and other debris.
•	Remove leaves from gutters.
•	Check and service all mechanical equipment, including grass cutters, water pumps, sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers.
•	Check insurance is still adequate
•	Prepare / check your emergency kit (see kit section)
•	Check your fire clothes still fit (see clothing section)
•	Review, update and practise your Bushfire Survival Plan.

We will also: 
•	
•	
Preparing our emergency kits
< delete details you don’t think you need, add anything extra for your own needs >
General items - location of kit:   

CFS Recommends: 
•	Battery powered AM/FM radio plus spare batteries 
•	Waterproof torch 
•	Woollen blankets 
•	Clothing to protect you during a bushfire (see below) 
•	First aid kit with manual 
•	A can opener 
•	Emergency contact numbers 

We will also add:
•	
•	

Before we leave, we will add:

CFS Recommends: 
•	Money, key cards and credit cards 
•	Medications, toiletries and sanitary supplies 
•	Special requirements for infants, elderly, injured, or those with disabilities 
•	Important documents (e.g. Insurance papers, wills, passports, IDs), valuables and photos 
•	drinking water (three litres per person per day) and food for at least 72 hours 
•	A change of clothes for everyone 
•	Mobile phone & charger 
•	Blankets 
•	Children’s toys (a favourite item for each child)

We will also add:
•	
•	

For your pets 

CFS Recommends: 
•	Basket/cage/leash 
•	Medications, food, drinking water and bowls 
•	Familiar item (toy, bed, treats) to help reduce stress 

We will also add:
•	
•	

Equipment to stay and defend - located:                  

CFS Recommends: 
•	buckets and mops
•	drinking water
•	mobile phone chargers
•	fire extinguishers
•	hoses and spare hose fittings
•	knapsack sprayer / weed sprayer / large water gun
•	shovel
•	ladder
•	towels
•	medications
•	gutter bungs or other equipment for blocking downpipes.

For our personal situation, we will also add:
•	
•	

Clothing - located:                  

CFS Recommends everyone has /wears: 
•	Natural fabrics such as cotton, denim or wool (synthetics can melt or burn). 
•	A long sleeved shirt to prevent burns to the upper body and arms. 
•	A pair of heavy cotton pants or overalls to shield your legs. 
•	Sturdy leather work boots and a pair of wool socks to prevent burns to the feet. 
•	A wide brimmed hat to stop embers from dropping on your head or down your back. 
•	Work gloves to protect your hands. 
•	A pair of goggles to safeguard your eyes against smoke, embers and debris in the air. 
•	A smoke mask or moist cloth to cover your nose and mouth to protect you from inhaling smoke and embers 

Our additional clothing items are: 
•	  

Leaving Early Plan
It is recommended that you leave early if:
•	There is a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating.
•	There is an Extreme Fire Danger Rating and your home has not been specially designed and constructed.
It is a Total Fire Ban and:
•	Your property has not been well maintained, you don’t have the right equipment or you don’t have a practised plan to stay and defend
•	The people who will be actively at home are not emotionally prepared and physically fit or are young, elderly or vulnerable

We will follow this plan when: < delete the option/s you won’t follow, add an option that’s missing >
The declared Fire Danger Rating is:
☐ High ☐ Extreme (Total Fire Ban) ☐ Catastrophic (Total Fire Ban)
Other triggers (e.g. family members being home alone, loss of water or power and the ability to leave your home safely)

When to go
(This is the most important part of your plan. Plan to leave early enough to avoid being caught in smoke, the fire or on congested roads. e.g. the night before or morning of a fire danger day, a fire in the area, the smell of smoke)

Where we will go and how we will get there:
(Choose places of relative safety within a Bushfire Safer Place. Consider friends, relatives or activities in low fire danger areas. Plan several routes in case the road is blocked)
Location 1:    	Route:  	
Location 2:    	Route:  	
Location 3:    	Route:  	

We will take: 
(Prepare your emergency kit as well as anything else you might need such as kids’ favourite toy, medications, pet needs)

We will tell: (before and after)

We will come back when:
(e.g. when the area is declared safe, when a lower Fire Danger Rating is released) 

Back-up plan if we don’t get out before a fire: 
(is there somewhere else you can go to shelter?) 

Our Pets < delete the option/s you won’t follow, add an option that’s missing >
☐ Will come with us (with their needs: leads, food, bedding, crate, etc)
☐ Will be left at home (with fresh food and water)
☐ Will be left with neighbours or in a kennel (with lead, food, bedding, vaccination certificate)
Name and phone number:    
Stay and Defend Plan
Anyone who is not going to leave early must be involved in completing this stay-and-defend plan to ensure they know what to do. Every plan will be different depending on your circumstances.  
< delete details that don’t apply to you, add anything specific to your circumstance >
It is recommended that you do not stay and defend if:
•	there is a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating.
•	there is an Extreme Fire Danger Rating and your home has not been specially designed and constructed.
It is a Total Fire Ban and:
•	your property has not been well maintained, you don’t have the right equipment or you don’t have a practised plan to stay and defend.
•	the people who will be actively at home are not emotionally prepared and physically fit or are young, elderly or vulnerable.
Other triggers that mean we will not stay and defend are:
(e.g. family members home alone, house guests, power failure, etc.)

We will follow this plan when:
The declared Fire Danger Rating is:
☐ High ☐ Extreme (Total Fire Ban) ☐ Catastrophic (Total Fire Ban)
Other triggers (e.g. a fire in the area, the smell of smoke)

The night before or early the morning of a fire danger day, we will 
(choose when you will do these)
(Fires can start suddenly and without warning. When bad fire conditions are forecast, what things will you do to prepare before a fire even starts in the area?)

CFS Recommends < delete details that don’t apply to you >: 
•	Check the Fire Danger Rating
•	Remind everyone of the plan and check that they understand their role
•	Check your kit
•	Let family or friends know what you intend to do
•	Keep pets inside with sufﬁcient drinking water and food
•	Move stock to well cleared area with plenty of drinking water
•	Check your pump and generators
•	Water garden
•	Block down pipes and ﬁll gutters with water
•	Move ﬂammable items away from the house; shut off gas at meter or bottle
•	Prepare water buckets, a torch and ladder ready to check the ceiling space
•	Prepare for the possibility that no power and/or no phone lines will be available
For our personal situation, we will also do the following: 
•	
•	

Fire starts in the area (before the fire approaches):
(activate your plan – those leaving early should have already left the property, list the things you need to do in preparation)

CFS Recommends < delete details that don’t apply to you >: 
•	Call neighbours
•	Get into fire clothes 
•	Turn on sprinklers
•	Shut doors / windows 
•	Put tape across the inside of windows so they remain in place if broken
•	Watch out for embers
For our personal situation, we will also do the following: 
•	
•	

As the fire approaches:
(prepare for ember attack on or near your home, list the actions you will take)
CFS Recommends < delete those that don’t apply to you >:
•	Fight spot fires
•	Wet vegetation near your house with a hose or sprinkler (now that the fire is closer) 
•	Shut all windows and doors and place wet blankets and towels around windows and door edges to keep out smoke and embers
•	Prepare inside your house (e.g. remove curtains, move furniture away from windows) 
•	Stay close to the house, drink water and check welfare of others 
•	Patrol the inside of the home as well as the outside for embers or small fires 
For our personal situation, we will also do the following: 
•	
•	

As the fire front approaches (fire about to arrive):
(when will you move inside to shelter? Stay safe by monitoring the fire from inside your home, check for embers, etc.)
CFS Recommends < delete details that don’t apply to you >:
•	Take all firefighting equipment inside such as hoses and pumps as they may melt during the fire 
•	Move inside the house until the fire front passes. If possible shelter in a room that it is on the opposite side of the house to the approaching fire and has two exits 
•	Patrol the inside of the home - including checking the ceiling space - for embers or small fires 
•	Continue to drink water
For our personal situation, we will also do the following: 
•	
•	

After the fire has passed:
(patrol your property to extinguish burning embers. You may need to do this for several hours. Outline what actions you will take)
CFS Recommends < delete details that don’t apply to you >:
•	Remember to put on any protective clothing you removed while inside
•	Go outside and extinguish small spot fires and burning embers
•	Hose down the house, paying special attention to the roof space, window frames and under-floor areas
•	Patrol the property inside and out, including the ceiling space and extinguish any fires. Sparks and embers will continue to fall and smoulder, so keep checking for several hours 
•	Let everyone know that you are okay 
•	Monitor the radio for updates 
•	Stay with your home until you are sure the surrounding area is clear of fire. 
For our personal situation, we will also do the following: 
•	
•	

Contingency plan:
(what will you do if you can’t activate your plan? Leaving late is deadly. Make sure you identify a safer location and safe route)

Other notes: