Wallcliffe Volunteer Fire Brigade in Margaret River, Western Australia | Public & government service

Wallcliffe Volunteer Fire Brigade

Locality: Margaret River, Western Australia

Address: 555 Wallcliffe Road near Caves Road 6285 Margaret River, WA, Australia

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24.01.2022 Just a heads up there is an ideal weather window for DBCA to conduct a prescribed burn in the South Carters Rd area this weekend (21/22 November 2020). Mountain Bike trails in South Carters (the Creek Trails) and 1 lane of Carter's road will be closed and there will be smoke visible to the north of Margaret River townsite. This is important work to help reduce the significant fire risk that surrounds the townsite and we thank all the fire crew that will be undertaking this ...work over the weekend . These fuel reduction works form part of a larger mosaic of burning that has been undertaken by DBCA, AMR Volunteer Brigades and DFES in recent years in helping protect our community from summer bushfires. When you see the smoke it's a good opportunity to reflect about how much bush and fire risk that surrounds town and a reminder about your individual responsibility for preparing your own property and ensuring you have a Bushfire Plan; even the people in the middle of town .

21.01.2022 Just a reminder to all members we have Sunday training tomorrow (1st November 2020) at 9am. Training will involve call out procedures, appliance appreciation, and some simulation of callout/first on scene/PAFTACS/initial deployment. This November session will be some essential refreshing leading into the fire season. Please RSVP on the BART system if you are attending. ... Mid week training will be Thursday the 12th at 5pm. Training will follow the same procedures as Sunday for those that can’t make it.

21.01.2022 Despite some recent rain, the bush is already dry and volatile. Accordingly the decision has been made for the Restricted Burning Period be brought forward, starting Friday 6 November 2020 at 12.01am. PERMITS TO BURN required from FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER for the Shire of Augusta Margaret River This means a Permit to Burn will be required prior to anyone burning more than one (1) cubic metre of garden refuse (smaller garden piles may only be burnt after 6pm and extinguished b...efore 11pm, otherwise a permit is required.) You can get a Permit to Burn from your local Fire Control Officer - find their contact details here https://bit.ly/3kRQw89 Thanks for observing these fire restrictions. You need to be prepared now for the bushfire season.

20.01.2022 Some rather dramatic smoky skies over Margaret River last night from a DBCA prescribed burn further inland. We can expect more DBCA and AMRS fuel reduction burns in coming weeks as we head toward bushfire season and fire crews work hard to help reduce the bushfire risk to the community. However please note that from today (Friday 6th November 2020) Augusta Margaret River Shire residents are now required to have Permits to Burn. ... This means a Permit to Burn will be required prior to anyone burning more than one (1) cubic metre of garden refuse (smaller garden piles may only be burnt after 6pm and extinguished before 11pm, otherwise a permit is required.) You can get a Permit to Burn from your local Fire Control Officer - find their contact details here https://bit.ly/3kRQw89 Thanks for observing these fire restrictions. You need to be prepared now for the bushfire season.

18.01.2022 HEADS UP! We've received advice from DBCA they will be conducting a prescribed burn in the South Carters Rd area today and tomorrow (22/23 November 2020). Following a rain delay earlier in the week, the weather conditions have been measured as ideal for undertaking the fuel reduction works today. Mountain Bike trails in South Carters (the Creek Trails) and 1 lane of Carter's road will be closed and there will be smoke visible to the north of Margaret River townsite. ... This is important work to help reduce the significant fire risk that surrounds the townsite and we thank all the fire crew that will be undertaking this work over the weekend . These prescribed burns form part of a larger mosaic of burning that has been undertaken by DBCA, AMR Volunteer Brigades and DFES in recent years in helping protect our community from summer bushfires. When you see the smoke it's a good opportunity to reflect about how much bush and fire risk that surrounds town and a reminder about your individual responsibility for preparing your own property and ensuring you have a Bushfire Plan; even the people in the middle of town .

17.01.2022 The garden looks lovely. Unfortunately there's a fire hydrant hidden somewhere under all that beautiful landscaping . Not much chop if we were in the middle of a fire emergency trying to save your house or the neighbours. We currently have Wallcliffe volunteers undertaking important work checking fire hydrants around the district as we head into fire season. ... We've come up against several clangers this season. Mostly the result of misunderstanding by home owners about their responsibilities of maintaining access to fire hydrants. Hydrants need to be visible and easily accessible to firefighters in an emergency. If we need to spend ten minutes digging around in your garden in the middle of smoke and flames to find the hydrant, it'll probably be the same the ten minutes it takes your house to burn down. If you're lucky enough to have a hydrant on your property, you owe it to your community and neighbours to ensure it is visible and easily accessible .

16.01.2022 Here's a picture worth reflecting on for a few minutes . It's an aerial shot from the DBCA helicopter thisarvo working the fuel reduction burn. It hopefully provides you a glimpse of how much bush there is surrounding Margaret River townsite in the background. And a very powerful visual of why the fuel load needs to be reduced to manageable levels. The amount of surrounding bush is not something a lot of people realise from ground level. And it's the reason why fire aut...horities and the brigades keep saying everyone needs a proper fire plan and to prepare their properties for bushfire, even in the middle of town. Just imagine for a moment the outcome of that bushland igniting in a catastrophic bushfire in the middle of summer. It's probably also worth addressing the elephant in the room. The devastating 2011 bushfires that occurred on the same date nine years ago. Those memories would be weighing heavily on the DBCA fire crews working this fuel reduction burn. Thankfully this burn is in vastly different conditions, ideal weather, south west breezes, more personnel and highly experienced fire management team that have been bought in from all over the district. No doubt the smoke clouds surrounding town this afternoon would have bought back memories from 2011. Unfortunately the window of opportunity to get this work done was down to a matter of just a few ideal weather days in the whole year. And those days just happened to be this week. Hopefully this image serves as a sobering reminder of the fuels that surround town and an opportunity to sit down with your family over coming days to work on your fire plan and prepare your property for the coming fire season.

15.01.2022 We love this Bushfire preparedness post from Beautifully Mad band in Bermagui in NSW. They survived the devastating 2020 fires, while many of their neighbouring communities were not so lucky. And they've learned a few valuable lessons in preparing for bushfires after watching so many friends lose memories and valuables as their homes burned down This is a great idea to walk around your house to film and photograph all your valuables and records. Store the data in the cl...oud or thumbdrive at a separate location. It'll be an incredibly useful tool in making an insurance claim or a digital record to help re-create family photos if your house burns down. It's also a very powerful way of realising what's important to you and great start to your bushfire planning. Don't put this one on the 'to do' list. Tomorrow could be too late. Get it done today . Even just a five minute walk through the house with the video rolling will help create a record you can work from. Easy peasy.

13.01.2022 ***** Get the new My Bushfire Plan app! ***** It's the 9 year anniversary week of the devatating 2011 Margaret River Fires. For many, those horrible memories will still seems like yesterday (video taken in Kilcarnup by escaping residents). It's always a important week to reflect and a week to focus your attention on being prepared for the upcoming fire season. ... One of the big lessons we all learned was how unprepared a lot of the community were for bushfires. The old saying "oh we'd just pack up and leave" proved to be an embarrasingly inadequate fire plan. This years anniversary week just happens to cooincide with the launch of the awesone new Bushfire planning app. Search the app store to find it under MY BUSHFIRE PLAN. It's free. And it's a super simple and easy way tp create your bushfire plan with the family and have it on all your devices.

13.01.2022 Well done and big double thumbs thanks to the DBCA crew that worked on the South Carters Rd fuel reduction burn today . It was a precision low intensity burn in near perfect conditions, following a wet start to November. This area has not been burnt since 2008 and forms a significant fire risk that could directly impact Margaret River townsite during a summer bushfire. It’s a major win for the region to have finally achieved this fuel reduction. ... It was also great to see and hear so many surrounding home owners making the effort to thank fire crews for undertaking this hot, dirty and smoky work. Anyone that lives near such an enormous potential firebomb can appreciate how much better it is to reduce the fuel now instead of waiting for a fire disaster. Property owners talked of previous fires in this bush where flames were crowning 20 metres above the tree line! The window of opportunity to get this work done is getting shorter and shorter every year and it’s a credit to the DBCA fire management team for having prioritised this burn for the Margaret River community and dedicated so many personnel and resources to the job. The main burn and edging works were achieved today. However this is a complex burn that needs multiple ignitions over coming days to help preserve biodiversity and reduce the fuels in a variety of different forest types including Karri and Jarrah, so you can expect to see and smell smoke for the next week or so. DBCA will have a long-term commitment to complete, patrol and mop up into coming weeks so they will be out there for a while longer yet. We reckon they’ve earned a wave or a thumbs up as a show of appreciation when you drive by .

06.01.2022 Another successful fuel reduction burn last Friday assisting a private property owner on Wilderness Drive. The image gives a good idea of how dry the bush has already become. Three hoses to keep the flames at low intensity. Imagine the same bush with no water and a sea breeze cranking behind it. We'd have an inferno within minutes and the whole Gnarabup/Prevelly ridge impacted. ... It's a frightening scenario that plays heavily on our minds all summer. We know a bushfire on this ridge is inevitable at some point. And the reason we keep saying everyone in the Wallcliffe district needs to be working on reducing the fuel loads around their houses. And have a bushfire plan with Option A ...... and Option B if things go quickly pear shaped - Dirk Hos

05.01.2022 If you live in a bushfire risk area, you need to understand the Bushfire Warning Systems before a fire threatens your home. The alerts give information on how severe a bushfire is once it's started. Alerts have four warning levels indicating the increasing risk to your life or property, and the decreasing amount of time you have until the fire arrives. The following tools and resources can help you to understand the four levels of warnings: DFES' Bushfire Warning System Facts...heet DFES' Alerts and Warnings Youtube Video When a bushfire threatens, you can monitor official warnings at www.emergency.wa.gov.au By calling DFES' Information Line on 13DFES (13 3337) Local ABC ra Remember: Your surroundings could be your best information source. Stay alert to what is happening around you. If you believe you may be in danger, act immediately to stay safe. For further bushfire information please visit dfes.wa.gov.au

02.01.2022 We have an early contender for Muppet of the Season. Someone decided it would be fun to light up some Grass Trees on the Blackpoint Track last night . Resulting in a significant bushfire in the D'Entrecasteaux National Park. Requiring dozens of fire fighters to contain. In the words of one of the responding DBCA fire crew " this behaviour is careless and reckless" . Risking life and property. ... It's a timely reminder we are now in Bushfire season. With record numbers of West Aussies wandering out yonder this year, we can unfortunately expect there will be the occasional idiot who has overdosed on a BCF camping gear shopping spree and has no idea about life in the bush and likely to start a wildfire . Your property and bushfire plans need to be prepared now.