[solongsuckers]

There is a fire a few kms away from someone I know at the moment. Not huge, but they never are when they have just started!

CFA has issued a watch and act warning, which means:

Watch and Act

An emergency threatens you.
Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect your health, life and your family.


The warning says this fire may impact the area in the next couple of hours. Their response? Oh we'll just wait and see how it goes, the CFA will ring us if we need to get out. WTF?! The CFA are there to fight the fire, not to go and evacuate everyone that has not bothered to pay attention to the warnings and what they mean. This is why the warnings exist!

[Lyra]

I don't think people understand how fire works. Fires can move quickly and change directions very quickly. I also don't think people understand that they are not the only person trying to evacuate: one road out is going to get congested very quickly. People also don't understand that in thick smoke it can be difficult to see. Fire is very noisy making it difficult to hear properly. All these factors can make people confused and disoriented

and, at the heart of it, I do think there is an element of 'it won't happen to me'

[solongsuckers]

Well, this particular fire is now under control (a few minutes ago) which happened quite quickly but still, the advice should be taken seriously as you really never know if they are gong to control it or not do you.

[Lyra]

Well, this particular fire is now under control (a few minutes ago) which happened quite quickly but still, the advice should be taken seriously as you really never know if they are gong to control it or not do you.

I grew up in a fire risk area. My parents were members of the CFS. I did stuff for the CFS in my teenage years. I take all fires and all fire risks very very seriously

[Jareluma]

We have a big one in town at the moment, thankfully not close to me, but I have friends posting on facebook saying its up to their fence line and the CFA has an emergency warning telling people to leave now if they're not prepared to fight, yet no one is taking notice

[Katie_bella]

It's simple really......people don't think it will ever happen to them. They think there will always be someone there to save them.

People have little idea about how bush/grass fires react and respond and don't realise that things can change in an instant.

They forget the pictures and stories of whole families being incinerated in their baths and cars from black saturday.

[liveworkplay]

I don't get it either. I have been glued to our official fire service page here in Tas even though the closest fire is 40km away. The are constantly updating, constantly jumping from "watch and Act" to "emergency" The devastation the main fire has caused is unbelievable as well as over 100 dwellings destroyed. Interviews with some of the people who stayed to help fight said it was literally within 30seconds that the fire went from the hill to so close they had to run to the cars/trucks and get out of there.

I have a very real fear of fire and there is no way I would even be sticking around to defend my property, let alone "wait and see".

[solongsuckers]

It's simple really......people don't think it will ever happen to them. They think there will always be someone there to save them.

People have little idea about how bush/grass fires react and respond and don't realise that things can change in an instant.

They forget the pictures and stories of whole families being incinerated in their baths and cars from black saturday.

I think that is why I take it so seriously. I can't get those images out of my head. I would rather be called paranoid and leave at the first sign of danger and come back alive than hang around and wait and see and be stuck there when it is too late.

[Kitty-N]

I also wonder at the way they give people the option of staying and defending - I personally would get a whiff of danger and be outta there straight away - whether my house was prepared or not. As long as the members of the family were safe, I wouldn't care if a) nothing happened and I evacuated for nothing or b) house burns to ground and only ashes are left. (Well of course I would care, but you know what I mean - I would rather have a family alive).

But what I cant understand is why they don't just flat out tell people to evacuate - is there much point to staying and defending your property? I am probably quite naive in that I've only lived in bushfire prone areas that are mostly residential, not farm land or anything like that. Obviously the farmers have more at stake and are more prepared both in equipment and in experience at dealing with a fire?

Not really sure what I'm getting at, other than, why not just get the heck out anyway? Please feel free to clue me in on why people do stay and whether it really is helpful to the rural fire crews when they do this - I am genuinely curious.

[Sassy Girl]

It's simple really......people don't think it will ever happen to them.

I was going to say the exact same thing. People always think it will never happen to them, it will only ever happen to someone else. Those type of people make me