Highlights
- Australia has new Emergency Warnings and Fire Danger Ratings systems.
- The colour-coded Fire Danger Ratings and the Emergency Warnings systems are similar.
- The Fire Danger Ratings system is used to define how dangerous a fire could become.
- The Australian Warning System is used to describe the severity of an incident that is already unfolding.
“As our climate is changing, we’re seeing more and more compounding disasters,” he says.
Disasters are happening on the back of each other, or are happening over wider areas, and therefore we’re finding more and more that we’re having to share resources across our boarders.
Rob Webb, AFAC CEO
Source: AAP
Australia has recently updated and simplified its Emergency Warning and Fire Danger Ratings systems, and introduced a nationally consistent, tiered system.
The Fire Danger Ratings system is used to alert communities when to start preparing in case of fire. The Australian Warning System is used for advising the threat level of different natural hazards already unfolding.
What are the Fire Danger Ratings and what do they mean?
The four colour-coded categories of the Fire Danger Ratings System are:
- Moderate (green): Plan and prepare
- High (yellow): Prepare to act
- Extreme (orange): Take action now to protect your life and property
- Catastrophic (red): For your survival, leave bush fire risk areas.
The ‘Catastrophic’ and ‘Extreme’ ratings mean it’s unlikely firefighters will be able to control the fire, so you need to action your personal bushfire survival plan and possibly evacuate.
“[The Extreme rating means] you have to be aware of what you’re going to do … whether that’s to stay in the location, or whether you’re going to move to a safer place,” Mr Webb explains.
He says your bushfire survival plan and how you react will depend on your specific circumstances. While some of the more populated areas of Australia are susceptible to fires during the hotter months, other parts of the country, like the north, experience fires during the winter.
Strong winds fan Vic bushfires. Source: AAP
“It will vary from person to person, where your property is, how well-prepared your property is, but ultimately speaking, if you hear that ‘extreme’ forecast and you’re in a bushfire prone area, that’s where you must understand your own bushfire survival plan, and take that action.”
“We’re often having to work with people (who don’t leave) during very intense fires… It’s actually drawing away resources from firefighting because we need to then look after people, supporting people trying to get out of those dangerous situations.”
Natural disasters in Australia Source: AAP
The Australian Warning system and what you should do
“[It is] designed to incorporate many different types of hazard warnings: flood, fire, cyclones, heat, etc.,” Ms Dunstan adds.
[It] provides a level of warning depending on the threat to people’s lives or their homes or businesses.
Fiona Dunstan, AFSM
Examples of the three-tiered Australian Warning levels.
The Australian Warning System is divided into three colour-coded categories, and it is similar to the new Fire Danger Rating.
Once a bushfire or other hazard is occurring, the 3-level Australian Warning Systems kicks in. The categories are:
- Advice (yellow): An incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
- Watch and Act (orange): There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.
- Emergency warning (red): An Emergency Warning is the highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.
In case of floods or fire, you may need to evacuate the area. However, if the hazard is extreme heat or hailstorms, you may need to seek shelter.
She adds that knowing how you will respond beforehand is key, and suggests households should discuss a set of questions together to prepare their emergency plan, in case an alert is issued:
- Where do we go?
- What will we take with us?
- What will we do with our pets, and or children?
Mr Webb advises everyone to contact their local emergency services to find information on the types of hazards that may occur in their area.
Do you get floods? Do you get storms? Do you get fires? Understand the risks that might be there, and learn what you can do to reduce those risks. That’s most important.
Fiona Dunstan, National Community Engagement Manager, BOM
“A small investment in time to understand the hazards in the area can actually save your life further down the track,” says Ms Dunstan.
More information:
In case of emergency, dial triple zero (000)
