We are horrified at the carnage and destruction fire caused in Victoria, and yet a similar fate is ever present from our escarpment.
Stand just about anywhere in Wollongong and look at the escarpment and you see a huge number of trees cascading down to where they intermingle with homes. It last burned in 1968, hence the amount of fuel present must be enormous - and all it will take is the right circumstances - hot weather, high winds - and a spark in the right place - and we have a disaster !
There is no way such a fire can be prevented. The fire people conduct regular fuel reduction burn-offs when conditions allow, but just as the Victorian fires morphed from a normal bush fire into a fire storm no amount of hazard reduction can remove the danger.
The one thing we can do is to have a workable evacuation plan - and have this backed by a warning system that is practical.
What is needed is a " worst case " scenario to plot which homes could not survive a fire storm and install a means of alerting residents to flee before the fire arrives. Whether that escape should be compulsory or voluntary is a moot point, and will no doubt result in a verbal tussle between the civil liberties people and the authorities.
As a result of events in Victoria many people are now less complacent about fire risks and there is a greater tendency to accept the concept of evacuation.
The problem is that without a clearly delineated plan of who should flee and where they should seek safety - and a warning system to sound the alarm about a coming major fire event - the same confusion and mixed reactions that killed people in Victoria will most likely prevail here.
It is not a matter of " if " but of " when " the escarpment will burn. Now is the time to have contingency plans in place and ready !
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