Bushfire-Ready Property
Checklist for householders
PREPARE • ACT • SURVIVE
Helps to protect your house from
Critical to actively
defend your property
Direct ames Radiant heat Ember attack
Defendable space
✓ ✓ ✓
Vegetation management
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Water Supply
✓ ✓
Access
✓
Building improvements
✓ ✓ ✓
Maintenance activities
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Personal capacity
✓
Potential hazards
✓
In most bushre conditions in Tasmania, a well-prepared property will increase the likelihood of successfully defending your
property. Even if you plan to leave early, a well-prepared property is more likely to survive without being actively defended,
or it will make it easier for reghters to protect your property, if reghters are available to protect it. If there is no time to
leave safely, a well-prepared property will provide better shelter than an unprepared property.
For more information and for help with completing your checklist:
• Bushre-Ready Property videos and resources:
www.bushrereadyneighbourhoods.tas.gov.au/bushre-ready-property
• Bushre Survival Plan booklet: www.bushrereadyneighbourhoods.tas.gov.au/prepare-bushre-survival-plan
• Building for Bushre resources: www.re.tas.gov.au/BuildForBushreResources
Defendable Space – an area around your home where vegetation is managed to reduce the intensity of a
bushre. Defendable space can reduce the amount of direct ame contact and radiant heat affecting your home.
Vegetation management – reducing the amount of ammable materials (e.g. leaf litter, bark) and
cutting back trees and shrubs to reduce the intensity of an approaching bushre.
Water supply
– a reliable water supply is a critical part of defending your property. Even if you plan to
leave early, it is important to think about water supply in case things change and you cannot leave and need
to actively defend your property.
Access
– if your house is set back from the road, can a re truck enter and turn around if it needs to
respond to a bushre.
Building improvements – your house and any adjoining structures need to be well constructed to
deal with the impact of bushre, including having openings sealed to prevent embers entering.
Maintenance activities – like cleaning gutters, removing leaf litter, and testing reghting
equipment, can help to keep you bushre-ready.
Personal capacity – consider the physical and psychological risks of staying and defending your
property – it will be hot, scary, tiring, hard to see and breath, and extremely hard work.
Potential hazards – if you plan to stay and defend be aware of potential hazards like electricity
supply, LPG, rewood storage that could impact your personal safety.
For more information visit
fire.tas.gov.au/brn
Defendable Space
YES NO
Have you removed ammable materials from on, under and around the house?
Have you pruned lower branches on tress and remove ammable shrubs?
Have you removed any buildup of leaves, bark and other bush litter?
Vegetation management
YES NO
Have you replaced highly ammable plants with low-ammability plants?
Have you used non-ammable mulch close to your house and buildings?
Have you removed plants from against the walls of your house and buildings?
Water Supply
YES NO
Do you have water for reghting (e.g. a steel or concrete 10,000 litre tank)?
Does the tank have a Storz 65mm adaptor/coupling?
Do you have a petrol or diesel water pump? And spare fuel?
Are water pipes and ttings metal?
If water pipes and ttings are plastic, are they buried underground?
Access
YES NO
Is your street number clearly visible?
Is a re truck able to enter your property and turn around?
Is your driveway at least 4m wide?
Is your driveway clear to a height of 4m?
Building improvements
YES NO
Have you sealed gaps (more than 2mm) around house and other buildings?
• Roof, Windows, Doors, Vents
• Under the house, deck etc
Have you installed valves on your downpipes?
Maintenance activities
YES NO
Have gutters been cleaned?
Have you tested your reghting equipment?
Have you cleaned up leaf litter, long grass, pruned dead branches etc?
Have ammable materials been moved away from the house and buildings?
Personal capacity
YES NO
Are you physically and emotionally prepared to defend your property?
Have you prepared appropriate clothing for defending your property?
Have you prepared a bushre survival kit?
Do you have drinking water and food available?
Potential Hazards
YES NO
Are LPG bottles away from vegetation? Can they be moved away from buildings?
Have you stored rewood away from your house and buildings?
Will pets and livestock be safe and not pose a threat to reghters?
Bushfire Ready Property Checklist for householders
200464 V1_10/2020
