Whiteheads Creek-Tarcombe Fire Brigade is calling on the community to attend its Get Fire Ready event on Sunday, October 25.
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Simon Ruppert
The importance of having a plan ahead of the fire season will be emphasised during a free event hosted by Whiteheads Creek-Tarcombe Fire Brigade this weekend.
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The community is invited to attend the brigade’s annual Get Fire Ready event on Sunday, October 25, which, like last year, will focus on bushfire planning with horses and livestock.
Whiteheads Creek-Tarcombe Fire Brigade volunteer Sandy Zeuschner said while she had been a firefighter for seven years, the session last year taught her valuable lessons.
“I went to this information session last year thinking I’d learn something but probably not much,” Ms Zeuschner said.
“Then, I was just overwhelmed by how much I actually learnt that I actually went home and went, ‘right, what can I do around my property to actually help these animals?’”
She said the session supported her own fire plan during the Longwood bushfire in January.
Sandy Zeuschner marked her horses in case they were lost during the Longwood bushfire in January, learning about the technique from last year's Get Fire Ready session.
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Supplied
“For me, who has evacuated horses before in fires, it’s been very rushed and very radical,” Ms Zeuschner said.
“I was home that Friday before turning out to the fires and I activated the fire ready plan that (guest speaker) Kimberley Williams had talked about and recommended.
“The whole day, I was checking in with my parents, who live hours away and were concerned ... they will say to me to this day, ‘you were so calm, the fire was 4km away but you were so calm’.”
The session will cover planning and preparing for a bushfire or grassfire, and how to give your animals the best chance of survival without you there.
Tips and tricks on preparing your animals, as well as basic first aid for treating your animals, will also be shared.
Ms Zeuschner said that a major takeaway for her was that “the animals will know intuitively what to do”.
“You just have to provide that best chance of survival for them,” she said.
“Shoving them in a horse flight or truck and trying to randomly and quickly get them out — that’s where you get into trouble.
“It’s learning how to give the animals the best chance to survive.”
The session will be held at Whiteheads Creek Hall, beside the fire brigade on Kobyboyn Rd, from noon to 2pm.
Kimberley Williams will again be the guest speaker at the event.
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