Welcome to the Get Ready Challenge!

The Get Ready Challenge is all about helping your household prepare for the next bushfire season.  

As locals like you – volunteers with jobs and lives to manage – we get that there’s only so many spare hours in the weekend. We’ve made it as simple as possible to get your property bushfire ready by breaking the job down into six bite-size Stages.

Each Stage of the Challenge comes with a mix of background knowledge and relevant tasks to complete. By the end you’ll be fully equipped with:

  • essential bushfire knowledge specific to your house and suburb
  • all the info you need to make a safe decision about whether to stay or leave
  • a ready-for-anything emergency kit
  • a grab bag of essentials for each member of your household
  • a home and yard that have the best possible chance of surviving bush fire
  • a solid plan B in case of the unexpected.

On average you’ll spend between 30 minutes and a couple of hours on each stage. Some jobs will vary depending on the lay of the land in your back yard.

Scroll down to get started right now.

What you need for the Get Ready Challenge

  • a pen and notebook or phone – however you prefer to take notes 
  • some basic garden tools
  • a strong plastic tub or suitcase
  • a way to access the internet.

Need a bit of extra encouragement?

Remember, you can also sign up for the Six Week email challenge. Every Friday for six weeks we’ll send the challenge articles and tasks direct to your inbox, along with some extra firefighter tips and knowledge. It’s like having a free personal trainer helping you get the job done. Like you promised yourself you would.

 

Register now!

The Six Stages of the Challenge

Stage 1 – Discover your area and plan your way out

Knowledge is power, and in stage one of your preparation is to get the basics. Stage One of your preparation is to identify risks in your neighbourhood and start planning how you’ll get away if the moment comes. A moment of panic can turn into a deadly situation, and how safe you’ll be during a fire depends on you know before the fire arrives!

Learn more about Stage One and get started

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Stage 2 – Should I stay or should I go?

A well prepared and actively defended property has the best chance of surviving a fire. But as anyone who has experienced bushfire at close hand will tell you, the experience is not for the faint hearted. The safest option in all cases is to leave early – but getting ready means being prepared for both eventualities.

Learn more about Stage Two then get planning

Stage 3 – Emergency kit

Welcome to the most popular activity of the Challenge! In Stages One and Two of the Challenge we looked at escape routes, safer places and how to know when it’s time to leave (and what to do if you can’t). Stage 3 is all about getting everything ready so you can leave at the drop of a hat.

Learn more about Stage Three then get packing

Stage 4 – Yard blitz

We’re halfway there! If you’ve got through all the tasks so far, congratulations – you pretty much have a complete Bush Fire Survival Plan. The essentials are packed and you’ll be ready with a minimum of fuss if you need to go. Now it’s time to get the rake out, and turn your attention to the garden.

Learn more about Stage Four then get busy

Stage 5: Evaluate your home

With the yard all cleaned up it’s time to move on to the house and buildings. From simple tidy-ups and landscaping ideas to simple home additions, in this part of the challenge we’ll show you how to give your house a better chance against bushfire. 

Learn more about Stage Five and start evaluating

Stage 6 – What is your Plan B?

We’ve saved the most important task for last. Knowing your bushfire plan is critical, but fire can be unpredictable. This stage is all about thinking in advance about the possibilities, and having backup plans in place so you don’t panic if things go sideways.

Learn more about Stage Six and get stuck in

I want to start the challenge, but is now the right time?

Hint: Any time is a good time! But the best place to start will depend on the time of year or your current situation.

 IMPORTANT

If you are reading this and your house is under immediate threat from the fire front – it is too late to evacuate.

It is not safe to leave without assistance from emergency services. You will most likely hear statements like “It’s too late to leave” or “Shelter in place”. These indicate that the fire front is fast moving and intense and may impact on your escape routes or property very soon. In these instances you will need to find defendable, solid shelter. This is something you might have found while you were completing the Rediscover your area activity

Find out which approach suits you best:

It’s August and I want to get started

Perfect timing! Start at the beginning and go through the stages in order. The weekly email challenge is perfect as you have plenty of time, or dive right in to Stage One.

It’s summer but nothing is on fire

Now is definitely time to get cracking. Work through the challenge in order here on the website. Focus on Stage 2 to figure out your evacuation plan and triggers to leave, and Stage 3 to prep your emergency kit and personal grab bags. Then go to Stage 6 so you have a plan B. Use any spare time to prep your house and yard.

The fire danger rating is extreme

Focus on your safety. If you don’t already have an evacuation plan go to Stage 2 to figure out where you’ll go, Stage 3 to prep your grab bags, and Stage 6 so you have a plan B. Use any spare time to prep your house and yard.

I’ve done the Challenge before

Fantastic, thanks for coming back! It never hurts to refresh on the basics. Things may have changed since last time, and supplies in the Emergency Kit might need a refresh. You may also want to kick the tyres on your Evacuation Plan and Plan B.

There’s a fire nearby and my Hazards app is pinging

It may be too late to leave – follow advice from emergency services. If it’s safe to leave, you should get ready to go. Go straight to Stage 2 and figure out where you’re evacuating to, and if there’s time do the Grab Bag task in stage 3. If you can’t leave, Stage 2 is where you’ll find advice about protective clothing and actively defending your property.