Join the 4 Weeks to Fire Ready Challenge
We are asking you to join a simple challenge with your neighbours over 4 short weeks. Four weeks to take being prepared out of the ‘too hard basket’ and potentially save your life, home and treasured memories.
It’s been over five years since Australia’s last major bush fire season made global headlines. Since then, the world has changed: COVID, population changes, and development have transformed suburbs like Box Hill, North Kellyville, and Annangrove. But while our streets have changed, the risk hasn’t. But four short weeks and you can change that for the better.
New residents might not know The Hills’ long memory of fire. Glenhaven and Annangrove in 1975, and then Kenthurst in 1991. In 1994, fire lit up the skies again, taking lives and homes across Sydney.
Major fires devastated properties in Maroota South, Glenorie, and Kenthurst in 2002.
Survivors recall every piece of garden bed and grass paddocks alight as the fire roared overhead. One Glenorie firefighter describes it as “something you’ll never forget, and hope you never have to face again.”
These events came with the loss of lives, homes and treasured memories. They aren’t ancient history, they’re a part of our beautiful landscape.
This might seem too big a challenge, but it’s not – there are some simple and easy things you can do.
That’s why The Hills District Rural Fire Brigades and The Hills Shire Council are inviting you to join your neighbours in the 4 Weeks to Fire Ready Challenge.
Over four weeks, you’ll receive a simple weekly email to help you create a Bush Fire Survival Plan:
Week 1: Discuss – What’s your plan? Will you stay or will you go? Have the conversation.
Week 2: Prepare – Get your go-kit ready, clean up your property, and reduce your risk.
Week 3: Know – Learn about local risk, understand warnings, and where to find trusted info.
Week 4: Keep – Keep up to date and stay informed.
Most homes are lost to ember attack – hundreds of thousands of tiny, wind-blown embers that can travel kilometres ahead of the fire front, landing in gutters, gardens, and doorways, sparking spot fires. Even if you live in a brand-new home, away from the bush, you’re not immune to bush fire.
Bush fires also start and spread so fast that you cannot be guaranteed a fire truck will be available to assist.
Having a plan doesn’t take long. Not having one? That could cost everything.
