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| |Home|Fire Safety| Our Local Conditions | | |||||
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Fire Safety |
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| Our Local Conditions | |||||
| Here in Sutton we live in a climate with marked seasonal variation. The winters are cold and often dry with many frosts. Summers can be hot, although they might scoff at our interpretation of that in White Cliffs. The main growing seasons for both grass and bush vegetation are spring and autumn. This has implications for stock and paddock management as well as fire management. | |||||
| The prevailing wind is from the west or northwest, and this can be very dry and hot in summer. There is the chance of a sudden reverse to the east or northeast in the evening after a hot summer's day if the sea breeze reaches us. For those of us perched up on the higher ground this is more likely to occur and we sometimes get that breeze when it doesn't reach Canberra with any force. The greatest risk from a fast moving fire is from the west-northwest, but there is a possibility of a fire changing direction in the evening. | |||||
| Rainfall can be spread throughout the year, with a monthly mean of around 50 mm, but as with many statistics, the figures can be deceptive. The means may be relatively similar for each month when averaged out over many years, but in any given year there may be significantly long wet or dry periods. The pattern of rainfall also varies in different seasons. In spring or autumn we may get general soaking rains that keep everything moist and growing, while in summer we can get the whole month's rainfall in one or two sudden storms with very dry weather between. The fire risk is greatest in summer conditions, but there is a particular risk in late summer or autumn when we have had a cool moist spring which has produced strong growth. | |||||
| The area is mainly rural with many small acreages. Until recently most have been on cleared farm land, but in recent years many bush blocks have been released. There are some differences in safety considerations for these two types of environment. |  |
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A quick potshot out my front door shows the two types of environment in Sutton, cleared farm land in the foreground and bush country, mostly occupying rocky ridges, in the background. |
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| Our proximity to Canberra and the Federal Highway poses extra risks with respect to both careless and wilfully reckless behaviour. Many fires start on the roadside as a result of acts of deliberate vandalism or from sheer carelessness. We are also receiving a continual supply of new residents from urban environments who may be less familiar with sources of risk. We welcome them and hope they enjoy the benefits of the different drum we march to out here in the outer suburban bush, but it does mean that public education must be part of our role in the Rural Fire Brigade. | |||||
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It is unfortunate that many incidents attended to by the brigade involve deliberately torched cars. |
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