Saturday saw another successful planned burn workshop and training burn!
Keith and Megan, of Flowery Gully, Northern Tasmania spent the last 18 months planning and preparing a block for burning. This included best practice approaches of identifying burn objectives, ensuring preparedness, monitoring fuel moisture, and working alongside Red Hot Tips staff to ensure fuel moistures and weather conditions were appropriate for the vegetation type.
The day kicked off with a planned burn training presentation, sparking a robust discussion around tailoring plans for different situations and different properties. Following this was an on ground and hands on assessment of the burn, where we looked at and discussed:
- Fuel assessments.
- Fuel and soil moistures assessments.
- Weather prescriptions – on the day and 48hrs post-burn.
- Key considerations for the burn, e.g. smoke, neighbour notification.
- Strategies and tactics to ensure burn objectives are met.
- The function and operation of equipment to be used.
- The function and correct use of personal protective equipment.
- We REGISTERED the burn!
The burn was a great opportunity for multiple landowners to see how ignition strategies and the correct use of fire can be applied to make even a complex block like we had, safe and manageable. Attendees had opportunities to try on and wear full protective equipment with some pairing up with a Red Hot Tips team member for some hands-on experience with the drip torch! No better way to understand it than to get on the tools.
The opportunities for training and to gain experience in the use of different firefighting slip on units/hand tools/radios and more was taken full advantage of. We can see a few people heading to TasFire Equipment this week!
This live demonstration of the fuel reduction burning process from planning to ignition and execution was another well received Red Hot Tips event, with the post-burn Q & A session and debrief providing an opportunity for further discussion.
Red Hot Tips would like to thank everyone involved, with special shout out to the local Winkleigh and Glengarry Brigade members who are also landowners in this community.
If this is something that sounds like the Red Hot Tips team can assist you with please reach out for FREE expert assistance on your property.
Red-Hot Tips Team.
Frank Bishop Facilitator South – 0459 908 539
Andrew Crowden Facilitator North/Northwest – 0408 995 156
Sam Tacey Coordinator – 0417 153 620
RedHotTips@fire.tas.gov.au
