Prepare your home

Get your home ready

Is your property prepared for this bush fire season?

The bushfire season starts on 1 September; It's time to get your property prepared.

Have a look at what you can do around the garden, including keeping lawns and gardens well maintained; cleaning up fallen leaves, twigs and debris around your property; cutting back trees and shrubs overhanging buildings and cleaning gutters.

There are some simple ways you can reduce the risk of a bush fire on your property:

  • trim overhanging trees and branches.
  • remove dead and dry vegetation from around the house.
  • clean out gutters and down-pipes.
  • secure or put away loose items in your yard or balcony.
  • check the roof is in good repair.
  • complete a home safety check.

You can find information about how to prepare on the NSW Rural Fire Service website.

How to plan and prepare your property

Notify the Rural Fire Service (RFS) of any planned burns

  • Notifying the RFS of your planned burn can help reduce unnecessary emergency calls.
  • You also need to let your neighbours know at least one day ahead of the burn.

Notify the RFS

Check your property insurance

Check that your home is properly covered in the event of a bushfire. It is critical that you make sure it's insured to protect your most precious asset and its contents against loss or damage caused by fire. 

Moneysmart can help you choose insurance coverage for the events that are most likely to happen to your home.

View your insurance options with Moneysmart

Check if you are on Bushfire Prone Land

Bushfire prone land is an area of land that can support a bushfire or is likely to be subject to bushfire attack. 

Is my property in bushfire prone land?

A property is bush fire prone if it is wholly or partly located in the red, orange or yellow area on the Bushfire Prone Land Map.

To view the Bushfire Prone Lands map layer, select 'Hazard' from the layers list.

What do the colours on the map mean?

Orange

  • Vegetation category 1 - this is the most hazardous vegetation category

Yellow

  • Vegetation category 2 - these are smaller, isolated pockets of vegetation that are of a lesser hazard than Vegetation Category 1

Red

  • Vegetation buffer - these are areas in which developments and people are most likely to be affected by a bush fire (The red area extends for a distance of 100 metres from the category 1 areas and 30 metres from category 2 areas)

What if my house is located outside the bushfire prone area?

The edge of the bush fire prone land on the map is an artificial boundary.

The impact of a bush fire may not be limited to designated bush fire prone areas. However, it is considered that the level of bush fire risk outside of these areas is such that no special bush fire construction measures are needed.

The bush fire risk can be adequately managed by ongoing maintenance of buildings and yards by the owners or occupiers.

How accurate is the map?

The bush fire prone land map has been produced from aerial photos and vegetation maps. Field surveys have occurred, but in some areas it is very difficult to map the edge of the vegetation.

Apply for assistance with the Assist Infirm, Disabled and Elderly Residents (AIDER) program

The Rural Fire Service's AIDER program is a free, one-off service which supports some of our most at-risk community members.

The AIDER program is designed for people who have limited domestic support available from family, relatives, friends or other services. This could include older people, people living with a disability, and people who are already receiving community assistance and services.

Your property must be on bush fire prone land (land that can support a bush fire or be subject to bush fire attack).

AIDER services can include:

  • clearing gutters.
  • thinning vegetation around the home.
  • removing leaf and tree debris.
  • trimming branches close to your home.
  • mowing or slashing long grass.

Apply for the AIDER program here

Do I need approval to removal a tree?

Council encourages trimming of trees over removal — an arborist can recommend which branches should and shouldn’t be removed.

Learn about trees on private land

Cleaning up garden waste

Garden, or 'green', waste is excess garden vegetation that includes grass clippings, leaves, flowers, weeds and pruned branches (less than 150 mm diameter).

Garden waste can go in your red-lid bin, but council offers alternatives for excess amounts.

To learn more about how to dispose of large amounts of garden waste, go to our page on disposing of garden waste.

Responsible use of fire

It's important to understand your responsibilities when lighting a campfire, using a fire-pit or BBQ, or undertaking activities that may result in a fire such as welding, soldering, gas-cutting or harvesting operations.

Read the RFS Fact Sheet on Lighting A Fire