Managing bushfire season when you have a chronic illness or are sensitive to chemicals
It’s the Australian summer bushfire season once again, and are managing a chronic illness, disability and/or you are sensitive to chemicals, which leaves the question: Do you stay or go? For a few of us, the answer seems obvious, right? Bushfire Season Survival isn’t so simple when evacuating with Chronic Illness Health issues from Wood-fire smoke and Bushfire Smoke:
The facts are, if you have a medical condition and the state of your health could be impacted by bushfire smoke, or your condition means you need special accomodations, it is a smart idea to have a ‘Leave while it is still Safe’ plan before it’s time to evacuate, if possible. In any event it’s a good idea to have an evacuation bag and plan available–no matter your circumstance.
Waiting it out until the last minute when there are bushfires out of control nearby has proven to be catastrophic over summer periods since discovery of the Australian 2004 firenados (Canberra, 2004 outer-suburbia, disastrous bush fires).
In an up-and-coming post we share examples how people—suffering with multiple chemical sensitivity and other chronic illnesses related to chemical sensitivity as a symptom—survived catastrophic bushfires, and have, in the interest of the chronic illness community health and safety, kindly shared their personal stories, thoughts and opinions.
Warning, these were almost absolute catastrophes! But first…
How to Avoid Cataclysmic Bushfire Smoke and Catastrophic Fires
If you know you cannot drive during smoke and traffic/suburbia/city pollution at the best of times, then you most definitely need a plan if you want to escape bushfire smoke.
“These are the risks we take when residing in locations that are abundant in fresh air while being dense in bush, forest and coastal bush areas in Australia… often our only choice for health reasons, if we are lucky.”
Michellina van Loder
However, with planning we can keep ourselves and others safe:
Emergency Alerts
You can register for an alert on your mobile, landline etc. For alerts only, Emergency Alert is Australia wide (Once on the page click the map below for relevant state emergency services.) and also covers floods or other types of emergencies:
“Emergency Alert is the national telephone warning system used by emergency services to send voice messages to landlines and text messages to mobile phones within a defined area about likely or actual emergencies in Australia.”
Emergency Alert
Link for ‘Australia Wide Emergency Alert Register‘: http://www.emergencyalert.gov.au
Don’t rely on one service:
Keep yourself updated via webpages, apps and listening to ABC radio. In Victoria, a great source of information (for all emergencies, even fallen trees) is the VIC Emergency app (can be installed on phones) and their daily-updated website.
It’s a good idea to find the same service for your state. That way you can keep a look out on local bushfire situations and know that you are prepared and able to take or get assistance taking appropriate action.
Bushfire Warning Status Meanings
Here’s what each bushfire status actually means, you may receive a an ‘Evacuate Now’ message especially if you have registered with Emergency Alert or have your Australian state or Territories app, as well as get a good understanding on what the warnings mean, ‘Out of Control’ and ‘Safe mean
Lifehacker, The Bushfire Alerts: The Sites and Apps You Need
“By state:
New South Wales
NSW Rural Fire Service: site, map, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Android, iOS
Fire & Rescue NSW: site, RSS, Twitter, Facebook,
Victoria
Country Fire Authority: site, map, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Android, iOS
Metropolitan Fire Board: site, Twitter, Facebook
Queensland
Rural Fire Service: site, map.
Queensland Fire And Rescue Service: site, Twitter.
Western Australia
Department Of Fire And Emergency Services: site, Twitter
South Australia
Country Fire Service: site, map, Twitter, Facebook, iOS
Metropolitan Fire Service: site, Twitter
Tasmania
Tasmania Fire Service: site, map, RSS, Twitter, Facebook
ACT
ACT Rural Fire Service: site, map, RSS, Twitter, FacebookLifehacker.com
Northern Territory
Northern Territory Fire And Rescue Service: site
This story has been updated since its previous publication.”
But when building it’s law to have your BAL in all submitted documents, plans and abide by BAL rated materials as well.
How to Assess Your Bushfire Attack Level
From from the Victorian State Government:
“The Australian Bushfire Attack Levels for areas in order of the most to least at risk properties. A Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) is a way of measuring the severity of a building’s potential exposure to ember attack, radiant heat and direct flame contact. There are six Bushfire Attack Levels that form part of the Australian Standard for construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas (AS 3959-2009): BAL-LOW
The Victorian State Government
What are the 6 bushfire attack levels?
“There are 6 bushfire attack levels in total, these are;
BAL – AS 3959
BAL Flame Zone.
BAL 40.
BAL 29.
BAL 19.
BAL 12.5.
BAL Low.
Bushfire Attack Level – AS 3959“
Calculator for BAL Levels
This is a free website which helps you calculate your bushfire attack level, simply click the bushfire attack level calculator link.
Can We Reduce Our BAL?
You can reduce your BAL by creating a fire protection zone around your home–even during an evacuation:
“A bushfire protection zone is a safety perimeter around your home that is free from flammable material, the distance recommended by most fire agencies is a minimum of 20 meters, however if you live in a highly forested area, you may want to increase this distance.”
AS 3959
Where Do We Go?
- Pack the car and leave to go camping, stay with relatives or friends (weigh up your personal options: what’s worse exposure to chemical-irritants that impact your health or getting stuck in dense bushfire smoke pushed by cataclysmic, unpredictable hot winds
- Put out a request on your social media for temporary accommodation; or ask people you know who lives in a tolerated area if there’s somewhere safe to park
- Contact your local council in advance and ask if they can offer any options that might be safer for your medical condition in the event of having to attend a local evacuation centre
- A day trip to fresh air could be possible but that hasn’t been the case in many areas lately-—not without driving through smoke first
- Holiday houses, shacks, cabins, caravans, and equipped vans and cars as contingency housing plans are looking really good for people like us who could be homeless if we lost everything in a fire or want to evacuate with minimal impact to our health conditions
Keeping Bushfires Out?
Smoke and flames from catastrophic bushfires obey no law of logic:
“…if there is a catastrophic bushfire, firenado [another short example], or risk of ember attack in or near your area in prevailing weather conditions you will receive this a message like this:
“Evacuate now. When you leave remember to take your pets, mobile phone and charger. If you are away from home; do not return. If you choose to stay, emergency services may not be able to help you.”
The Age
Wood Chimney Smoke: the Invisible Elephant on the Planet, until now… Do You See it Now?
Health issues vs Wood-fire smoke and Bushfire Smoke. You can not discuss the invisible-chronically-ill elephant in the media room that no-one is talking about except for Aussie Canaries on blogs, social media:
The relation of health issues vs woodfire smoke and bushfire smoke: two very different beasts but both toxic beasts non-the-less: the effects of wood-fire and bushfire smoke have been meticulously well researched and documented in science-based, peer reviewed journals and in Australian Workplace Safety documents on MCS. However, the amount of smoke seen in Australia since Spring, 2019, is unprecedented.
The problem: Bushfire smoke is far more serious in density of PM.2 particles, impacts on the general population’s health—as well as that of the chronically ill. In some areas of Australia it has been smokey for weeks now, months even if you count the fires started in spring. The smoke has travelled to New Zealand and the haze showing long-term consquences isn’t yet clear.
Wood-smoke often chokes out the neighbourhood community residents lungs. impacts the elderly and how about babies? Give the world a chance? Woodsmoke can hinder inflammation and sensitivities infiltrating homes and belongings all winter long. Now, we have not only the bushfire smoke to contend with but the risk of catastrophic bushfires also and the smoke that goes with it.
Right, time for damage control!
The new erratic rules of Bushfire season, thanks to climate change deniers and coal companies, now adds a new element to protecting the vulnerable among us.
What can you do if bushfire smoke is getting into your house and you have to leave?
- Before the event of an evacuation, as there’s no time to do such things in an actual evacuation, it’s a good idea to seal up the doors and windows as usual making sure you’re not creating any extra fire hazard: Embers like open areas.
- If smoke is coming through the floorboards then you could seal it with foil
- Use an air purifier
- Use carbon fabric behind the window screens on the inside of the window (not if it’s going to add to the flammable materials you will need to remove from around your house)
- Get insurance
What you Can do to Stay Safe
If it is difficult to make your bedroom smoke-free sleep in a room that you can make smoke-free and spend most of your time in there.
The best type of tape are the ones designed for trade use: temporary use. Painters’ masking tape. It’s designed to be used for a short period of time then removed. Places you can seal are around doors, windows and cracks in the floorboards.
Important Bushfire Recovery and Preparedness Tips
From Better Health VIC: the full document with outbound links with the full information can be found here
Clean up after a bushfire: Chemical Information and Health Tips
More tips at Better Health, see link below:
Bushfire aftermath – safety tips – When returning to your property, make sure you are aware of the dangers and take steps to protect your health and safety.
Personal protective equipment – Protective kits are for people returning to properties affected by fire. They are available from your local council or an emergency recovery centre, along with additional masks, disposable coveralls and sturdy gloves.
Ash – health risks and cleaning up of ash – Factsheet from the EPA about ash and how to safely deal with it.
Bushfires and your private drinking water supply – Information to protect your water tank from contamination before and after a bushfire.
Cleaning up a smoke affected home – Information from the EPA for steps to take if your house smells of smoke
Fire Retardants
Fire retardants and health – EPA Factsheet providing information about the effects of fire retardants, and how to protect your health around fire retardants.
Firewater run-off – Information from EPA about firewater run-off and the potential contamination of water sources.
Farm waste management, including dead stock – Information from the EPA about waste management of various waste types on farms
Cleaning up ash from CCA treated timber -safety precautions for cleaning up CCA treated timber
Asbestos hazards after a fire – Asbestos may be present in debris to be cleaned up. This fact sheet provides information about the health risks of asbestos and safe disposal of asbestos after a fire.
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/campaigns/bushfire-emergency-information
Assistance
Emergency re-establishment payments – Information about immediate financial relief following a fire as well as re-establishment financial assistance. (VIC)
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/campaigns/bushfire-emergency-information
An End in Sight
Even for us Australians, living in a place notoriously known for bushfires, it’s been difficult for many of us to realise the magnitude of the past few months and the possibility of more to come, and we can only pray and hope for the change in the air that we’ve all been waiting for.
To keep ourselves safe: plans and action need to be weighed up. Now, not later.
Stay Safe, everyone.
LINKS, RESOURCES AND TL;DR
BAL explanation: as3959: www.as3959.com.au › bushfire-attack-level
VIC Emergency app: http://www.emergencyalert.gov.au
Emergency Alert: http://www.emergencyalert.gov.au
The Conversation: Warnings: What ‘Out of Control’ and ‘Safe mean
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity WordPress: How to keep smoke out of your house
Lowering Woodsmoke Emissions: Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
More
The Conversation: Our buildings aren’t made to keep out bushfire smoke: Here’s what you can do
The Guardian: Fashionable face masks: ‘Trying to make something horrific seem appealing’
Labyrinth Press: Bushfire Plans
Amazing article for everyone, best to print it out to get prepared
Thanks, Angelika <3