Community Bushfire Safety brings together in one accessible and comprehensive volume the results of the most important community safety research being undertaken within the Australian Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Using perspectives deriving from social science, economics and law, it complements the extensive literature already existing on bushfires, which ranges from ecology and fire behaviour to information about emergency management. In doing so, the book supports the increasing emphasis on community safety and the vital role it has to play in Australian bushfire management. Managing community safety requires a diversity of knowledge and an understanding of the many social processes that shape and ultimately determine a community’s resilience to bushfire. The wide range of issues covered in this volume reflects this diversity, including research into gender and vulnerability; the law and its implications for public/fire agency interactions; the arsonist’s rationale; the influence of the media; the role of economics in bushfire management and decision-making; understanding declines in fire brigade volunteerism; bushfire safety policy and its implementation; the effectiveness of community education and risk reduction schemes; and modes of building ignition. Community Bushfire Safety is accessible to practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and students. While the research reported has been undertaken in Australia, much of the material is generic and is likely to be relevant and useful to those dealing with community bushfire safety elsewhere in the world.

By the author of the acclaimed The Complete Bushfire Safety Book, this third edition of Joan Webster OAM’s Essential Bushfire Safety Tips deals with people's fears and concerns about wildfires in general, and the maze of official safety policies. Its concise and straightforward style clears a path of understanding through the tangle of conflicting opinions and misconceptions. It identifies the shortcomings and likely adverse repercussions of some of these policies, defines the actions necessary for people to stay safe during a bushfire – and their homes to remain intact – and sets out safe procedures. Essential Bushfire Safety Tips reveals the scientific post-wildfire research into why people who stayed with their homes died during the 2009 Black Saturday fires, and shows that, despite the almost universal media reports that 'nothing could be done to save homes on such a day', many householders did, in fact, save their homes. Included are chapters on township protection; shelters, refuges and bunkers; as well as information on choices of home bushfire safety strategies; protective house design, furnishings and gardens; protection of animals; and first aid. This book fills the gap between bushfire authority brochures and long, in-depth books. Backed by scientific facts, it brings a message of hope and empowerment: that with appropriate knowledge, preparation and awareness, towns, homes and people can survive wildfires. Set out in easy-to-access dot-point one-liners, it demystifies bushfire behaviour, explains how to prevent a bushfire from destroying houses, details wildfire safety at each stage of threat, describes weather factors and safe burning-off, details the benefits and hazards of staying, non-defensive sheltering, and evacuating, and how to make the decision on which course is best for you.

The complete, comprehensive, unequalled guide to bushfire safety in Australia. Thoroughly researched, with up to date information on every aspect of the subject. "I commend this book to every Australian... It could save your life" - N.P. Cheney, CSIRO Bushfire Behaviour and Management Group Background to bushfires, bushfire cycles, bushfire behaviour, how to prepare for bushfire season, the decision - evacuate or stay and what to do when bushfire threatens are all covered.

In pursuit of lifestyle change, affordable property, and proximity to nature, people from all walks of life are moving to the wildland-urban interface. Tragic wildfires and a predicted increase in high fire danger weather with climate change have triggered concern for the safety of such amenity-led migrants in wildfire-prone landscapes. This book examines wildfire awareness and preparedness amongst women, men, households, communities and agencies at the interface between city and beyond. It does so through an examination of two regions where wildfires are common and disastrous, and where how to deal with them is a major political issue: southeast Australia and the west coast United States. It follows women’s and men’s stories of surviving, fighting, evacuating, living and working with wildfire to reveal the intimate inner workings of wildfire response – and especially the culturally and historically distinct gender relations that underpin wildfire resilience. Wildfire is revealed as much more than a "natural" hazard – it is far from gender-neutral. Rather, wildfire is an important means through which traditional gender roles and power relations are maintained despite changing social circumstances. Women’s and men’s subjectivities are shaped by varying senses of inclusion, exclusion, engagement and disengagement with wildfire management. This leads to the reproduction of gender identities with clear ramifications for if, how and to what extent women and men prepare for wildfire.

Community Bushfire Safety brings together in one accessible and comprehensive volume the results of the most important community safety research being undertaken within the Australian Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Using perspectives deriving from social science, economics and law, it supports the increasing emphasis on community safety and the vital role it has to play in Australian bushfire management. The wide range of issues covered in this volume include research into gender and vulnerability; the law and its implications for public/fire agency interactions; the arsonists ra.

What is the relationship between education and natural disasters? Can education play a role in ameliorating and mitigating them, preparing people in how to respond, and even helping to prevent them? If so, how? Drawing on research carried out in a number of different countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, the UK and the USA, the contributors consider the role of education in relation to natural disasters. The case studies expand conceptual and empirical understandings of the understudied relationship between education and natural disasters and uncover the potential and the limitations of education for mitigating, responding to, and potentially preventing, natural disasters. The contributors also consider the extent to which so-called natural disasters, such as mudslides caused by deforestation and flooding areas built on known flood plains, are linked to human behaviour and how education can impact on these.

In the words of Roger Franklin, fire can be "a curious, wonderful thing". On February 7, 2009, however, there was nothing wonderful about the flames that engulfed Victoria, killing 173 people and reducing several towns to dust. Franklin's book, INFERNO: THE DAY VICTORIA BURNED, is the first to explore the horrors of the day that will forever be known as Black Saturday. Not only does the author explain what happened that day - individual heroism, unimaginable tragedy, tales of towns all but wiped off the map - but also why it happened. The author examines the roles of the Victorian government, the CFA and the local councils that were so determined to protect roadside vegetation. He analyses the pros and cons of preventive burning, questions the merits of the state's controversial stay-or-go policy, and delves into the mind of an arsonist. Through it all, there is a clear message: failure was everywhere on Black Saturday. With bushfires a constant threat in Australian life, Franklin cites many important lessons that need to be learned if such a disaster is to be avoided in the future.

Eighteen case studies of worldwide natural disasters are used to inform actual climate change adaptation practice for researchers and decision makers.

Following the turbulent events of the first few years of the 21st century, the growth of new security and disaster measures have led to significant changes to urban design and the management of urban space. This book blends the genealogical method of Foucault with the theory of rhythms by Lefebvre to examine these changes. The spatial history of urban disaster is linked to the rhythms of everyday urban experience to offer a revised understanding of the regulation of order and disorder in the city. In doing so, the book highlights issues of ’hardening’ space, the drift from civil defence to civil protection to civil contingencies and resilience; this assessment realigns the potential impact of tightening security practices and resilient ways of thinking, doing and acting on societal security. This also links to growing concerns about quality of life over the use and potential abuse of security and disaster legislation for managing social unrest. Examples studied include the increased exclusion of minorities (such as young people) from democracy and public life; security oriented interventions in the ethnic minority communities, the use of automated technologies in policing civil and minor offences (e.g. digital plate recognition and speeding) and the interplay of diverse social groups in more commercially aligned and increasingly ’securitised’ public spaces of the ’entrepreneurial’ city. This book highlights many significant problems with the direction of British democracy and suggests there may be both positive and negative results from becoming more resilient. While providing a critical appraisal of the realignment of neoliberal democracy at large, it also links discussion on ’gentrification’, ’revanchism’ and ’urban security’ to a forward looking agenda for further research.

Bushfires and grassfires are common events throughout Australia, a land with a hot, dry climate. Every year bushfires occur across Australia, often taking human life and damaging property. Major firestorms such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday have left scars on the national psyche and are stark reminders of the destructive power of bushfires. The impacts of climate change are clear with the emergence of more extreme fire weather in recent years; increasingly, many Australians are exposed to potentially catastrophic bushfires. Understanding bushfires and the risks they pose to whole communities is critical if we are to be resilient to these most common and destructive of natural disasters. This book explores the basics of bushfires, how and where they occur, the threats they pose and the hazards they bring. The book also explains in detail how to effectively prepare your home for a bushfire, and when to safely leave. Future bush fires are expected to get worse. Learn now how to prepare, act and survive.