Bushfire
Disaster can strike quickly, without warning and with catastrophic results.
Much of NSW is bushfire prone, and that means you need to be prepared. Whether you have a moveable collection, archives, a historic site and/or an exhibition space you should prepare and regularly review your fire plan to ensure the safety of your staff, volunteers, visitors, buildings and objects.
Your fire plan will also inform or be a part of your collection disaster plan, which deals specifically with the objects and materials within your collection. This plan provides critical guidance for organisations during and after a disaster to effectively respond and recover collection material. Identified risks are prepared for or prevented, which reduces the impact and damage to the collection. The development of the plan strengthens staff knowledge on the collection, its management, and the building that houses the collection.
There are several important resources you should know about:
The Rural Fire Service provides information about preparing a property for attack and an easy-to-use bushfire survival plan. Their website offers the resource ‘Fires near me’ in map and table format; it’s updated several times daily and more often if fire threats are active.
It’s also a good idea to make sure that there is a mobile phone registered to the address of the museum or gallery rather than a home address so that emergency text messages sent by the RFS are received if a fire is threatening your area.
Bushfire survival plans: rfs.nsw.gov.au/bush-fire-survival-plan
RFS fact sheets: rfs.nsw.gov.au/factsheets
Fires near me: rfs.nsw.gov.au/fires-near-me
In terms of collection care, the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM) is the go to place for pre and post fire care information.
Bushfires … protect your precious possessions provides important preparation information. They also offer cleaning and first aid advice for objects affected by soot or direct fire damage.
You can find those resources here: aiccm.org.au/fire
AICCM operates the collection disaster advice service in Australia.
Emergency information can be found at: aiccm.org.au/disaster-help
Their website also has a register of conservators in private practice. All conservators registered here can be relied upon for best-practice, practical advice and treatments. aiccm.org.au/conservators
Blueshield Australia – Fire Recovery – Resources to support salvage and recovery of fire-damaged collections: blueshieldaustralia.org.au/resources/fire/
How can you salvage your family’s precious belongings
Coping in the immediate aftermath
It is normal to experience feelings of sadness, fear, guilt or anger immediately after a natural disaster or other stressful event.
It is important to prioritise yourself to help reduce some of the distress you may be feeling.
The Blackdog Institute has compiled a range of helpful suggestions on how to do this.
blackdoginstitute.org.au/bush-fire-support-service/resource/coping-in-the-immediate-aftermath/
Additional Resources
- Bushfires in NSW (NSW Government website) – Information and support services for individuals, families and businesses about bushfires and recovery in NSW.
BOM Weather – shows current conditions, forecasts, warnings and radar - Emergency Plus – helps accurately inform emergency call takers of your location when calling Triple Zero (000)
- Getting your mob bushfire ready – This resource has been created by the AH&MRC to help you and your mob prepare a bushfire safety plan
- Hazards Near Me – get the latest emergency warnings and advice on local floods, bushfires and tsunamis
- Live Traffic NSW – so you know what’s happening on NSW roads at any time
- AirSmart – check the air quality in your local area and reduce your exposure to air pollution