Otway District Strategic Fuel Breaks

Transcript

[Music playing]

[Text on screen] Otway Strategic Fuel Breaks

[Text on screen] Jack Stratfold Forest Fire Management Officer

[Jack Stratfold] In 2021, Forest Fire Management Victoria will construct approximately 35 kilometres of strategic fuel breaks in the townships of Lorne, Aireys Inlet, and Anglesea.

The fuel breaks will build on an existing network that was created in 2010 and are part of our overall strategy to help reduce bushfire risk to our communities.

In November this year we are building some demonstration breaks near each of these townships so people can see firsthand what they look like during construction.

Essentially the breaks are an area of fuel reduced vegetation at the forest-township interface.

Once complete, they’ll be about 40m wide and resemble an open parkland.

Fuel breaks make fighting fires safer and easier.

The breaks reduce the flammable vegetation around towns which means we can do more fuel reduction burning, fight fires better and end up with safer communities.

Fuel breaks are being constructed on both public and private land.

[Text on screen] Len Tank, Lorne resident

[Len Tank] I’m Len Tank.

I’ve been a resident around town for fifty-odd years.

These breaks are gonna be great.

They’re around two a little bit already.

But, if they could push this the whole way around town whether that be on my property or someone else’s property I think it’s gonna be great.

It’s going to be a lot safer for the town and for the whole community.

[Jack Stratfold] One of the biggest risks during a bushfire event are hazardous trees.

In the next 12 months we’ll be targeting hazardous trees along the Deans Marsh road and the Great Ocean Road.

Doing this work ahead of time increases firefighter and community safety during a bushfire.

It also means community members and essential services can get back into your town faster after a bushfire to kickstart the recovery process.

We’re really happy to be delivering these Strategic Fuel Breaks for our communities.

Strategic Fuel Breaks are a minor change to a small part of the landscape which have a massive effect on making our communities safer.

This work has been developed in deep consultation with private landholders, traditional owners and community groups.

The team that brought this project together includes the Surf Coast Shire, Parks Victoria, the CFA, Regional Roads Victoria and Forest Fire Management Victoria.

We’re working together to keep our communities safer.

[Text on screen] The demonstration Strategic Fuel Breaks will be constructed in early November. You can see them being constructed at:

• Anglesea - Inverlochy Street
• Aireys Inlet - Boundary Road
• Lorne - Allenvale Road