Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade wins national safety award

A bushfire safety booklet produced by a CFA brigade in the Dandenong Ranges has won a prestigious national award for promoting community safety.

Living Safely with Bushfire, published by the Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade, won the pre-disaster category for volunteer organisations in the 2007 Emergency Management Australia Safer Communities Awards.

(left to right) Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade Captain John Schauble, Brigade Secretary Anna-Marie Shew, Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus

The award was presented at a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra on February 14th by Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus.

Brigade Captain John Schauble and Secretary Anna-Marie Shew, who jointly devised and produced the project along with designer Francis Bourke, accepted the award on behalf of the brigade.

The booklet previously picked up an EMA award at state level.

The EMA awards recognise excellence in the development of initiatives designed to protect Australian communities against disaster.

Mr Schauble said the award reflected the importance of gathering and using local knowledge to help communities understand what could happen to them in an emergency such as a bushfire.

“In areas like the Dandenongs, there is a long history of such events. It is a matter of collecting information about past fires and fire behaviour and presenting this in a way that can help local residents defuse the impact of future incidents,” he said.

Mr Schauble said the brigade booklet aimed to supplement rather than replace excellent bushfire safety materials freely available from CFA.

“There’s now a wealth of information and assistance available to residents who want to be proactive in defending their properties and ensuring the safety of their families,” he said. “Our booklet aims to provide a very local context for the things you need to consider.”

Publication of the 16-page booklet was made possible through a grant from the NRMA Insurance Communityhelp program.

A copy of the booklet was delivered to every household in Sassafras and Ferny Creek last June. The booklet can also be downloaded from the brigade website www.sassafrascfa.org.au

(left to right) Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade Captain John Schauble, CFA Director Community Safety Lisa Sturzenneger, Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Brigade Secretary Anna-Marie Shew

Sassafras-Ferny Creek firefighters Simon Neill (left) and Karen Noonan check out the award-winning bushfire safety booklet