Will our truck fit?

 

CFA brigades are sometimes faced with narrow streets that are blocked by parked cars on both sides of the road, or encounter narrow driveways into rural properties that make it difficult or impossible to get in.

 

To address these issues, CFA has recently produced resources for brigades to help the community understand the importance of providing clear access for emergency vehicles on their own properties and in local streets.

CFA examined the types of resources being produced at a local level and consulted with members across the state. When developing any resources we need to understand what the problem is we are trying to solve, who the audience is, and what messages we want to convey.

CFA then developed a video, brochure and postcards.

Under the Victorian Planning Scheme, in many instances CFA is able to prescribe requirements for access to properties and water access during the permit application process. But for existing properties, we can only appeal to people to do the right thing so that our trucks can reach them during an emergency.

“The standard permit conditions provide great best-practice specifications for our messaging to the broader community so we can provide them guidance on how to help us help them,” CFA Manager Natural Environment and Bushfire Safety Mark Holland said.

“In most cases we can’t compel people to comply, but we can present them with our problem and appeal to them to help.”

CFA members from Boneo, Dromana and Rosebud fire brigades helped us create a video to help get the message out to communities.

“It’s important for us to highlight to the community the challenges we face when we respond to an incident and make them aware that any help we can get from them to make our response quick and effective will reduce the impact on them,” Peninsula Group Officer and Rye Captain Eddie Matt said.

“These resources go a long way to help communicate this.”

Brigades can order the new resources from community engagement coordinators at region and district offices, and downloaded from the Community Engagement Content Portal. 

 

Submitted by	News and Media