What to have on hand for fire season on a rural block
Fire season comes round every year on a rural block, and the conversation I have across the counter is nearly always about gear when it should probably start with the plan, so I'll get the honest part out of the way first. The tools below are the ones that genuinely earn their keep, and there are a few things people expect us to have that we simply don't, and I'd rather tell you that now than have you drive out here for something we can't hand you.
The hand tools that do most of the work
Most of what actually protects a property happens months before anything is burning, and it's done with a handle and some effort rather than with anything clever. A fire rake is the specific tool for dragging a break through dry grass and light scrub, and it's worth having a proper one rather than making do. A long handled shovel smothers a spot fire with dirt faster than anything else you'll reach for. A mattock with a cutter end takes out the woody stuff that a rake will just ride over. And a stiff garden rake handles the leaf litter that piles up against the house, which is where a lot of ember trouble starts.
We keep all four, and there's a good spread of shovels and rakes in the garden section, so it's worth coming in and picking one up rather than ordering something blind, because the handle length matters a lot more than people expect when you're swinging it for an hour.
A knapsack sprayer is the one that surprises people
A 12 litre knapsack sprayer is the cheapest useful thing on this list. You can wet down a fence line, damp off a smouldering patch, or put water where a hose won't reach, and the rest of the year it does your weed spraying. We stock the Hills 12 litre, plus a range of smaller pressure sprayers if you only want it for the garden.
What you wear matters as much as what you carry
Working in smoke and heat wrecks you faster than you'd think. A P2 mask or a proper respirator keeps the fine particles out, safety goggles or wraparound safety glasses keep ash and grit out of your eyes, riggers gloves stop your hands going to pieces on hot metal and wire, and boots you can actually stand in all day beat anything you'd wear to the shops. We carry all of that, including a Kevlar stitched extended cuff riggers gauntlet that's made for exactly this sort of work.
Light and power, because the grid goes down
Power cuts out during a fire more often than not, so a torch you can rely on and a head lamp that leaves both hands free are worth more than they cost. A jump starter with a power bank built in will get the ute going and charge a phone at the same time, which covers two problems at once.
Clearing up before the season
Fine litter is what carries embers into a roof cavity, so a cordless blower moving leaves off the verandah and out of the gutters does more good than most people credit it with. Keeping the grass and weeds down around sheds, fences and the house is the same job by another name, and a knapsack of weed killer in spring saves a lot of raking later.
The things we don't sell, said plainly
We do not stock firefighting pumps, water tanks, roof mounted fire sprinkler systems, fire blankets, generators or UHF radios. They're all sensible things to have and none of them are ours to sell you, so go to a supplier who does them properly rather than buying something half right. The same goes for a written fire plan, which costs nothing, matters more than every tool on this page, and is the thing people leave until the smoke is already up.
Shop related products
- Hard Unit Aluminium Torch Medium, USB rechargeable. Rechargeable, so there's no hunting for batteries.
- Hard Unit Head Lamp, red and white LED, USB. Both hands free while you work.
- VoltFlow PowerFlow 2500A Jump Starter and Power Bank. Starts the ute and charges a phone when the power is out.
- Ugly Fish Tradie Safety Sunglasses RS5001. Wraparound, so ash stays out of your eyes.
- Brunnings Glyphosate 360 Weed Killer Concentrate 1L. For knocking the fuel load down while there's still time.
Did you know we also keep the fire rake, long handled shovels, mattocks with a cutter end, the Hills 12 litre knapsack sprayer, P2 masks and respirators, safety goggles, riggers gloves, first aid kits, a 1kg dry powder extinguisher, tarps, jerry cans and cordless blowers in store. Those aren't all on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.
More from us
- How to keep a fire break clear on a rural block
- DIY bushfire-resilient landscaping
- Local delivery, if you'd rather the heavy gear turned up at the gate.
Come and have a yak with us if you're not sure where to start, because working out what a particular block actually needs is a better conversation in person than it ever is online. I'm still learning this place myself and I ask the blokes on the fire brigade more questions than they probably want.
Cheers,
Candeece
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