Bushfire Preparedness Ferny Creek Dandenong Ranges January 2026

Undertaking Bushfire Hazard risk assessment for a property in Ferny Creek identified a number of actions the home owners could do to make their home more resilient and prepared for bushfires in this season.

The Bushfire Preparedness audit identified the major ways to prevent embers coming into the building, such as enclosing the subfloor area and lining the eaves. Cutting back vegetation overhanging the house and clearing the leaves and bark from the gutters removes the vegetation hazard that could ignite the timber fascia boards and allow a fire to run up the rafters into the roof should an ember fall in this area.

Protecting windows from radiant heat that can break the glass and subsequently let a bushfire penetrate the building is a proactive approach. Installation of bushfire sprinklers on the older home also is an insurance from embers igniting vulnerable components of the building.

Understanding the bushfire risk in the landscape provides information of possible directions a bushfire could approach from and can then inform strategic garden landscaping and placement features to create defendable space. A worthwhile exercise to provide some protection against bushfires.