Houses save people and people save houses

Plate 1

Important to consider the one-size-fits-all leave early policy and ask the question; how many homes and businesses have been lost as a result and can it be improved? Indeed, what is the basis of the advice?

In recent history there are examples of individuals who’ve stayed behind to save their own home and those of several of their neighbours. Here's recent example from Los Angeles:

How one man defied evacuation orders to stay and save his home

He said he wished the Los Angeles Fire Department put in the same effort as he did. "When I was out here, hosing the house down and getting ready and when the houses started to burn, I didn't see one single fire truck out here at all. Zero.

"If they had had some fire trucks and just put a squirt here, a squirt there and kept an eye on things, all these houses would be here now. I'm telling you right now. I saw it with my own eyeballs. All these houses.

"The houses behind me they're all gone. They started with one little spark, one little small fire. They just squirted those out, had a few people out there, they'd all be here now."

From the story by RTE News.

Plate 2 Black Thursday, February 6th, 1851, by William Strutt. On display at the State Library of Victoria's Pictures collection.

AUSTRALIA

Within Australia and certainly in Victoria there is anecdotal and other evidence of people staying and succeeding in protecting their homes.

Deplorable that the desire of people to protect their homes is not really acknowledged by the fire services and people supported accordingly rather than scaring them into leaving — some will want to stay and defend their homes.

“But in many minds, staying to defend your house is the Australian test of grit: it’s proof that you deserve to be living in the bush in the first place.”

From the book "the arsonist A Mind on Fire, by Chloe Hooper, Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2018."

Then there is the harmful impact on insurance availability to consider.

Whatever happened to continual improvement that in modern history should have at least been benchmarked on the recommendations in the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, which included fuel management!

While finalising this posting I became aware that the evacuation of Dimboola was being urged. Reasonable to ask, had those responsible for urging the evacuation ever been to Dimboola and assessed its vulnerability to bushfire? I am reminded of the Maui Wildfires – December 23, 2024 when considering the loss potential at Dimboola.

Finally, Plate 2 (above) would be a fair representation of a panic-stricken populace fleeing a bushfire — the emergency management agencies and the media do nothing to dispel the fear.