Aussies lack bushfire training: study
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 1:52 pm
Aussies lack bushfire training: study
Wednesday Nov 7 11:56 AEDT
Almost one in five Australians would not know what to do if a bushfire threatened their home, a study has found.
According to a survey commissioned by insurer AAMI, 19 per cent of Australians are not educated on fire safety, despite growing bushfire threats in a time of climate change.
AAMI spokesman Geoff Hughes said many Australians were ill-prepared for a fire threat to homes, according to the 2007 Firescreen Index, which surveyed 2,382 respondents.
"The early start to this year's bushfire season should act as a trigger for all Australians to prepare themselves for a potentially dangerous summer, but the reality is that more than one-third do not have a home fire escape plan in place," Mr Hughes said.
"It is a concern that many Australians don't have a plan whereby all family members would know what to do in the case of a home fire that couldn't be extinguished."
About one-quarter of people surveyed had children aged three to 12, who would not know what to do in a house fire.
Mr Hughes said it was disturbing that one in 10 Australians drivers had thrown lit cigarette butts from their car window and that one in 20 had ignored total fire bans.
"That some people are still willing to persist with such dangerous behaviour in a dry, drought-stricken country such as ours is almost impossible to believe," he said.
Mr Hughes said one quarter of Australians failed to regularly clean their gutters and one in six failed to prune branches and remove foliage near their home.
©AAP 2007
Wednesday Nov 7 11:56 AEDT
Almost one in five Australians would not know what to do if a bushfire threatened their home, a study has found.
According to a survey commissioned by insurer AAMI, 19 per cent of Australians are not educated on fire safety, despite growing bushfire threats in a time of climate change.
AAMI spokesman Geoff Hughes said many Australians were ill-prepared for a fire threat to homes, according to the 2007 Firescreen Index, which surveyed 2,382 respondents.
"The early start to this year's bushfire season should act as a trigger for all Australians to prepare themselves for a potentially dangerous summer, but the reality is that more than one-third do not have a home fire escape plan in place," Mr Hughes said.
"It is a concern that many Australians don't have a plan whereby all family members would know what to do in the case of a home fire that couldn't be extinguished."
About one-quarter of people surveyed had children aged three to 12, who would not know what to do in a house fire.
Mr Hughes said it was disturbing that one in 10 Australians drivers had thrown lit cigarette butts from their car window and that one in 20 had ignored total fire bans.
"That some people are still willing to persist with such dangerous behaviour in a dry, drought-stricken country such as ours is almost impossible to believe," he said.
Mr Hughes said one quarter of Australians failed to regularly clean their gutters and one in six failed to prune branches and remove foliage near their home.
©AAP 2007