Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

Preserving Lives: Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Puts Human Safety First

Where considering current approaches to bushfire management and future adaptations, it is good to reflect on past lessons and recommendations. The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission conducted an extensive investigation into the devastating bushfires that occurred in Victoria,...
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NSW 2019/20 Bushfire Rebuild

In 2020 the Rural Fire Service (RFS) approached Blackash Consulting to help them undertake work to assist the bushfire rebuild in NSW after the 2019/20 state-wide bushfire natural disaster which destroyed over 2400 homes across 34 local government areas. Many communities in NSW...
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Oakdale West Estate (Goodman)

Blackash has been part of the team working on the large industrial estate on a 154-hectare site known as Oakdale West Estate. A State Significant Development, located within the Western Sydney Employment Area (WSEA), in the Penrith LGA. Blackash has been providing bushfire...
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RFS concerned about ‘what the risk could be’ for next fire season, says incoming commissioner

Blackash continues to work with our community of clients to reduce the impact of bushfire through sound Bushfire Management Planning, landuse planning and mitigation/ risk management. While the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold, we will be faced with a range of natural...
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Buying Property in a Bushfire Prone Area

If you are thinking of buying a property in a Bushfire Prone Area, spend a few minutes listening to Blackash Principal Bushfire Resilience, Corey Shackleton talk through some of the issues and considerations. Glen and John chatted with Corey Shackleton, around the concept of...
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Bushfires in Southeast Australia -summer and autumn

With much of eastern Australia in the grip of record drought, #bushfire weather will persist for months to come. The bushfire season in eastern Australia starts in North Queensland and moves south. The fires in northern NSW will continue to burn with new ignitions from accidents,...
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Bushfires & living in the bush

Bushfire has been part of the natural environment of the Australian continent for thousands of years. The forest and grassland environments have adapted to accommodate this as have the original inhabitants. The frequency and intensity of bushfires varies throughout the landscape...
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Wayfinding – Learning from the Past

We are surrounded by clues to our past. As we design communities, planners give a nod to people, places or significant events that shape or give rise to that form. Examples might be “The Broadway” for a wide boulevard, “Scribbly Gum Crescent” for an area...
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CFA BAL

Living in the Bushfire Flame Zone

I heard an interesting comment recently, that it is “Not a good idea to live in the flame zone.” For many people living on the bush interface, this is not an option. The highest level of bushfire attack level (BAL) is known as BAL Flame Zone. Australian Standard (AS 395...
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So why are there houses in the Bushfire Flame Zone?

The simple answer is planning decisions of the past often did not take into consideration a range of natural hazards (ie flood, slip, acid sulphate soils etc), standards were not in place (AS3959 was first published in 1991) and development often occurred in a ad-hoc way. Many...
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