Protect Your Property Investment in Hobart: Fire Wise Tips

Bush fires are frightening events, and the most important thing is to get all people to safety. The Tasmania Fire Service advises early evacuation as the best way to survive a bush fire, but as a property owner, you want to protect your property investment in Hobart too. Luckily, there are several strategies that could save a house from burning down – if they are properly applied.

These tips from Tasmania fire services could save your house

In a crisis, Tasmania Fire Services will fight fires where it stands a chance of winning first. Thus, the easier you make things for fire firefighters, the better your chances are of keeping your property intact in the event of a runaway fire. In fact, if you follow fire prevention advice, it may not be necessary to fight a fire on your property at all.

Two zones protect your home

Once again, we look to firefighters for advice, and their sensible approach should stand you in good stead. Have two zones that will help to defend your home from runaway fires. Depending on the type of vegetation and the slope, the size of these zones is indicated in the table you’ll find in this document.

In the inner zone nearest to your home, you will eliminate as many flammable elements as you possibly can. This will include doing things like:

• Using paving or lawn around the house
• Avoiding the use of flammable garden mulch
• Eliminating flammable plants (fire services has a list of fire resistant plants you can use as a guideline)
• Not siting compost heaps or brush piles within the inner zone
• Pruning out dead branches and low branches of trees
• Raking up leaves and clearing out gutters

In the outer zone, the guidelines are a little less rigid. Trees can help to catch embers, but you don’t want a lot of flammable underbrush in this zone. Again, anything that could burn particularly strongly doesn’t belong in your fire protection zone.

Access to water protects your property investment in Hobart

Even in town, mains water can fail during a bush fire. If you have access to water from a swimming pool or small dam, consider including a diesel pump (power may fail too) and the correct male connections that will allow fire services to pump water out. Choose metal fittings to prevent fires from destroying your setup before fire fighters can make use of it. Plastic piping is also flammable, but you can circumvent this by burying it at least 30cm underground. The closer you are to the edge of town, the more important this measure will be.

House fires

Of course, not all fires start in the bush. The kitchen is a prime spot for fires to break out. Provide a fire extinguisher and an easy to use fire blanket to smother cooking fires. Make sure that all household electrical infrastructure is in good order. An electrician will check your home’s circuitry and ensure that everything is in good working order. We help our clients to organize electrical inspections, and we’ll oversee any repairs that are necessary.

Stay safe; Maximise your investment

Your investment property in Hobart is a good source of regular income. Keep it safe with Tasmania Fire Services’ advice and with the help of Baxton Property Management. We help you to maximize your returns on your property investment in Hobart – and keeping your home as safe as possible is part of the deal.

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