Public Awareness Campaigns
Fire Ready
Fire Ready Victoria is a joint campaign by the CFA, MFB, DSE, DHS, and the State Government of Victoria to raise public awareness around bushfire readiness with the tagline “Plan, prepare, practice: Are you fire ready?”.
Home Fire Safety
Winter is a high risk time for house fires. The CFA, MFB, Energy Safe Victoria, Archicentre, and the Victorian Government have launched an initiative to help educate people about the dangers of house fires and how they can start (ie., “hotspots”). The Home Fire Safety website has a great fire safety checklist for residents, as well as an interactive tool to help you identify them. (NB: This campaign was previously called Check Your Hotspots.)
www.homefiresafety.com.au
CFA article
MFB article
Summer Fire Safety
Each summer, the MFB runs a Summer Fire Safety campaign aimed at educating the community about the risk of fire, particularly grass and scrub fires, bushfires, home preparation, and escape plans. Read the MFB article for more details.
Dial 000 Across Victoria
Previously, regional and rural Victorians dialled their local fire brigade phone number to report a fire. As part of the Country Call Taking project, all Victorians now need to dial 000 (“triple zero”) to report a fire. More information can be found on the Dial 000 page of the CFA website.
Triple Zero (000) – Australia’s Emergency Call Service
Triple Zero (000) is the number to call for police, fire, or ambulance emergency assistance in Australia. It is pronounced triple zero rather than triple “oh” to avoid any possible confusion – especially in this age of text messaging. The AusDIN website has comprehensive information on this service, including what to do if you use a teletypewriter (TTY).
Please note that it is NOT possible to contact emergency services using a text message or SMS on a mobile phone. For further information on contacting emergency services on a mobile phone in Australia, please read the FAQ at the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website. This answers many important questions, including the correct use of the 112 number.
ACMA FAQ – Calling the Emergency Service from a Mobile Phone
Contact 132 500 for Flood or Storm Emergency
If you have a flood or storm emergency and require SES assistance, you now need to contact the SES on 132 500 instead of calling your local unit or general callout number for Melbourne or Geelong. Check out the campaign on the SES site for key points, an FAQ, and a few radio clips.
Standard Emergency Warning Signal
The SES website has an article about the Standard Emergency Warning Signal, or SEWS, which is used to proceed radio and/ or television announcements regarding an actual or imminent emergency that has the potential to affect the radio listeners/ television viewers. Check out the audio announcements at the bottom of this page for a sample of what the SEWS sounds like.
Information and Publications by the CFA
The Country Fire Authority has a wide range of information and publications for residents, business, industry, and schools. These can all be found on the CFA website.