Farms & Property

Farm Fire Safety

	NEW! The number of haystack fires in Victoria has increased significantly over recent years. Learn what causes haystack fires, how to minimise the risk of haystack fires and protect your assets, and what to do if hay is heating Download the Preventing Haystack Fires Brochure - pdf 782k: Large File!
More information: Department of Primary Industries' Agriculture Notes- What Happens to Hay When it Heats? Haystack Fires (Spontaneous Combustion) Australian Fodder Industry Association’s Technical Notes on Hay Production

Running a farm is a business, but there aren’t many businesses which are also your home and your way of life. Just like people in many other kinds of business, farmers must cope with things beyond their control, such as the weather, outbreak of disease and fluctuating commodity prices around the world. Farmers are at the mercy of the climate in good years and bad. Success is a tribute to a farmer’s ability to manage these risks.

In Victoria, farmers must also be alert to the bushfire risk and include fire protection in their business plans. This is because Victoria is one of the world’s most bushfire prone regions. There will always be bushfires and grassfires in Victoria because of the nature of the climate and the vegetation. Loss of life and property is a possibility every fire season. In fact, from July 1997 – May 2005 there were over 11,000 fires reported on rural properties involved in agricultural production in Victoria. However, in many cases these fires could have been easily prevented. Destruction of a home causes shock and material and financial loss for the whole family. But when a bushfire sweeps across a farm, the losses can be even more devastating.

Below are links to information and resources that will help you to better understand the risks associated with fire, and practical ways to help prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from bushfires and grassfires in rural Victoria. 

• On the Land - Agricultural Fire Management Guidelines that provide an overview of fire safety and management on rural properties and practical advice that will be particularly useful for those that are new to farming and rural living, undertaking farm planning or trying new enterprises.

• Using Private Equipment at Fires - Advice to consider before using your private equipment at a fire.

• Use of Foam During a Fire - Can the use of Foam during a fire impact on your property? CFA has completed research into the use of Class A foam during a fire.

• Emergency Management Guidelines for Wind Farms- Guidelines aimed to reduce the risk and impact of fire in and around wind farms already installed, being installed or being designed.

• Fire Hazard Ratings for Powerlines - CFA, MFB and Energy Safe Victoria have produced an interactive DVD-ROM entitled Fire Hazard Ratings Assigned under the Electricity Safety Act 1998, available now by email order.

See also:

• CFA Publications on General and Rural Workplace Safety

• Fire Ready Victoria - A joint agency initiative (including CFA, DSE, MFB and DHS) involving strategies for community development, communication, education and empowerment in relation to wildfire and planned burning in Victoria.

• Community Fireguard - A community-based bushfire safety program designed to reduce the loss of lives and homes in bushfires by helping residents to plan for the threat of a bushfire and to manage their own fire risk.

• Land Use Planning - Is your farm or property located in a busfire prone area covered by a Wildfire Management Overlay? If so, there is likely to be control on buildings and works associated with specified land uses.

• Forest Industry -Information and resources on fire safety and management to help prevent and reduce the impacts of fire on plantation assets.

More information:

Contact CFA Farming and Rural Living Project Manager, on 03 9262 8697