ALIENS! FIRE! ALIENS! FIRE! ALIENS! FIRE! ALIENS!
CAPE OF FIRE - Call to ACTION
(extract of article by Steve Coe – November 2009)
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The Glencairn Fire Committee is keen to work together with as many groups as possible to promote wider community awareness of the ever growing threat of runaway brush fires. These devastating fires have hit us several times in the past decade and were largely fueled by the widespread infestations of invasive alien plants, such as Port Jacksons and Hakea.
The CAPE OF FIRE website was set up to help South Peninsula communities and individuals understand the issues around fire risk and to make it easy to identify the most common invasive alien plant species. It is primarily aimed at creating awareness of the link between alien invasive plants and runaway wildfires and to give practical advice on eradicating this menace on private land, together with instructions about how to make homes fire safe. You can Google the words, Cape of Fire, or otherwise go directly to the web address shown below : -
2 Comment
Kim, December 3, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Yes – please put this on the blog for me, if you think it suitable – and publicise the Fire Prevention situation any other way that you can . Everyone in authority, with the responsibility to do something about the Fire Risk Problem keeps hiding behind poor legislation – and lack of funds. We really need help and publicity, before the next disaster hits us.
Until we get an effective lobby set up amongst the South Peninsula residents, the powers that be will never approve a meaningful budget to deal with this yearly menace to our community and will continue to just express regret and shrug off the consequences, when homes burn down, as they did in Scarborough and Redhill last year, by simply labeling it an unfortunate and unpreventable “Act of God”.
Our Glencairn Fire Watch wants to get together with other concerned individuals and community organisations in the wider South Peninsula to make a louder voice about the neglect of Fire Prevention and get the officials made accountable and challenge them to give us the protection that they are required to provide us under the law.
Regards
Steve
ReplyKim, December 3, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Hi Steve and others,
ReplySandy and I sit on the alien invasives task group and share your frustrations with the way that these various national pieces of legislation are implemented. As far as I know advice is being sought regarding the issue of state organs not taking on other state organs. It seems this is a selective policy and it will be challenged.
As far as active pursuit of infested properties go, it is important to push councillors etc to get the municipal alien invasives by law in place. It is being drafted but more resources need to be directed toward supporting it. The problem is that it is largely an issue of the citiy's peripheries and is certainly one that involves us in the far south, but that tends to limit the focus of the city on this matter, as it is not an issue in most suburban areas. However it is an important issue for
many reasons – fire, health, uncontrolled settlements, owner responsibility, etc and therefore must be pursued with councillors pushing for our own by-law so we can get things rolling locally and not have to wait for national Dept of Agriculture to take action. They are snowed under anyway and we cannot expect them to look after every suburban property. So that is where things sit at present, but rest assured we are working on the issue but we need ratepayers assns. , fire assns., etc., to take up this important issue with councillors, mayors, etc, so that the by-law is actively pushed along and that its drafting is properly resourced.
best
Glenn