Looking after yourself during a bushfire is difficult enough – things get even more complicated when there are large pets involved. With summer in full swing the ACT Rural Fire Service is making sure horse owners have all the information they need in case of an emergency.
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00:00Like many Canberrans who lived through the 2003 firestorm, Jane Hedges' memories of January
00:08the 18th are apocalyptic.
00:11The fire just roared up that hill there, just roared up, it was so loud, there was smoke,
00:16it was dark.
00:17Residents had earlier helped horse owners move a herd of 30 to this adjustment yard
00:22at the base of Mount Arawang, just two kilometres away but considered safer.
00:27Everyone went except for my husband and I, we stayed and one other woman.
00:32We wet our towels, put them on our head, wet our clothes and just rushed round with buckets
00:37putting out the grass fire as it came into the yards around the horses.
00:42Amid the chaos, she remembers the horses were totally calm and all survived uninjured.
00:49They put their backsides to the fire front, the wind, their heads right down, no horse
00:56moved a muscle.
00:57Some basic do's and don'ts helped.
01:00We then took off anything they were wearing like for example halters or fly veils or rugs
01:07because if the fire got to them they're all full of plastic and it would have melted.
01:12It's the sort of information others in Canberra's equestrian community have been receiving from
01:17the Rural Fire Service.
01:19Get yourself a metal bin and put the essentials you might need in it for the first 24 hours.
01:25ACT RFS Chief Rowan Scott says while the community has experience and expertise, and
01:31much of the advice seems common sense, emergency situations can be disorientating.
01:37A fire can be very noisy, it'll be smoky, there'll be a lot of wind, it'll be hot.
01:43All your sensory elements are challenged.
01:47With a dog you can just put it in the car and off you go, whereas with horses they have
01:51the same emotional connection.
01:53There's a lot more that takes place and there's a lot more thought involved.
01:56That includes training your horse ahead of time to go into a float or fire safe paddock,
02:02having three to five days supply of feed and water on hand and microchipping.
02:06The latest seasonal bushfire outlook predicted a normal risk for the ACT but warned that
02:12could change if there's below average rainfall and Canberra fire crews have already responded
02:17to two grass fires in as many weeks.
02:21At the moment it's lovely and green but if this over 30 degree weather stays it'll turn
02:26brown and become a total fire hazard.
02:29The bushfire season runs until March 31st.