Help By Monitoring Fire Trail Condition While Walking

In late 2021 David Howell, Senior Deputy Captain encouraged the Brigade members and the community to walk fire trails in their own time and report any hazards, such as fallen trees, branches or other obstacles which might impede the safe passage of fire trucks or firefighters. As a result, he has developed a system to allow each person to report any problems located on any trail into a spreadsheet.

To access this spreadsheet please use this link  and bookmark or save it for future use. You may find you will be asked for a sign in, just click on the link again.

There are some considerations to contemplate which are important. You have the option of walking trails taking normal personal responsibility and then reporting anything you find which causes concern by using the link above to access the Fire Trails spreadsheet and enter a brief description of any concerns observed.

Or, if you are a Brigade member, you can regard this as a Brigade task attracting the usual RFS protections when we undertake RFS undertakings. If you wish to regard it as a Brigade task:

1. You must sign in on the attendance book at the Mt Wilson or Mt Irvine Station. Members should know how to access the building from previous briefings. If in doubt, please ask a senior officer.
2. Contact David Howell on (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or phone 4756-2091 or 0418 771 664 providing the following details:
   1. When you’re heading off - advising him what trail you’re walking, start time and estimated finish time, who’s in your party.
   2. If you see a fallen tree, branch or other hazard/obstacle make a note, take photos if you can and make a record of the location of the hazard/obstacle(s).
   3. Importantly, when you complete your walk, call or text David to let him know that you’ve safely completed your tasking.
3. Use the link to access the Fire Trails spreadsheet and enter a brief description of any concerns observed.

If you see a tree or branch over the trail, please don’t attempt to remove it unless it is small and light enough to do so safely by hand. Once you report any large tree hazard, the Brigade will arrange for a member certified to use a chainsaw to remove it or if very large, have Council remove it.

One suggestion made was that members might like to monitor a particular fire trail. Even though this means we’ll have some regular fire trail walkers, that doesn’t mean that others can’t use those trails.  We encourage members and the community to familiarise themselves with ALL fire trails. The Brigade would like all fire trails to be monitored at regular intervals – say, 6-8 weeks to ensure that we have current information 

Any specific questions on this type of tasking please contact David or another senior officer.