Preparing your family and property for an emergency in the is essential to protect lives, reduce property damage, and ensure community resilience during unexpected disasters.
The City of Cockburn has areas prone to bushfires, especially near bushland and grasslands. Preparing your property with firebreaks and maintaining and Asset Protection Zone can significantly reduce fire spread and impact, and help emergency services act swifty during incidents. You can learn more on this webpage.
Maintaining your property according to the City’s Fire Control Order is not only a safety measure, but also a legal requirement to avoid fines and penalties.
No matter where you live, it's important to have an emergency plan, ensuring your family knows how to act quickly and safely during crises, whether it's a bushfire, flood, or storm.
When individuals prepare, it strengthens the overall safety of the community, ensuring that resources can be allocated where they are needed most.
Prepare a bushfire plan
Creating a bushfire plan takes just 15 minutes and is the best way to keep you and your household safe. Your plan should include any pets and livestock.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has publications that can help you prepare your property in the instance of a bushfire, including:
Water supplies
Western Australia has challenging bushfire seasons, so please remember not to rely on your scheme water supply if you plan to stay and defend your property. Heat-damaged water infrastructure or power outages may result in a loss of supply. High demand will also lead to a drop in pressure and water supply tanks can empty quickly.
While leaving high-risk bushfire areas is the safest option, those planning to defend their home must have an independent water supply such as water tanks and pumping capability in the event of power loss.
Prepare an emergency kit
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has published a Bushfire Preparation Toolkit, which will help prepare you to act quickly in an emergency.
Your emergency kit should include essential items to keep you and your family safe. Prepare your emergency kit before bushfire season, and keep it in an accessible spot. Make sure everyone knows where it is stored.
Essentials: prepare before bushfire season
- Important documents (birth certificates, passports, deeds)
- Precious items (jewellery, medals)
- First aid kit
- Drinking water
- Personal hygiene items
- Bushfire protective clothing for everyone (see page 8 of the Bushfire Preparation Toolkit)
- Portable battery powered AM/FM radio with spare batteries.
Important extras: items to grab when evacuating
- Wallet
- Driver’s license or other ID
- Medications, life support equipment
- Phone and charger
- House keys and car keys
- Laptop and charger.
Packing for pets
- Food, water and bowls
- Bedding
- Medication or special requirements
- Registration/microchip information
- Lead
- Crate.
Maintain your property
Make sure your property is complaint with the City's Fire Control Order and follow the Department of Fire and Emergency Service's Checklist to prepare your property.
Stay connected
The City of Cockburn Facebook page will post about local fires, emergency preparedness, total fire bans and harvest vehicle movement bans. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services Facebook page issues statewide alerts and warnings, and safety information and news. Both pages are helpful to follow to stay up to date with local fire and emergency management information.
Subscribe to the City's Fire Safe newsletter and receive information about the City’s fire and emergency management initiatives straight to your inbox.
Download the Emergency WA app for all emergency alerts and warnings from the App Store or Google Play, or visit the website.
For who to contact in an emergency, visit this page.