If you'll notice, Sydney has been seeing some huge amounts of smoke that are quite unhealthy to be exposed to, to say the least. It's been weeks of that, with bushfires being the main culprit.
We here at Elinz are huge safety advocates- especially since a lot of our gear relates to safety and security. And even though the holiday season is fast approaching, we believe in preparedness and awareness- a few moment's preparation can definitely save the lives of many in the future, should something terrible happen.
We're sorry to put a damper on the holiday spirit, but we'd like to share things to help keep you safe.
While we do not have gear that can be reliably used against fires or to detect fires, we still have equipment that will be incredibly helpful for keeping safe and prepared against bushfires. We'll also be sharing some tips (and some things you shouldn't be doing) in case you're caught in the middle of a bushfire.
Without further ado, here are some of our recommendations:
Monitor the news and the internet daily. It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on things before they reach your location- a quick search on any search engine would be incredibly helpful and will help you save a lot of things in the event a bushfire does come around.
Invest in some reliable alternative power sources. Some gear that we could recommend is a power bank and a car battery charger and jump starter. Make sure to keep at least one of these on your vehicle, and one in your bag or travel packs.
The reason for this is ideally, you will have gone to a different area with your vehicle before the bushfire reaches your location. You'll need to have a reliable power source other than your vehicle to keep in touch, and to power your mobile devices.
When navigating with your mobile device, you should be able to see alerts from it related to the fires around your area and you'll need to keep that device powered as you evade the bushfires.
And when we say "evade", we do not mean literally evading the fires hours before it happens or when its visible. We do not recommend driving when the fires are near- it is extremely dangerous as stated by the CFA and should be avoided at all costs. Only drive when hours ahead of the bushfire and make it a priority to leave before it comes.
Make sure that your car is always in top shape. While this is already important even without the looming threat of bushfires, the need is more pronounced in the event of possible emergency. To keep your car in top shape, there are a couple of things you should consider:
Tyre performance. It's something that we overlook often, and certainly wouldn't want a tire blowing out or getting flat while you're fleeing the fires. Make sure to monitor everyday using a pressure gauge or a TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system), and keep an eye on its temperature and psi level to keep it ready.
Overall vehicle health can be monitored by an OBD2 diagnostic scanner, by providing you codes on your vehicle's overall health. Make sure to bring your vehicle regularly to your trusted mechanic, or especially if you receive any prompts from your OBD2 scanner to do so.
Keep both in tip top shape, and you should be ready to flee any kind of bush fire in the future.
Make sure to pack early- or preferably, keep a separate pack ready at all times if you live in an area that has been reported to be a potential area for bushfires. We cannot stress enough how important it is to leave early and ahead of time- bushfires are very, very dangerous and life-threatening. Do not try to stay behind, and leave at the first official emergency warning that you receive.
They can be very challenging to fight off your home if you do decide to stay, and is highly discouraged.
The CFA also recommends that you write a plan ahead of time- something that you can keep on both your mobile devices or an actual piece of paper. Include your destination, include the routes that you will take, and include all the names of who you're with, just in case something happens.
Preplot a destination via GPS if you're able to- keep it in your mobile device, and make sure that its properly mounted with a sturdy mobile device cradle. Write it down on a piece of paper, and program it to to your car dvd player's head unit (if it accomodates for that feature) so that you have two backups.
Keep a cool head. Preparing ahead of time should help immensely with this, and you shouldn't run into problems as long as you follow it to the letter and you keep an eye on the warnings enough to leave hours ahead of the bushfire.
As long as you have your route, your plan and your destination, and as long as you keep an eye out on the road and you have all that you need including your navigation device, you should have no problem keeping a cool head and staying safe. Remember that calmer people make better decisions and that need is even more important in the emergencies such as these.
If you're looking for the gear that we've mentioned above, we have them all here at Elinz. Get yours here at Elinz- we've linked these aforementioned items for your convenience. They'll make great gifts for important people in your life this coming Christmas- help keep them safe with these practical electronics from us today.
Stay safe out there!
