Bushfire & Heatwave

What DoE sites are currently closed?

Current Fires and Fire Forecasts

• Current Bushfire (TFS)
• Radio Channels (ABC)
• Fire Danger Rating Forecasts (TFS)
• What do Fire Danger Ratings mean (TFS)

Current Road Closures

• List of affected roads (Tasmania Police)
• Map showing affected roads (TasALERT)

Smoke & Air Quality

• Planned Burns – Location (TFS)
• About Air Quality (Dept. of Health)
• Current Public Health Alerts (Dept. of Health)

Heatwaves

• Dept. of Health – Extreme Heat
• Bureau of Meteorology’s Heatwave Service

Did you know?

1. Bushfire is rated as Tasmania’s No. 1 natural hazard (PDF, 1.4MB), with significant incidents in recent years including 2013, 2016, and 2019.
2. For bushfires and heatwaves, DoE has a lead information sharing role for education and care services, all schools, and DoE libraries, Child & Family Centres (CFCs) and corporate sites.

Our Approach

• We use advice from the Tasmania Fire Service to work with our internal and external stakeholders to support safety from bushfires or heatwaves
• We do this before and during bushfires and heatwaves
• We will make changes if we need to so people who come to our sites can be safe from bushfires or heatwaves.

DoE Community InfoSheet – Our Bushfire & Heatwave Arrangements – printable brochure

Download the Print version of InfoSheet (PDF, 417KB)

BEFORE – Getting Ready for Bushfires or Heatwaves

Bushfire Resources

• Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods (TFS)
• Bushfire Survival Plan templates and guides (TFS)
• Rainwater Tank Safety (TasALERT)

All Emergencies

• Family emergency planning and tools (Red Cross)
• Home Emergency Kit and Plan template (SES)

DURING – Bushfires & Heatwaves

Select the ‘What DoE Does for Bushfires & Heatwaves’ section for a summary of our Department’s response arrangements.

AFTER BUSHFIRES – Looking after your children & yourselves

• Info Sheets for emergency affected families
• Bushfires & Mental Health (Beyond Blue)
• Trauma Toolkit for Parents & Caregivers (Emerging Minds)
• Support ideas for children including a mental health checklist (Beyond Blue)
• Services (all ages) (Beyond Blue)
• General bushfire related info sheets for families (TasALERT)
  Guidance for health and wellbeing (trauma impacts), returning home after bushfires, animal welfare, legal matters, emergency family assistance

BEFORE – Getting Ready for Bushfires or Heatwaves

For Teachers – Learning

• Bushfire preparedness – For years 5-8 (TFS 5 lesson resource package)

• AIDR (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience) – All emergencies preparedness – resources for K-12s
• Red Cross ‘Rediplan’ all emergencies planning resources for K-12s
• Trauma Toolkit for Teachers (‘Educators’) (Emerging Minds) – supporting young children before and after emergencies

For Principals and Senior Staff – Bushfire Planning

• DoE schools only (DoE intranet)
• Other Schools (TFS)

For all school staff – Free apps for your mobile phones

Download these free apps to your mobile device/s from your app store (Apple – ‘App Store’; Android – ‘Google Play’):

• DoE Emergency App (DoE Staff only)– includes DoEs emergency procedures and contacts
• BoM for weather forecasts including fire danger ratings

DURING – Bushfires & Heatwaves

• Monitor weather forecasts, active fires and air quality
• Use the DoE Emergency Procedures (DoE Staff Only) (PDF, 15.7MB) and the school’s Bushfire Response Plan, for decision-making with Director Operations in your region
• Make changes for safety if needed. This may include working with Director Operations in your region, to close your school in advance
• Keep your school community informed, so they coordinate actions as easily as possible

AFTER BUSHFIRES – Looking after yourselves & your school community

• Bushfires & mental health (Beyond Blue)
• Services (all ages) (Beyond Blue)
• Staff Wellbeing Model (DoE Staff Only) (PDF. 1.1MB)
• Employee Assistance Program (DoE Staff Only)

For CFLC Families

• Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods (TFS)
• Family emergency planning and tools (Red Cross)
• Bushfires & Mental Health (Beyond Blue)
• Trauma Toolkit for Parents & Caregivers (Emerging Minds) – Resources to support young children after emergencies
• General bushfire related info sheets for families (TasALERT) – Guidance for health and wellbeing (trauma impacts), returning home after bushfires, animal welfare, legal matters, emergency family assistance

For Centre Leaders

BEFORE – Getting Ready for Bushfires or Heatwaves

Learning Resources

• AIDR (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience) – All emergencies preparedness – resources for K-12s
• Red Cross ‘Rediplan’ all emergencies planning resources for K-12s
• Trauma Toolkit for Educators (Emerging Minds) – supporting young children before and after emergencies

Bushfire Planning

• DoE Bushfire Response Planning (DoE Intranet)

Free apps for your mobile phones

Download these free apps to your mobile device/s from your app store (Apple – ‘App Store’; Android – ‘Google Play’):

• DoE Emergency App (DoE Staff only)– includes DoEs emergency procedures and contacts
• BoM for weather forecasts including fire danger ratings

DURING – Bushfires & Heatwaves

• Monitor weather forecasts, active fires and air quality
• Use the DoE Emergency Procedures (DoE Staff Only) (PDF, 15.7MB) and your Centre’s Bushfire Response Plan (if there is one), for decision-making with Director Operations in your region
• Make changes for safety if needed. This may include working with Director Operations in your region, to close your Centre in advance
• Keep your Centre community informed, so they can coordinate actions as easily as possible

AFTER BUSHFIRES – Looking after yourselves & families at your Centre

• Bushfires & mental health (Beyond Blue)
• Services (all ages) (Beyond Blue)
• Staff Wellbeing Model (DoE Staff Only) (PDF. 1.1MB)
• Employee Assistance Program (DoE Staff Only)
• See also ‘Learning Resources’ in the ‘BEFORE’ section (scroll up)

For Library Clients

BEFORE – Getting Ready for Bushfires or Heatwaves

• Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods (TFS)
• Bushfire Survival Plan templates and guides (TFS)
• Rainwater Tank Safety (TasALERT)
• Family emergency planning and tools (Red Cross)
• Home Emergency Kit and Plan template (SES)

DURING – Bushfires & Heatwaves

Select the ‘What DoE Does for Bushfires & Heatwaves’ section for a summary of our Department’s response arrangements.

AFTER BUSHFIRES – Trauma and looking after yourself

• Individuals Info Sheet (TasALERT)
• Bushfires & mental health (Beyond Blue)

For Library Managers & Other Senior Staff

BEFORE – Getting Ready for Bushfires or Heatwaves

Bushfire Planning

• DoE Bushfire Response Planning (DoE Intranet)

Free apps for your mobile phones

Download these free apps to your mobile device/s from your app store (Apple – ‘App Store’; Android – ‘Google Play’):

• DoE Emergency App (DoE Staff only)– includes DoEs emergency procedures and contacts
• BoM for weather forecasts including fire danger ratings

DURING – Bushfires & Heatwaves

• Monitor weather forecasts, active fires and air quality
• Use the DoE Emergency Procedures (DoE Staff Only) (PDF, 15.7MB) and your library’s Bushfire Response Plan (if there is one), for decision-making with Director Library Network
• Make changes for safety if needed. For Library Managers, this may include working with Director Library Network to close your library in advance
• Keep your community informed (this may include clients and/or work teams), so they can make decisions in their own households, as easily as possible

AFTER BUSHFIRES – Looking after yourselves & your library community

• Bushfires & mental health (Beyond Blue)
• Services (all ages) (Beyond Blue)
• Staff Wellbeing Model (DoE Staff Only) (PDF. 1.1MB)
• Employee Assistance Program (DoE Staff Only)

For Educators & Service Managers:

• General emergency advice (AUS Government)
• Emergency planning guides:
  • AUS Government
  • TAS Education & Care Unit
• Trauma Toolkit for Educators (Emerging Minds) – supporting young children before and after emergencies

For Families

• Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods (TFS)
• Family emergency planning and tools (Red Cross)
• Bushfires & Mental Health (Beyond Blue)
• Trauma Toolkit for Parents & Caregivers (Emerging Minds) – supporting young children after emergencies