The online sessions will be ideal for busy parents who may find themselves unable to attend community meetings, according to CFA Executive Manager of Community Capability Terry Hayes.
“Parents have a lot to include in their bushfire survival plan and often have very little time to think about it. While we encourage anyone living in a high risk area to take part in a community meeting as a first priority, sometimes it just isn’t possible,” Mr Hayes said.
“There’s an extremely active online community for new and expecting parents, and we saw a great opportunity to bring our bushfire advice to people as it suited them.”
An online meeting will be held at 8pm tonight and 1pm Thursday 16 February, covering issues such as school closures on Code Red days, planning for school holidays, educating children about fire as well as general bushfire preparedness.
Online bushfire information sessions are run in a chat room format and cover topics such as the weather outlook for the coming fire season, how to access bushfire information and warnings and being well prepared for days of high fire risk.
They are part of a wide range of free information and advice offered by CFA to help people prepare for the bush and grassfire season.
“These sessions should make it a lot easier for parents to engage with us and I encourage them to set aside some time to get involved. They can ask any questions they might have and share advice with other parents – and the meetings are made available for replay afterward,” Mr Hayes said.
“Parents need to be considering things like how school holidays might affect their plan, and the fact that children should not be left home alone on high risk days. They also need to think about things they need to pack into a relocation kit for the kids such as car seats, medications and favourite toys.”
“It’s the first time CFA has run an online meeting specific to parents and I think we’ll learn a lot from the questions that come out of it.
“As well as providing information specific to parents, we’ll also be linking to colouring sheets and fun activities to occupy the kids while parents are getting help with their fire plan.
“I encourage everyone to have a think about the families around them and promote these meetings throughout their own networks,” Mr Hayes said.
For more information on online bushfire information sessions and to set an email reminder for tonight's meeting visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/infosessions. The session will run from 8pm – 9pm.
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