December 8, 2025 • 7 mins
With bushfire season heating up, Lisa & Russell chat to DFES Assistant Commissioner Danny Monsconi for the must-know tips to stay safe this Summer. How much of WA’s fire activity comes down to arson? What should actually go in an emergency kit? And what can you do now to prepare your home and family?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We live in a big state and a lot of
it's flammable, and bushfire season is well and truly here
there's no easing into it this year with the fires
in Bullsbrook, Gerrelton and down south the last couple of weeks,
and of course currently fires destroying homes on the New
South Wales central coast, and a recent survey with Amy
Insurance revealed that fifty two percent of West Ozzies have
(00:21):
not got their homes prepared for bush fires. Assistant Commissioner
at DFS, Danny Moscone, is joining us this morning. Thank
you for coming in for this timely chat.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Good morning, Thanks guys, thanks for having me well.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
With increased drought and hot or dryer conditions, does defes
expect eight more severe bush far season this year?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's always a question we get asked frequently, just at
this time of year. I think for me, the important
thing to understand for listeners is that we live in
a high bushfire prone area. So ninety three percent of
our state is bushfire prone, and so it's a big state.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And it's a big state, it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Very big state. But regardless of the outlook, I always
tell people that we only need a few days of
challenging weather and we do have a few days coming
up with the forecast, a few days of challenging weather,
and we get a fire start in the wrong spot
on the wrong day, and we know we're going to
be challenged. So that is one of our challenges for
(01:23):
Western Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And this time of view, of course, with the high
winds too. You know, once something starts, it's off and
it becomes very very hard to contain. How how do
people in Perth, Because I think a lot of people
in the metro area think, oh that's out there, that
doesn't sort of affect me. But how can Perth residents
(01:44):
in the more suburban areas themselves prepare for bushfires?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, it's a really good question. We've got a lot
of information on our website. So first thing I'd ask
all listeners is to go onto our website and you
can go to the prepare section. There's a lot of
information there. We're constantly adding to that information. But some
of the basic things that the community can do to
make sure that their gutters are clean because often we
(02:12):
lose properties from ember attack embers falling onto roofs. Embers
then then fall into the gutters, and if they're full
of leaves, they'll catch on fire obviously leaves and twigs,
and then we have a fire in the roof of
the house.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And even if you're a fair way away from the bush,
those embers can come a long way, can't they.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, look, they can depending on the type of fuel
that we're talking about, but embers can travel more than
a kilometer. So people need to remember that. And you're
right when you say it's not just people that live
in the Perth Hills. We've experienced fires just recently down
around Auburn Grove, and all through those areas is there's
urban park land, So people just need to remember about that.
(02:49):
So clean gutters probably is the number one thing. Keep
your lawns mode around your properties and then rake up
any leaves. If you've got a big property, for example
in the Hills, we've got a little bit of acreage.
Sometimes that can be a bit daunting, So i'd suggest
probably concentrate on that twenty five meter radius around your
property to start with, and then work outwards. And then
(03:11):
the next bit is to prune tree. So make sure
that I'd recommend not having any trees within two meters
of your house, and then in that twenty five meter
zone low prune those trees, so take all the branches
from the ground up to about two meters. And what
that does is it stops fire or assisting in stopping
(03:31):
fire running up into those trees, because once the fires
in those trees, that's when it's really difficult to stop,
and that's when we get those embers.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Some of those places in the semi rural, up in
the hills and so on, you would assume that people
would be right on top of their fire plan, but
I don't know if it's complacency or if it's because
they're like, I want to live in the bush because
I want the trees hating right over my house. Well
do you find that they can be a bit you know,
sort of Their plans aren't.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Great, They could be better, They could be better. I
think that's a good description. There's an element of that. Yeah. Yeah, Look,
there's a lot of people that do the right thing
and plan as best they can, but you're right, there
are people that do need to take more, take more
effort and understand that there's a significant risk in the bush,
in the Perth Hills or in any of those high
(04:21):
bushfire areas, so you know, it's not too late to plan,
and we're recommending that you start that planning and preparation.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Now, Danny, we were talking earlier, actually just before we
came on up to you about the about the percentage
of arson. That is the care because there are so
many varying reasons for the beginning of bushfire, some of
them industrial accidents. We talked. You know, we hear about
pole top fires, wires coming down in high winds, but
(04:49):
how much of it is down to arson as well?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, it's a good question. Last year, during our high
threat periods, so from about November through to April, we
had only three thousand, three hundred bushfires and about four
hundred and fifty six of those were suspicious. So that's
a high amount and you know we work closely with
police to try and reduce that number. Probably the key
(05:14):
message is if anyone does see anything suspicious, to call crime.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So we need to keep our eyes open about it too.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, be vigilant, report those anything suspicious through to crime
stoppers on one eight hundred interaction.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah. Yeah, Now what items should people have ready for,
you know, in case of a bushfire?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, so if.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You've If you are going to leave during a bush fire,
then we recommend that you have an emergency kit. So
some of the items that would be useful to having
those kit would be a battery operated radio so you
can continue to listen to warnings, battery operated torch so
you can obviously see at nighttime. First aid kit's really useful.
(05:59):
A woolen blank drinking water is really important. And then
any of those small valuables like credit cards, you wallet,
any any sort of sentimental jewelry people I've no people
who have put photos onto thumb drives and things like
that and keep that in their kit. Really important that
you have your kit in a box or packed in
(06:21):
your car ready to go, ready to go yeap. So
you shouldn't be sort of going through the list and
getting onto the website while embers are sort of, you know,
potentially raining down on your property.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
It's probably a thirty minute, one hour job yea. And
then you execure it exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And so keep keep up to date with bushrailettes on
the defest website, not your community Facebook page where people
are going who can you smell smoke? Just go to
the source of information of information Danny thank you for
coming in this morning, and you know, let's hope that
you're not run off your feet this summer.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, yeah, look, just one other if I may. You
mentioned about the DFAs website, but we also have the
Emergency WA app, so it's really important that everyone downloads
that app. We've had it for a couple of years now.
It's a one stop shop so people can learn about
or see warnings, total firebands, fire danger ratings, set watch
(07:20):
owes for their particular area. And we've added a new
function to the app this year, which is a planning tool,
so people can now put their plan into the app.
There's triggers in the app. It's really intuitive. You can
set up plans for bushfire, cyclone, storm and flood. It
takes about fifteen minutes to do, and you can share
that plan with your family.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's a one stop shop, one stop shop. That's the
Emergency Emergency WA app. Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
All right, thanks Danny.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Great great advice. Danny, thank you very much for coming
in and let's hope we have a quiet of the
normal bushfire season.
We live in a big state and a lot of
it's flammable, and bushfire season is well and truly here
there's no easing into it this year with the fires
in Bullsbrook, Gerrelton and down south the last couple of weeks,
and of course currently fires destroying homes on the New
South Wales central coast, and a recent survey with Amy
Insurance revealed that fifty two percent of West Ozzies have
(00:21):
not got their homes prepared for bush fires. Assistant Commissioner
at DFS, Danny Moscone, is joining us this morning. Thank
you for coming in for this timely chat.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Good morning, Thanks guys, thanks for having me well.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
With increased drought and hot or dryer conditions, does defes
expect eight more severe bush far season this year?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's always a question we get asked frequently, just at
this time of year. I think for me, the important
thing to understand for listeners is that we live in
a high bushfire prone area. So ninety three percent of
our state is bushfire prone, and so it's a big state.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And it's a big state, it's a.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Very big state. But regardless of the outlook, I always
tell people that we only need a few days of
challenging weather and we do have a few days coming
up with the forecast, a few days of challenging weather,
and we get a fire start in the wrong spot
on the wrong day, and we know we're going to
be challenged. So that is one of our challenges for
(01:23):
Western Australia.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
And this time of view, of course, with the high
winds too. You know, once something starts, it's off and
it becomes very very hard to contain. How how do
people in Perth, Because I think a lot of people
in the metro area think, oh that's out there, that
doesn't sort of affect me. But how can Perth residents
(01:44):
in the more suburban areas themselves prepare for bushfires?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, it's a really good question. We've got a lot
of information on our website. So first thing I'd ask
all listeners is to go onto our website and you
can go to the prepare section. There's a lot of
information there. We're constantly adding to that information. But some
of the basic things that the community can do to
make sure that their gutters are clean because often we
(02:12):
lose properties from ember attack embers falling onto roofs. Embers
then then fall into the gutters, and if they're full
of leaves, they'll catch on fire obviously leaves and twigs,
and then we have a fire in the roof of
the house.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
And even if you're a fair way away from the bush,
those embers can come a long way, can't they.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, look, they can depending on the type of fuel
that we're talking about, but embers can travel more than
a kilometer. So people need to remember that. And you're
right when you say it's not just people that live
in the Perth Hills. We've experienced fires just recently down
around Auburn Grove, and all through those areas is there's
urban park land, So people just need to remember about that.
(02:49):
So clean gutters probably is the number one thing. Keep
your lawns mode around your properties and then rake up
any leaves. If you've got a big property, for example
in the Hills, we've got a little bit of acreage.
Sometimes that can be a bit daunting, So i'd suggest
probably concentrate on that twenty five meter radius around your
property to start with, and then work outwards. And then
(03:11):
the next bit is to prune tree. So make sure
that I'd recommend not having any trees within two meters
of your house, and then in that twenty five meter
zone low prune those trees, so take all the branches
from the ground up to about two meters. And what
that does is it stops fire or assisting in stopping
(03:31):
fire running up into those trees, because once the fires
in those trees, that's when it's really difficult to stop,
and that's when we get those embers.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Some of those places in the semi rural, up in
the hills and so on, you would assume that people
would be right on top of their fire plan, but
I don't know if it's complacency or if it's because
they're like, I want to live in the bush because
I want the trees hating right over my house. Well
do you find that they can be a bit you know,
sort of Their plans aren't.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Great, They could be better, They could be better. I
think that's a good description. There's an element of that. Yeah. Yeah, Look,
there's a lot of people that do the right thing
and plan as best they can, but you're right, there
are people that do need to take more, take more
effort and understand that there's a significant risk in the bush,
in the Perth Hills or in any of those high
(04:21):
bushfire areas, so you know, it's not too late to plan,
and we're recommending that you start that planning and preparation.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Now, Danny, we were talking earlier, actually just before we
came on up to you about the about the percentage
of arson. That is the care because there are so
many varying reasons for the beginning of bushfire, some of
them industrial accidents. We talked. You know, we hear about
pole top fires, wires coming down in high winds, but
(04:49):
how much of it is down to arson as well?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, it's a good question. Last year, during our high
threat periods, so from about November through to April, we
had only three thousand, three hundred bushfires and about four
hundred and fifty six of those were suspicious. So that's
a high amount and you know we work closely with
police to try and reduce that number. Probably the key
(05:14):
message is if anyone does see anything suspicious, to call crime.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So we need to keep our eyes open about it too.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, be vigilant, report those anything suspicious through to crime
stoppers on one eight hundred interaction.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah. Yeah, Now what items should people have ready for,
you know, in case of a bushfire?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, so if.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You've If you are going to leave during a bush fire,
then we recommend that you have an emergency kit. So
some of the items that would be useful to having
those kit would be a battery operated radio so you
can continue to listen to warnings, battery operated torch so
you can obviously see at nighttime. First aid kit's really useful.
(05:59):
A woolen blank drinking water is really important. And then
any of those small valuables like credit cards, you wallet,
any any sort of sentimental jewelry people I've no people
who have put photos onto thumb drives and things like
that and keep that in their kit. Really important that
you have your kit in a box or packed in
(06:21):
your car ready to go, ready to go yeap. So
you shouldn't be sort of going through the list and
getting onto the website while embers are sort of, you know,
potentially raining down on your property.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
It's probably a thirty minute, one hour job yea. And
then you execure it exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And so keep keep up to date with bushrailettes on
the defest website, not your community Facebook page where people
are going who can you smell smoke? Just go to
the source of information of information Danny thank you for
coming in this morning, and you know, let's hope that
you're not run off your feet this summer.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, yeah, look, just one other if I may. You
mentioned about the DFAs website, but we also have the
Emergency WA app, so it's really important that everyone downloads
that app. We've had it for a couple of years now.
It's a one stop shop so people can learn about
or see warnings, total firebands, fire danger ratings, set watch
(07:20):
owes for their particular area. And we've added a new
function to the app this year, which is a planning tool,
so people can now put their plan into the app.
There's triggers in the app. It's really intuitive. You can
set up plans for bushfire, cyclone, storm and flood. It
takes about fifteen minutes to do, and you can share
that plan with your family.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's a one stop shop, one stop shop. That's the
Emergency Emergency WA app. Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
All right, thanks Danny.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Great great advice. Danny, thank you very much for coming
in and let's hope we have a quiet of the
normal bushfire season.
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