AS a bushfire crackled at the back door of Coral Dandridge’s Glen Iris home on Monday night, she was not alarmed.
After living on the two hectare block for 46 years, which was once completely surrounded by bush, she and her husband George were more than prepared for a bushfire.
Mrs Dandridge has urged the Bunbury community to follow their lead and prepare their fire action plan now, before it is too late.
The Dandridge home on Jubilee Road was under direct threat from the fire, but the couple liaised with emergency crew and doused their property with water, prepared to fight for their family home.
Bunbury Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade captain Terri Kowal said the battle got “a bit hairy” on Monday night as embers flew over the emergency crew’s heads across the firebreak, threatening to surround them by fire.
Mrs Dandridge said when her children lived at home, the family would conduct regular fire drills even when they lived in the city.
“We have always had a contingency plan – we put down a bore pump and bought fire hoses for this exact reason,” Mrs Dandridge said.
Mrs Dandridge said she was impressed and extremely grateful for the organised and efficient manner of the fire crews who kept residents informed and promised to monitor the area well after the fire was contained.
But she was disgusted at the “idiotic” behaviour of people who drove into the suburb to watch the fire unfold.
“The roads were full of people who just came to have a look – keep away, the last thing we need is more vehicles jamming up the roads if everyone has to get out.”