PREPARING FOR THE BUSHFIRE SEASON: When fire comes, will your home be ready?

SA Country Fire Service (CFS) Caralue Group Deputy Officer Tristan Baldock has spent 30 years serving his community, witnessing firsthand the devastation fires can cause, and the difference preparation can make.

Over the years, Mr Baldock has served in Kimba, Cleve and Port Lincoln before settling at his family farm in Buckleboo.

Working in the state’s north-east, he has seen countless fires and knows that, in some cases, preparation can mean the difference between saving a home and losing it.

With fire danger season commencing in his area on October 15, Mr Baldock hoped residents had taken the necessary steps to prepare their properties.

“The landscape is (as) prepared as it can be, over the last couple of weeks we have been busy with the mowers doing the final passes, and making sure fire breaks are in place,” he said.

“The other side of preparedness in an agricultural area is that people have got all their firefighting equipment serviced and ready.”

Mr Baldock said landholders had been proactive in preparing their private firefighting equipment this season, with a collective understanding that if a fire took hold, it could spread quickly and have a far greater impact.