Protect your property with a gutter guard in Bendigo
Just over 10 years ago, the state of Victoria was devastated by a series of bushfires that caused such severe damage and loss of life the even came to be known as “Black Saturday”. Even though the main fire started over 100km away, in Kilmore East, Bendigo was pulled into the tragedy when two teenagers allegedly started a copycat fire.
Bendigo didn’t sustain as much damage as most of the other areas of the state affected by fires that day, but this was largely a matter of luck in combination with skilled and dedicated efforts by the CFA to keep the fire contained mainly within Long Gully and Eaglehawk.
Even so, some 61 houses were destroyed and more than 1200 acres burned. Meanwhile in nearby Redesdale, a further 25,000 acres were burned and 12 homes were lost. Fortunately, unlike most of the other affected regions, Bendigo only suffered one human fatality. The toll was much higher in other areas of the state.
This terrible tragedy serves as a reminder of the precarious situation we all live in when we buy or build a home in rural Victoria. Something important to know is some of those houses which burned that day may have been saved by a simple and inexpensive product.
Gutter guards are mesh barriers that prevent leaves and twigs from building up in gutters where they provide highly combustible fuel for stray embers to ignite. Fires starting this way can set the whole roof ablaze very quickly, and the roof may then collapse in on the rest of the house. Most people don’t know it, but the roof is the most vulnerable area of the home when it comes to fires.