If you own a property in the Shire of Mundaring, you're required to prepare and maintain a firebreak every fire season under section 33 of the Bush Fires Act 1954. The figures on this page come from the Shire's own published Firebreak and Fuel Load Notice FAQ — check the notice you personally received this season for anything specific to your property.
A firebreak is a strip of ground not less than 3 metres wide and 4 metres high, immediately inside all external boundaries of your property. It must be constructed to a trafficable surface that is kept and maintained totally clear of all flammable material.
Those dimensions aren't arbitrary — firefighting appliances are up to 3 metres wide and 3.5 metres high, and need room to negotiate corners on vehicles up to 9 metres long. A break that's too narrow, too low, or too overgrown can't actually be used in an emergency.
Firebreaks must be maintained from 1 November each year through to 31 March the following year. If you clear your break by chemical spraying rather than mechanically, it must be bare earth by 1 November.
Non-compliance at the point of inspection can carry a penalty of up to $5,000 — worth having the break ready before the season starts, not after an inspector has already been out.
Alongside the boundary firebreak above, the Shire also requires a 20-metre Asset Protection Zone (APZ) of low fuel around the house itself — a separate, additional requirement, not a substitute for the boundary firebreak.
Ploughing, cultivating, scarifying, raking, burning, chemical spraying, or another method approved by an Authorised Officer are all accepted ways to construct a firebreak.
Need more time, or a different arrangement for an awkward block? Extensions are considered case-by-case on request to the Shire's Fire Hazard Inspection Officers — they are not granted automatically, so ask early rather than assuming one will be given.
Hitachi ZX17u-5 excavator — for cutting a break through undulating or scrubby ground, removing stumps, and clearing tree encroachment out of the 4-metre vertical clearance zone.
Gravely Pro-Turn 148 mower — for establishing and maintaining a grassed firebreak, or the Asset Protection Zone, quickly across acreage once the ground itself is already clear.