Bush Fire Preparedness is Critical for our Community

On Thursday 15 October 2026, Vincentia Matters hosted a community preparedness bush fire session as we approach the summer season. Advice was presented by NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Police, Shoalhaven City Council, and Australian Red Cross representatives.

A key message from emergency agencies is that individual and household preparedness remains the most important factor in ensuring safety during a bushfire emergency.

Bush fire risk in the Bay & Basin area

While extensive hazard reduction burns have been completed across the Shoalhaven,

including around the Bay and Basin communities, some greenbelt areas surrounding Vincentia cannot be burnt due to environmental factors. For example, the area between the Vincentia Golf Course precinct and Vincentia Primary School has areas of endangered vegetation and at-risk species, with parts within the National Park.

Added to this is the fact that the Bay and Basin area has not experienced a major fire since 2001, which does mean that vegetation has accumulated to extremely high fuel loads, and ember attack is our area’s highest risk.

 The NSWRFS Bush Fire Survival Plan pack is free, download here

Key takeaways from Thursday’s session for our community are:

• Be prepared before an emergency occurs.

• Every household needs to have a documented bush fire and emergency plan that all residents (including kids) understand.

• Early relocation is safer and more effective than last-minute evacuation.

• Preparedness should include plans for fuel, road closures, water, medications, communication failures, pets, and extended disruptions to services.

• Regularly monitor official warnings, Fire Danger Ratings and apps to stay informed, as well as monitoring updates via local radio and TV, and follow the NSWRFS on Facebook and Twitter.

• Keep vehicles fuelled during bush fire season and prepare an emergency kit or overnight bag for quick evacuation.

• Keep plenty of drinking water to sustain everyone for a few days, whether staying at home or evacuating by vehicle. 

Install these essential apps on your mobile phone

Get the Hazards Near Me App which shows current information about local emergencies, including flood, bush fire and tsunamis, and advice on what to do to stay safe. The app can send you push notifications when there are new incidents or when information changes. Set up your ‘Watch Zone’ to (at least) a 15km area and make sure you have notifications turned ‘On’.

Also get the Emergency Plus App which is a free app developed by Australia’s State & Territory Emergency Services. This app uses GPS functionality built into your mobile phone to help you provide a Triple Zero (000) caller with critical location details when calling for emergency services support. These include your address, GPS coordinates and ‘What3Words’.

Create a folder of emergency apps on the front page of your mobile phone, so that important apps are easy to find in an emergency and when you are in a hurry or anxious.

Read VM’s full report on the Community Preparedness session

There’s a lot more important information for all community members to digest in the lead up to the summer season.

We recommend you take the time to read Vincentia Matters’ Bay & Basin Bushfire Preparedness Community Meeting Report (15 October 2026), and reach out to the NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Police, Shoalhaven City Council, or the Australian Red Cross if you have further questions.

Also download a digital version of the NSWRFS Bush Fire Survival Plan pack which encourages families to sit down and work through their 4-step planning process of Discuss – Prepare – Know – Keep.

Burton St Mall Pop-up this Saturday

Interested in finding out what’s happening with JBCSC? Do you have any questions you’d like to ask about JBCSC?

JBCSC has a Pop-up Information Stand tomorrow (Saturday 24th October) at Burton Street Mall from 8.00am – 12.00 noon, so why not drop by and say 'Hi'. There will also be JBCSC stubby holders and ‘I’m a Supporter’ stickers for sale.

JBCSC Xmas Party

Get your family, friends and festive gear ready.

You're invited to JBCSC’s annual Christmas party hosted at Jervis Bay Brewing Co.

When: Wednesday 25 November 2026, 5.00 – 8.00pm

Where: Jervis Bay Brewing’s Taproom, 3 Duranbah Drive, Huskisson NSW

The Red Point Rock band will be playing, Santa will be visiting us, and there’s three great family-friendly raffle prizes donated by iTravel Vincentia.

Drinks will be available from JBB’s Taproom, and food can be purchased from the 5 Little Pigs Catering Van from 5.00pm.

5.00pm                Xmas Party commences

5.30-6.15pm   Red Point Rock set 1

6.15-6.45pm   Welcome by JBCSC Director, Santa & Elves distribute Xmas gifts to kids,                                followed by the raffle draw

6.45-7.30pm   Red Point Rock set 2

8.00pm                Xmas Party closes

More details to follow.

Banter & Raffles

Our next JBCSC Volunteers & Supporters ‘Banter & Raffle’ monthly catch-up is planned for next Friday, 30th October at Mercier’s from 5:00-7:00pm, which coincides with Mercier’s Happy Hour at 13 Currambene Street, Huskisson.

Come along and enjoy The Swamp Runners play live music on Mercier's deck during Happy Hour, and grab some tickets for JBCSC’s Spring Raffle featuring a meat tray from Premium Meats South Nowra and multiple other prizes.

This monthly catch-up is a great opportunity to socialise with your JBCSC volunteer colleagues and supporters, and Kerry (our Volunteers Coordinator) looks forward to seeing you there.

Wednesday Trivia

Join us for loads of fun at JBCSC’s popular Trivia Night each Wednesday at Mercier’s. With daylight savings having kicked in, Trivia Nights will commence at 6.30pm with Trivia starting at 7pm sharp.

Please note, that bookings are no longer required. 

Just rock up each night and play! At just $2 each player, there are trivia prizes for the top three teams and other prizes throughout the night. Try your luck at Simon’s paper plane flying competition or join in the weekly Raffle cash jackpot in ‘Pick a Box’, with all funds raised to support JBCSC. The cash jackpot went off this Wednesday, so it resets next week.

Shoalhaven Kids in Need

A reminder to everyone to continue to spread the word to their friends and community that the bottle and can collection at Vincentia Golf Club continues to be a huge success in supporting Shoalhaven Kids in Need, a wonderful local organisation helping local families with children facing cancer and other serious illnesses.

In addition, the Vincentia Stray Dogs (D.O.G.S) are supporting fundraising for Shoalhaven Kids in Need and need your help. The DOGs are a bunch of local blokes who get together for a game of golf, a laugh and a bit of mateship, but who also believe that being part of our wonderful Bay and Basin community means looking out for others, especially those doing it tough, and most importantly our community’s kids and grandkids.

Please read this flyer which provides details about how you can donate to the DOGs ‘Shoalhaven Kids in Need’ appeal to help bring a little joy to some very special local kids and their families this Christmas.