RULE ONE: LEAVE EARLY
Illawarra & Shoalhaven · Bushfire & Emergency Preparedness
Ember helps people with disability, their families and support networks get ready for bushfires and emergencies — with clear steps, accessible tools, and a squad who's got your back.
Free download
Prefer paper to an app? This is the same plan the Ember App walks you through — who leaves, what they take, and where they go — as a printable form you can fill in by hand and keep somewhere you'll actually find it in a hurry: on the fridge, in your bag, or with the person who'd need to act on it for you.
2026–27 Fire Season Outlook
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the return of strong El Niño conditions, and seasonal bushfire outlooks are pointing to increased fire risk across large parts of NSW this spring and summer. Ember's message doesn't change in years like this — it just matters more: the safest time to build your plan is now, before smoke is on the horizon, not after.
Sources: ABC News, “Spring outlook shows bushfire risk increases as El Niño loads the dice” · Bureau of Meteorology seasonal bushfire outlook
Meet the Squad
Ember doesn't do this alone. Each member of the squad covers a different part of the emergency journey — from the first sign of danger to the moment everyone's safe.
The earlier we notice, the safer we all are — and everyone deserves a warning they can understand.
Flame is a black cockatoo native to Nowra — the Aboriginal word for the species — who's said to have turned black surviving a fire on Red Rock (Cambewarra Mountain), and whose call is believed to bring rain. He shows how warnings should reach everyone: visual, audible and tactile, in plain language, through more than one channel at once.
Being prepared helps everyone feel safer — and everyone deserves to be included in the plan.
Ember is a bushfire survivor turned preparedness guide. He helps people build a personalised plan — a support person, accessible transport, medications, communication needs — and pack a backpack ready to go.
Know your safe place before you need it — there's always room for one more.
Ash is the squad's quiet achiever — a sturdy wombat known for sharing his fire-safe burrow with other animals fleeing the flames. He shows how to know your safe place in advance, and make sure it has room for the people who count on you.
When there's a fire close by, hop on out early — don't wait.
Blaze is the squad's reminder to act, not wait. He shows how to leave early rather than at the last minute: grab your emergency pack, gather your mob (family, support workers, pets), and get everyone to a safe place well before things get dangerous.
KNOW THE LEVELS
Once a fire starts, NSW RFS uses three alert levels. Waiting until the highest one leaves the least room to get out safely — here's what each one means, and when Ember says it's time to go.
Advice
A fire has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.
✓ This is when to leave, if you're able to.
Watch and Act
There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now.
If you haven't left yet, this is urgent — go now.
Emergency Warning
The highest alert level. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately.
Leaving may no longer be the safest option — shelter may be the only choice left.
NSW RFS puts it plainly: "don't wait for a warning." Some fires move faster than any warning can reach you — which is exactly why the plan you build today should already say who leaves when, what they take, and where they go, before Advice ever turns to Watch and Act.
Source: NSW RFS — Alert Levels ↗FREE COMPANION APP
Fear, pain and shock can take speech away — even from people who talk easily every other day of the year. The Nonverbal Communicator is a free, symbol-based communication board built to work alongside Ember App: tap or point to what's wrong, what's needed, or where it hurts, and it can speak the words for you.
It's built for anyone who is non-verbal, has a disability that affects speech, or may simply go blank under stress — a real possibility for almost anyone in a genuine emergency. Set it up now, while things are calm, so it's already there — practised and ready — the moment it's actually needed.
Free to download. No account or data collection required to use it.
Kyal SinclairEmber Ambassador“As an ambassador of Ember, I’m happy that people are using the Ember App, to keep safe and sound during floods and fires.”
Built for Everyone
Every part of Ember is designed around the reality that emergencies don't pause for anyone's mobility, sensory, cognitive or communication needs — so the plan has to account for them from the start.
Build a plan around your own needs — medication, mobility equipment, communication preferences and a trusted support person.
Warnings arrive visually, audibly and by text, in plain-language warning levels — Advice, Watch and Act, Emergency Warning.
Map accessible routes and transport in advance, so getting out isn't something you're figuring out for the first time mid-emergency.
Loop in family, support workers and neighbours, so more than one person knows the plan and can help it happen.
Neighbours helping neighbours
Streetmate turns neighbours into a safety net for the people nearby who are elderly or living with disability — often the ones most likely to be missed in a crisis, and least likely to ask for help.
Streetmate is an initiative of The Flagstaff Group, supported by Australian Government grant funding.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land
where we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders
past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land.
