Help The Hills - Dandenong Ranges Taskforce

Just to confirm that the current restrictions on outdoor gatherings and no visitors to the home, means we won't be able to resume works just yet, as soon as we can we will be back out there.😕 Have a great weekend.

Just a heads up to be careful around compromised trees with this weekends rainfall.

I've had reports of several trees that were leaning since the storm that have come down today without any help from the wind.

Ground saturation and water washing out dirt from remaining root structures seems to be the main issue and the radar shows plenty of rain yet to come, so be very careful around any compromised trees, they won't give any notice before falling and we don't want anyone getting hurt.

ROOT BALLS?????????
As we have been cutting up fallen trees over the last 4 weekends the issue of root balls is coming up in conversations more often.

Firstly, we wish to remind people cutting up their own trees of the danger of root balls that can 'stand up' if too much of the main trunk is cut away.

Most root balls are only held up in the air by the counter weight of the tree trunk, if you cut too much trunk away, without sufficient weight to hold the ball in place, it can very suddenly 'stand up' the remaining trunk section and fall back into its original hole. A very dangerous situation for inexperienced chainsaw operators.
The other issue is what do you do with large root balls, many are not accessible to large machinery or tip trucks. Anybody got any tips or advice on this issue as many people are scratching their heads on this one????

With the announcement of lockdown 5.0 this afternoon we will sadly have to cancel all work for this weekend.
Sorry to those who were planning on helping out, but hopefully the restrictions won't be extended and we can regroup for the following weekend.
To be honest the weather was looking a little dodgy anyway and so many of you have put in multiple full weekends that I am sure you will appreciate a weekend to yourself. Enjoy the rest, as you have certainly earned it. 👍
Regards Paul.

We have received a few jobs that we could not assist with due to dangerous trees that were either hung up or leaning over our work area, which means our crews can't work safely.

If you have any dangerous trees that need to be inspected, we encourage you to register asap with Bushfire Recovery Victoria

Registrations are open for BRV’s Storm and Flood Clean-Up program, and the assessment of hazardous trees on private property.

Learn more, check your eligibility and register your property today by visiting www.brv.vic.gov.au/cleanup or phoning 1800 560 760.

Good morning everyone, we are back on deck today working through several large jobs in Kalorama. If you can spare a few hours to help (it's surprisingly warm in the sun ☀️) please come down to the volunteer registration tent at the Emerald netball courts and we can get you out helping.

Thanks to all our volunteers for coming out this morning. Today we have crews up around Kalorama in some of the worst affected areas. If you can spare some time today, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. If available please head to the staging area at Pepi's Land in Emerald.