Stay safe this bushfire and storm season with real-time emergency alerts in your smart home.
G’day everyone! 
With bushfire season well underway and increased storm and flood risks, I wanted to share an integration I’ve been working on that brings ABC Emergency data directly into Home Assistant.
What is it?
ABC Emergency for Home Assistant monitors real-time emergency incidents across Australia and enables smart home automations that could genuinely help keep you and your family safe.
Check out the frontend friend for this at Polygons on Maps & Australian Emergency Alerts - Share your Projects! / Dashboards & Frontend - Home Assistant Community
Key Safety Features
Three Monitoring Modes
| Mode | Best For | How It Works |
|---|---|---|
| State Mode | Overview | Monitor all incidents in a state/territory |
| Zone Mode | Your home | Alerts within configurable radius of fixed locations |
| Person Mode | Family safety | Track alerts near family members as they move |
Australian Warning System Integration
The integration uses official warning levels:
Emergency Warning - Act immediately, you may be in danger
Watch and Act - Conditions changing, take action now
Advice - Incident occurring, stay informed
Point-in-Polygon Containment Detection
This is the feature I’m most proud of. Traditional alerts tell you “bushfire 15km away” - but what if you’re actually inside the warning zone polygon, even though the centre is far away?
Containment detection tells you when you’re physically inside an emergency boundary, not just near it. This matters because:
- Large bushfire zones can span 50+ kilometres
- Weather warnings cover entire regions
- Flood zones follow rivers with irregular shapes
- You could be “50km from the centre” but directly affected
The integration fires events when you:
- Enter an emergency polygon
- Exit an emergency polygon
- When severity escalates while you’re inside (e.g., Advice → Emergency Warning)
Smart Home Automation Ideas
Here’s where it gets interesting. Some automations that could genuinely help:
Bushfire Protection
# Activate bushfire deluge system when Emergency Warning detected
automation:
- alias: "Bushfire Deluge System"
trigger:
- platform: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.abc_emergency_home_inside_emergency_warning
to: "on"
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: >
{{ state_attr('binary_sensor.abc_emergency_home_inside_emergency_warning', 'incidents')
| selectattr('event_type', 'eq', 'Bushfire') | list | length > 0 }}
action:
- service: switch.turn_on
target:
entity_id: switch.bushfire_deluge_system
- service: notify.critical_alerts
data:
title: "DELUGE SYSTEM ACTIVATED"
message: "Bushfire Emergency Warning - deluge system running"
Smoke Prevention
# Close windows and shut down HVAC during nearby bushfire
automation:
- alias: "Smoke Prevention Mode"
trigger:
- platform: event
event_type: abc_emergency_entered_polygon
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: "{{ trigger.event.data.event_type == 'Bushfire' }}"
action:
- service: cover.close_cover
target:
entity_id: cover.all_windows
- service: climate.turn_off
target:
entity_id: climate.home
- service: notify.mobile_app
data:
title: "Smoke Prevention Activated"
message: "Windows closed, HVAC off due to bushfire zone entry"
Flood Preparation
# Alert when flood warning approaches
automation:
- alias: "Flood Warning Preparation"
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.abc_emergency_home_nearest_incident
below: 10
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: >
{{ state_attr('sensor.abc_emergency_home_nearest_incident', 'event_type') == 'Flood' }}
action:
- service: notify.family
data:
title: "Flood Warning Nearby"
message: >
Flood warning {{ states('sensor.abc_emergency_home_nearest_incident') }}km away.
Consider moving vehicles to higher ground.
Family Safety Tracking
# Alert when family member enters emergency zone
automation:
- alias: "Family Member Safety Alert"
trigger:
- platform: event
event_type: abc_emergency_entered_polygon
event_data:
instance_type: "person"
action:
- service: notify.family_group
data:
title: "{{ trigger.event.data.instance_name }} in Emergency Zone"
message: >
{{ trigger.event.data.headline }}
Alert level: {{ trigger.event.data.alert_text }}
data:
priority: critical
Severity Escalation
# Critical alert when emergency escalates while you're inside
automation:
- alias: "Emergency Escalation Alert"
trigger:
- platform: event
event_type: abc_emergency_containment_severity_changed
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: "{{ trigger.event.data.escalated == true }}"
action:
- service: notify.mobile_app
data:
title: "⚠️ ALERT ESCALATED"
message: >
{{ trigger.event.data.headline }} has escalated from
{{ trigger.event.data.previous_alert_text }} to
{{ trigger.event.data.new_alert_text }}!
data:
priority: critical
channel: alarm_stream
Installation
Via HACS (Recommended)
- Click the button above, or manually add as a custom repository
- Install “ABC Emergency”
- Restart Home Assistant
- Add the integration via Settings → Devices & Services
Ready-to-Use Blueprints
Import these with one click:
| Blueprint | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic Alert | Simple notification for any alert |
| Tiered Notifications | Different priorities by warning level |
| Entered Zone Alert | Notify when entering emergency zones |
| Severity Escalation | Alert when emergencies escalate |
| Inside Emergency Warning | Maximum urgency when inside red zones |
Entities Created
Each instance creates:
Sensors:
- Total incidents count
- Nearby incidents count
- Nearest incident distance (with direction)
- Highest alert level
- Bushfire/flood/storm counts
Binary Sensors:
- Active alert
- Emergency Warning level
- Watch and Act level
- Advice level
- Inside polygon (containment)
- Inside Emergency Warning polygon
- Inside Watch and Act polygon
- Inside Advice polygon
Geo-location entities for map display of all incidents.
Documentation
Full documentation available at:
- GitHub Repository
- Containment Safety Guide - Comprehensive guide for zone-based alerting
- Automations Guide - Ready-to-use examples
Important Disclaimers
- This is NOT an official ABC product - it’s a community project using publicly available data
- Always follow official emergency service instructions
- This should not be your only source of emergency information
The Story Behind This
This integration was born out of necessity during the December 2025 bushfires when fires broke out near a friend’s place in Woy Woy, NSW. We needed a way to keep our chosen family group informed and safe. What started as a quick hack became this full-featured integration.
I’m sharing it, hoping it helps other Australians protect their homes and loved ones.
Feedback & Contributions
This is actively maintained and I’d love feedback:
- GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
- Pull Requests: Contributions welcome!
The project follows test-driven development with 100% test coverage.
Stay safe out there! 
Links:
