Fire

Climate change threatens our forests, but it is not necessarily an existential threat, according to a leading Australian scientist. “It’s not necessarily the case that we will be wiped out by wildfire. The existential threat of fire can be mitigated, but we must use ALL knowledge,” Mark Adams, Professor of Bioscience and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology ... This included indigenous people’s use of fire as a management tool.

Bushfire affected environmental recovery monitoring in south-west NSW by a Charles Sturt University PhD research student has revealed a hitherto un-noted lizard species in Woomargama National Park. Mr Grant Linley in the Charles Sturt  Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment  said his research obtained photographic evidence of a species, the  heath goanna  (also known as  Rosenberg’s goanna), in Woomargama NP which has not been observed by scientists to occur in the park.

Serena Kirby. Preparing for fire season should be a year-round job and leaving it until summer was too late. This is just one piece of advice Murray Brooker gave at his bushfire ready sessions. Murray is the lead facilitator of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services-led Denmark bushfire ready program that is run by community members.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews across the State are being trained to use state-of-the-art drone technology to assist in firefighting operations and other emergencies ... The RPAS are equipped with thermal imaging cameras and laser technology that can detect variable heat temperatures, identify people or animals under threat in a fire zone and measure the size of an area impacted by fire.

Lockyer Valley Mayor, Cr Tanya Milligan recently hosted Federal Member for Wright, Mr Scott Buchholz MP, for a tour of the region’s current federally funded projects. Council was successful in securing grant funding of $675,000 from the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Grants Program. The cash injection is designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic bushfires in the Lockyer Valley ...

Sunraysia residents are being urged to ensure their properties are prepared for the upcoming Fire Danger Period. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) declares an annual Fire Danger Period from October through to April, and it’s important that everyone in our region does their part to reduce the risk of fire.

Dorrobbee Grass Reserve is a beautiful reserve that surrounds the large concrete water tank on the hill just north of Dunoon. It is a special place of great cultural significance to the traditional custodians, the Widjabul Wia-bal people. The reserve is a traditional Aboriginal camping and travelling route maintained through cultural land-management practices, including cultural burning. The reserve is also a remnant ‘island’ of fire-dependent grassland and one of the last intact grassland ecosystems within the Big Scrub bioregion .

A landmark new initiative will help firefighters and farmers work together to better protect communities in regional and rural NSW from bush fires and grass fires. Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke released a first-of-its-kind Operational Guide for the use of Farm Fire Units.

A Traditional Owner group in South East Queensland have used drones with thermal imaging cameras to undertake a major prescribed burn while avoiding endangering wildlife ... the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation burned off excess vegetation along 440 hectares of swamp at Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) to refresh wildlife habitat and facilitate the regrowth of rare flora species.

If we as a society don’t identify all the non-climate, climate change, weather and drought factors that influence the extent, intensity and severity of major bushfires across Australia and action associated opportunities, Australia will continue to have more of the same disastrous bushfires, impacting on communities, fire fighters, flora, fauna and the environment.

Sadly, death and destruction will continue to escalate whilst governments rely on advice from academics and firechiefs and give them increased funding after every disaster. Sustainable fire management would be very much cheaper and better.

As you drive on the Caves Road between Margaret River and Augusta, you will pass a magnificent forest of tall karri trees called the Boranup Forest. It is an extraordinary place – the furthest west that karri grows.

Philip Hopkins. Bushfire policy needs to be driven by rigorous science underpinning politics if the landmark federal-state national bushfire management strategy is to be successful, according to one of the nation’s leading bushfire experts. Dr Kevin Tolhurst, AM, Associate Professor of Fire Ecology and Management at Melbourne University, said fire management was dominated by alternate paths based on politics and science.

Landholders in Myrtle Creek, Busby’s Flat, Upper Cherry Tree, Mongogarie, Pikapene and surrounding areas are invited to Fire and Flood Restoration Workshops at the Rappville Pub this month. All Richmond Valley landholders can join in the workshops which will focus on building community capacity and resilience to extreme events.

Part 2 of a three part series of reports from the conference by Philip Hopkins ... “It’s time for the fire management sector to band together and argue the case for a massive increase in the budget across fire research. Up to 97 per cent of spending is on response and rebuilding during and after events, and only three per cent on preparation and mitigation. That mismatch needs to be turned around but not at the expense of insufficient current operational budgets”: Climate Councillor, Greg Mullins.

Pilot trials to enhance bushfire resilience in regional communities through bushfire prediction, bushfire detection, aerial operations and uncrewed firefighting solutions were launched on the Sunshine Coast. The technology innovation has been championed under a new bushfire resilience partnership between Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Noosa Shire Council and FireTech Connect.

The highest rainfall in a decade has turned the red earth of Central Australia into a spectacular carpet of green vegetation ... With recent drier and hotter than average autumn days, the grasses are haying off quickly, increasing the fire risk with heavy fuel loads across the landscape. Bushfires NT (BFNT) and Parks and Wildlife have been hard at work with NTFRS, DIPL, Alice Springs Town Council and other landholders jointly planning fire mitigation strategies both within Alice Springs municipality and across the region.

Extreme fire weather days have increased in Australia by 56 per cent over the last four decades, according to new research from an international team of scientists, including CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency ... CSIRO researcher, Dr Pep Canadell, said an increase in fire weather trends translated to an increase in the number of Australian bushfires.

The first of a three part series by Philip Hopkins. Sharing information globally about the causes and impacts of destructive bushfires in an era threatened by global warming drew about 360 people to an international conference in Melbourne in June. Fire & Climate 2022, presented by the International Association of Wildland Fire in partnership with Natural Hazards Research Australia, concentrated on the most significant forces shaping wildland fire today.