Fire

John O'Donnell looks closely at recent announcements by the NSW Government concerning funding for bushfire management and climate change adaptation and identifies 7 key remaining areas of concern, including an emphasis on bushfire suppression and inadequate levels of fire mitigation.

The 2022-23 NSW Budget is delivering a major boost to fire management in national parks through a $598 million investment, delivering 250 permanent jobs and critical infrastructure upgrades. The NSW Government has also committed an additional $93.7 million to deliver the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to prepare for the impacts of climate change and capture new investment opportunities.

In episodes 5  and 6  from the second season of the award winning short radio and podcast series  From the Embers,  we check in with two different communities on their resilience journeys. Episode 5, 'Right Fire Wrong Fire'  goes to the  South Coast of NSW where  the mega fires of 2019/20 destroyed 1.5m hectares of Yuin Country, killing countless animals, plants, and insect species.

Patricia Gill. Ms Danks said the fire had destroyed their home of 30 years which had been renovated and extended over the years to accommodate visits from family and friends. Ms Danks immigrated to Australia from Germany in 1972 bringing with her lithographs her father had collected along with family artworks.

Clarence Valley Council's Resilient Clarence project proudly sponsored the Festival of Small Halls at the Wooloweyah Hall on the 26 May and the Dundurrabin Community Centre on the 27 May as part of the Woodfordia Inc Resilience Tour 2022. Using storytelling and music to connect people, the Resilience Tour is travelling to small halls in bushfire impacted communities.

The NSW Government is making a major investment to better prepare communities and respond to bush fires, by committing $315.2 million over the next four years to complete the recommendations of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry in the 2022-23 NSW Budget. Premier Dominic Perrottet said $191 million has been allocated to the Rural Fire Service (RFS) to help keep NSW communities safe through vital hazard reduction works, maintenance of strategic fire trails and the procurement of new fleet ... ARR.News asked the Ministers a few questions and received a response from a NSW RFS spokesperson.

Robert Onfray introduces a powerful 2015 speech by Roger Underwood, retired forester, firefighter and bushfire specialist in karri country ... "We have given warning after warning, until we sound like a broken record. We have met with Premiers, Ministers and senior bureaucrats, and written dozens of letters and submissions. We have said “get your bushfire management sorted out, or you will lose everything”, but instead of getting better, things on the ground just kept getting worse." Has anything changed?

David Bruce, Natural Hazards Research Australia. Fire and Climate 2022 (Pullman Melbourne, Albert Park, Monday 6 to Friday 10 June 2022) is an International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) conference on Fuels and Fire Behaviour, Human Dimensions and Safety Summit, in the tradition of past IAWF conferences.

In addition to a 2,000 litre tank, the new tanker contains 650 litres of water set aside for crew and vehicle protection sprays in the event of a burnover. It also includes brackets to hold breathing apparatus cylinders as well as a cabin that allows a crew of five to travel safely together.

The first step in merging Noongar cultural burning practice with contemporary fire mitigation was taken last week with a trial burn along Wilson Inlet. A small area was selected along the Bibbulmun Track, adjoining Weedon Hill, for the demonstration trial in the big step towards more collaboration between traditional custodians and authorities in bushfire prevention.

John O'Donnell discusses the significance of a graph showing areas burnt by bushfire and by prescribed burning across Australia since 1960.

The Australian Rural & Regional News webinar held on 21 April 2022 is now available for public viewing.

A species of Gondwana era tree is being translocated for the first time, with 20 seedlings being planted across four secret sites in a NSW Government initiative to save the species. Minister for Environment James Griffin said the endangered Nightcap Oak tree is only found in one region and was severely affected by the 2019/2020 bushfires.

“The first brigade was established following the bombing of Darwin during World War II, making the NTFRS the only Australian capital city fire service to serve under enemy fire. At this present time, our thoughts are certainly with the courageous efforts of firefighters in Ukraine, their dedication and commitment is a true testament of what a firefighter is when protecting the community”: Chief Fire Officer Mark Spain AFSM.

One of Professor Zylstra’s core beliefs is that withholding fire from south-west Australian eucalypt forests for at least four decades will make those forests less flammable, even in a warming climate. This idea must bring joy to those who have long claimed that frequent, deliberate (prescribed) burning is ‘harmful to biodiversity’.

Patricia Gill. Ollie Wakka, 81, joined the newly-established Denmark Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service in 1962, ‘because I couldn’t say no’ ... Ollie recalls how everyone turned up to a fire as they were dressed, there was no equipment except what brigade members brought along and members’ vehicles were used.

A re-elected Coalition Government will invest $38.1 million over the next three years to establish a National Veteran Volunteer Service program in partnership with Disaster Relief Australia (DRA).

Photos: Naracoorte Community News This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News. Related story: Fourth Lucindale fire in four years claims life.

Small native mammals including bandicoots, antechinus and Bush Rats are showing remarkable recovery two years on from the Black Summer fires, long-term camera monitoring in State forests south of Eden shows. Forestry Corporation of NSW Senior Field Ecologist Rohan Bilney said Forestry Corporation of NSW has been monitoring wildlife at 40 sites in State forests south of Eden since 2007 as part of the Southern Brown Bandicoot Species Management Plan, and every monitoring site was impacted by fires in 2019-20.