Bushfires: The Myths, The Reality
20-May-2005
Basic truths about fire and society
- Fire and lightning strikes are a natural and vital part of the Australian landscape.
- South-eastern states of Australia form one of the three most-fire-prone areas of the world.
- An average of 15,000 fires burn 23,000 square kilometres of forest, grass, crop and townships each year in Australia.
- There is a lack of awareness in community as to the realities and risks of fire in the Australian environment.
- Fire frequency has increased since European settlement, in relation to seasonality, frequency, intensity and scale.
- 80 per cent of fires are deliberately or accidentally lit (as opposed to natural causes such as lightning). The causes include fuel reduction burns, sparks from power lines and vehicles, unattended campfires, discarded cigarettes and arson.
- The worst fires are associated with extreme weather conditions: a succession of dry years, seasonal conditions where temperatures reach extreme levels (around 40C) and dry gusting winds from the north. When these conditions occur, hazard reduction burning and firebreaks do little to prevent their spread.
- Australia's hot and dry conditions are consistent with predictions for climate change from greenhouse pollution. Globally, 2002 was the second hottest year on record and the 10 hottest years (since records began in 1880) have occurred since 1987. This matches CSIRO predictions for an increase in Australian average temperatures by as much as 6 degrees (by 2070) because of climate change.
- CSIRO has predicted the mean Fire Danger Index will increase by 10 per cent if carbon dioxide concentrations double (as predicted by the International Panel on Climate Change). For example, in Victoria this means twice as many very high and extreme fire danger days each year. Most fire damage - including loss of life, property, farmland, flora and fauna - occurs in those few high fire danger days per year and the few years per decade when fire danger is at its highest.
- Urban growth in metropolitan and regional areas is bringing more people (and more private property) into close contact with the bush and fire potential. Suburbs of Sydney's south and north, the hills around Melbourne and Adelaide and the outer edges of Brisbane, Perth and Hobart are places where bush and city are blurred.
Hazard reduction burning
- Urban areas adjacent to bushland are often the focus of hazard reduction burning.
- All the research and the evidence suggests the best bushfire management combines mitigation and preparation – including fuel reduction burning.
- Different types of bushland respond differently to different fire patterns, so fuel reduction burning is not a panacea.
- The wrong approach to fuel reduction can make parts of the landscape more fire prone, not less, and pose a risk to public health, safety, water supplies and the long-term survival of native wildlife.
- Frequent hazard reduction burning should not be confused with Indigenous firestick farming. Firestick farming was usually very precise and created a mosaic in the landscape. It had a number of objectives including improved hunting, root growth promotion, fruit production and sacred site protection.
Forest changes
- Old growth forests which, due to high moisture levels and lack of fuel on the ground, are not fire prone, have been removed or altered by settlement and logging. Victoria, for example has lost 50 per cent of its rainforest cover since European settlement. Eucalyptus trees contain volatile oil, so more eucalypts mean more intense fires.
- The fires of Ash Wednesday and Black Friday were in regrowth forests - forest recovering from logging. The Royal Commission on Black Friday concluded that alteration to the environment from logging had led to the severity and extent of the fire.
- Regrowth forests have thick growth of young trees and extensive fuel for fire in the wattles and other colonising plants. These contain high amounts of oil that encourages fire spread. Regrowth forest also drops large amounts of bark a branches that contribute to forest litter.
Basic truths about national parks, other conservation areas and fire
- Around 16 per cent of Victoria's land surface is in national parks and other conservation reserves.
- For many thousands of years Australia has experienced wildfire. In an average summer 600 bushfires occur in Victoria's parks and forests, between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of these are caused by lightning.
- Parks are not 'locked up'. They are actively managed and part of regional fire protection plans. Management burns are routinely made in most national parks, and firebreaks are found in most national parks or along their boundaries.
- Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of fires start outside parks and burn into them. In National Parks and Wildlife reserves of NSW, between 1974 and 1984, 65 fires began outside reserves and burned into them, compared with 14 fires that began in reserves and burned out on to other land. In this same period, the area of reserves burnt by fires that moved into the reserves from other land was 119,721 hectares compared with 6,439 hectares of other land that was burnt by fires that began in reserves.
- Of 207 fires in the January 1994 NSW fires, only one quarter were alight in national parks, and just three in wilderness areas. There were five times as many fires coming into parks from neighbouring properties as there were fires escaping the park boundaries. At least 90 per cent of national park fires were started through negligence or arson. About 25 per cent of area burnt was in parks.
- Fire planning allows for access for fire control and suppression.
- All areas of parks, reserves and forests in Victoria, for example, are subject to fire prevention and suppression activities in accordance with Fire Protection Plans. The plans cover all areas of public land (including national and state parks and state forests) and provide an integrated approach to fire management.
- Fire Protection Plans are developed following community consultation across interest groups and the wider community. They are also developed in close consultation with specialists involved in flora, fauna, parks, forestry, and land and water protection. Their goal is the protection of human life, property, assets and environmental values.