NSW facing high bushfire risk as hazard reduction targets not met due to rainy autumn

The past few weeks should have been the perfect season for fire authorities to get through a massive amount of hazard reduction, but Mother Nature has got in the way.

The state’s crucial bushfire hazard reduction targets will not be met after weeks of drenching rains delayed burns during the peak window of autumn, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) has warned.

And the massive rainfalls – which set several records for the month of April and May – also had the unwelcome side effect of fuelling new vegetation growth – posing a threat for the next season, RFS commission Rob Rogers said.

While favourable conditions in some areas during April allowed for a number of significant burns to be completed, the return of wet weather has “saturated the landscape making it too wet for effective burning,” Commissioner Rogers said.

The target for the past financial year was to get through 300,000ha, but only 100,000ha has been treated since July 2023.

Parts of the NSW received rainfall totals well over 100mm during the past two weeks, the commissioner said, with similar levels last weekend.

A 100-acre local hazard reduction burn. Picture: Cambooya RFB

“One of the key things for us, and causes concern, is that autumn is where we do about 60 per cent of our hazard reduction,” Commissioner Rogers said. “It’s a bit of a Goldilocks time, it’s not too wet normally and not too cold and so this rain has really interrupted a lot of hazard reduction we would like to have got done.

“Consequently, thousands of hectares of hazard reduction burns scheduled for autumn have been postponed.”

NSW RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers says the rainy weather has impacted hazard reduction.

“It is concerning the amount of rain we’ve had, how much that’s impeding hazard reduction.

“…the recent rain has not only delayed scheduled burns but will also fuel increased vegetation growth, posing a risk for next fire season.”

The RFS was still continuing to go ahead with programmed burns when the weather permitted, but the weeks of wet weather have also added a lot of moisture to the fuel and grounds.

“They’re talking about a possible La Nina event, so the problem is it will go from being too wet to suddenly becoming very dry and then we’ll be at it again,” he said.

Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said fire services and land management agencies have faced challenges in meeting their hazard reduction targets over the past three years, including prolonged bouts of wet weather and severe flooding across large areas of NSW

“Early progress had been made in many areas including the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, before wet weather set in,” he said.

“While weather conditions have been detrimental, we have continued to support mitigation operations allowing this important work to be carried out as soon as possible, where and when conditions allow.”

Last financial year, only 90,000ha out of that year’s target of 320,000ha was burned.

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