Calls to action for Hobart residents as bushfire season looms
Even city-slickers are being warned of the looming bushfire season with the council urging residents to prepare properties now.
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Hobart City Council has urged residents to prepare their properties — and their family bushfire plan — for the coming summer.
Council staff conducted hazard reduction burns at the Queens Domain on Tuesday.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said around half of the land area the council managed was bush.
Over the coming weeks city fire crews will carry out fuel reduction burns to reduce the bushfire risk and protect houses near the Queens Domain, Bicentennial Park and Knocklofty Reserve.
Ms Reynolds urged residents to prepare their homes for bushfire, to ensure they have a bushfire plan in place for their family and to download the TasAlert app
“Hobart is susceptible to bushfires, and unfortunately climate change is increasing this risk with more extreme fire weather days becoming much more common,” she said.
“This means more of us need to be aware of the bushfire risks to our homes even if we don’t live right next to bushland.
“Because of climate change we’ll all need to increase our efforts to prepare for bushfire seasons.
“Embers can travel kilometres ahead of a fire front and ignite flammable materials deep into Hobart’s suburbs.
“By keeping grass short, cleaning gutters, removing wood and any flammable plants growing right next to your house, you can reduce the risk of a bushfire impacting you.”
Council’s call came as Professor David Bowman, Director from the University of Tasmania’s Fire Centre warned that Australia must shift from reactive to preventive strategies to avoid a future dominated by bushfire disasters.
In a report published in Nature Sustainability, Professor Bowman proposed a solution known as the Wildfire Adaptation Triad — consisting of research and development, education and demonstration, and incentives and enforcement.
“A unified, structured response is essential to counter the impacts of fires that are intensifying with climate change,” he said.
“We are at a crossroads,” Professor Bowman said.
“Continuing with piecemeal efforts only reinforces our vulnerability to bushfire disasters.
“Research and Development equips us with new tools and methods, education fosters community-led solutions, and Incentives and Enforcement ensure that these practices are widely adopted.
“Together, they shift the focus from merely coping with fires to reducing our exposure and vulnerability.”
A key component of the report emphasises the need to reintegrate Indigenous fire management practices, which have sustainably shaped Australia’s landscapes for thousands of years.
Historically, Australia’s bushfire response has centred heavily on firefighting capabilities.
Professor Bowman argues that while firefighting is critical, it is an unsustainable response that fails to address the underlying risk factors contributing to Australia’s bushfire crisis.
“Our response has to evolve beyond firefighting,” he said.
“Prioritising proactive, preventive solutions by empowering communities to become firewise is imperative.”
Originally published as Calls to action for Hobart residents as bushfire season looms
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