Fire season 2025 burns most hectares in Victoria since Black Summer

Victorian fire authorities are already bracing for a tough 2026 fire season, despite history suggesting the state will see some reprieve after a devastating previous summer.

Two fires in the Grampians this summer resulted in more than 120,000 hectares burnt. Picture: CFA/Ross Walker

Victoria’s most recent fire season was the most devastating since Black Summer, with authorities already bracing for a tough 2026.

In 2025 fires burnt 320,434ha in Victoria — equivalent to the Melbourne CBD burning more than 155 times over.

Despite this there remained a significant load of fuel across the state heading into autumn and winter months where little rain was expected.

Last season’s fires burnt about 70,000ha more than the average amount of land torched by fires in the past decade.

The only other season to do this was the 2019-20 Black Summer fires.

Lightning started a fire in the Little Desert National Park in January 2025 which burnt more than 95,000ha, while two fires in the Grampians burnt a combined 120,000ha.

Dimboola Fire Brigade captain Lyndon Kuhne said he had been fighting fires for nearly 20 years and had never seen a fire behave the way it did.

Lyndon Kuhne, Wayne Hartwich and Russell Hunter from Dimboola Fire Brigade were among the many volunteers who fought the 2025 Little Desert blaze. Picture: CFA

“For a small town like Dimboola, where everyone knows each other, the emotional weight was immense,” he said.

“It’s incredibly tough knowing you’re responsible for protecting both your town and your personal world.”

But Mr Kuhne said Dimboola’s community spirit shone in the weeks after the fire.

“Protecting the town was truly a team effort, and together we succeeded,” he said.

Mirranatwa Fire Brigade captain Jarrod Dark said Grampians fires were impossible to completely completely.

“When you’re out at the back of your property and you can see the flames, it’s confronting,” he said.

“You hear the fire, and it sounds like a jet engine because of the pure power of it.

“There was a staggering amount of Forest Fire Management Victoria, CFA and interstate crews out there doing their best to contain and control the fire.”

Mr Dark said it was lucky the Grampians had a tight knit community.

“Everyone was pitching in and doing their bit,” he said.

“We’re grateful beyond words for every CFA member, emergency responder, and community member who played a role.”

In the past 10 years nearly 11 per cent of Victoria’s total land mass has been burnt by fire.

During the 2019-2020 Black Summer fires the amount of land burnt was equivalent to 2610 Melbourne CBDs.

While fewer than 10,000ha were torched in 2021 — the season following Black Summer — it did not mean this trend would continue, with fire authorities bracing for a gruelling 2026.

Mirranatwa Fire Brigade captain Jarrod Dark is grateful for all the emergency and community response to two Grampians fires during the summer. Picture: CFA

Country Fire Authority chief officer Jason Heffernan said dry conditions and an active fire season were expected for next summer.

He said historically seasons with less hectares burnt had been wet La Nina years but there was no regular pattern.

“Severe rainfall deficits remain right across western Victoria and, despite all the bushfires this season, there are still many high-risk bushfire areas in the west, such as the Otways National Park and Wombat State Forest that have not had major bushfires for many years, as well as other areas of the state, which could be susceptible next season,” he said.

“When underlying dryness persists multi-year it becomes harder to recover.

“Significant rainfall is required to deeply saturate soils and reduce flammability, which would mean consecutive months of well-above normal rainfall.

“At the end March, there are no indications of this being likely through autumn and winter this year.”

Firefighters on the scene at the Little Desert National Park fire on January 27. Picture: Supplied

Ahead of the 2024-25 summer the Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook indicated a lack of rainfall created more fuel available to burn across parts of the state and that there would be a higher chance of warmer maximum temperatures.

Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said crews worked to reduce bushfire risk year-round.

“With the fire risk being higher than average this autumn, we urge people to take extreme care if lighting campfires, undertaking private burn-offs, or working with machinery in dry parts of the state,” he said.