Victorians warned to prepare for early 2023-24 fire season

A warm and dry spring means Victorians should prepare for an earlier fire season but while the threat is elevated compared to recent years, it won’t be as bad as in Hawaii and Greece.

Victorians have been warned to start preparing their properties ahead of a high risk bushfire season.

Victorians are being warned this year’s bushfire risk will be higher than previous years, but authorities aren’t bracing for the same catastrophic scenes experienced in Hawaii, Canada and Greece.

The latest Seasonal Bushfire Outlook suggests Victorians should brace for an earlier start to the fire season in pockets of the state, spurred on by a drier and warmer spring.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes said now is the time for property owners to start preparing for the potential of bushfires, with the government to soon launch its ‘How well do you know Fire?’ campaign.

The campaign will target people living in fire-prone areas, as well as peri-urban growth corridors and holiday-makers travelling to areas they aren’t familiar with.

“We’ve had a couple of years of being so wet that fire just really hasn’t been on people’s radar … This year is different. It’s back to normal,” she said.

“Now is the time for you to prepare for this season. It is time to mow your lawn. It is time to clean your gutters. It is time to take care of your property.”

Ms Symes said she understood that people were nervous after seeing footage of wildfires in Maui and Greece, but warned those scenes weren’t expected in Australia.

“We know the images from the Northern Hemisphere have got people anxious,” she said.

“The season outlook here in Australia is not deemed to be catastrophic. It is not anticipated to be like another Black Saturday.

“For Victoria in particular, the message is that we have some pockets of rather dry areas out in far east Gippsland and up far north but the majority of the state is returning to a normal fire season.”

But Ms Symes said Victorians should not become complacent by that warning.

“I do have to stress that normal conditions in our state and in our country does mean high risk,” she said.

Asked if the bushfire forecast was likely to change if an El Nino event is declared, Ms Symes said it wouldn’t make much difference.

“That’s the scientific definition or category of a particular weather pattern involving the atmosphere and the sea. But for our intents and purposes, it doesn’t change what we do in Victoria,” she said.

New emergency services commissioner Rick Nugent said Victorians who fled the city for the regions during Covid should have a bushfire plan in place.

“(They need) to actually sit down with (their) family and understand what (their) plan is,” he said.

“If you haven’t already, download the VicEmergency app and know where you can receive emergency information, including your local emergency broadcasters.”