Fire season preparation window closing fast

Time is running out to prepare for the looming bushfire season after heavy rains delayed backburning and land clearing in all states and territories, with less than a third complete in NSW alone.

Waterbomber aircrew officer Geoff Janson at Bankstown Airport in Sydney's west. Picture: John Feder

Time is running out to prepare for bushfire season after heavy rains delayed back-burning and land clearing in all states and terri­tories, with fewer than a quarter of fuel reductions planned in NSW completed in the last financial year alone.

National Emergency Management Australia deputy co-­ordinator general emergency management and response Joe Buffone said the risk of bushfires would be elevated as general weather conditions shifted from wet to dry after three consecutive years of La Nina. 

Mr Buffone said fine fuel loads, such as grass, had in particular increased, with emergency authorities most concerned about northern NSW and southern Queensland as the weather warmed ahead of spring.

“The fact is the burning fuel ­reduction window has been narrowed,” he said.

“What they [the states and territories] are looking at is other means, like putting in fire breaks, making sure roadsides are cleared (and) getting the community to clear around their own properties to actually minimise risk.”

He stressed Australia was unlikely to experience a repeat of the Black Summer bushfires that razed 5.5 million hectares, destroyed 2448 homes and killed 26 people in 2019 and 2020.

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council will release its outlook for the fire season at a conference in Brisbane on Wednesday.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers said heavy rains had hampered mitigation efforts in the state, with only 24 per cent of planned fuel reduction completed in the financial year.

Mr Rogers said he was particularly concerned by grasslands west of the Great Dividing Range as well as densely vegetated areas in northern and southern Sydney that didn’t burn in the Black Summer bushfires.

The Bureau of Meteorology has yet to declare an El Nino weather event, although con­ditions are tipped to be comparatively warmer and drier than preceding years.