Victoria’s most dangerous bushfire zone is again primed with millions of tonnes of fuel

WHY are we not heeding the lessons of Black Saturday? That’s the provocative question posed in this EDITORIAL.

FEBRUARY 7 marks 10 years since Black Saturday’s firestorms tore through 400,000ha, destroying 2100 homes and killing 173 people.

Victoria’s worst natural disaster shocked the world and prompted politicians and emergency service leaders to swear it would never happen again.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission highlighted the failings of the past, calling on future governments and forest managers to raise the bar and burn at least 390,000ha of public land each year.

BUSHFIRE RISK REACHES BLACK SATURDAY LEVELS

But that target sputtered and died in the midst of reviews, red tape and pressure to spend the money on projects that delivered more immediate political gains — such as level crossing removals.

Forest Fire Management Victoria only managed to treat 74,825ha in 2017-18.

Why aren’t we listening to former CSIRO bushfire scientist Phil Cheney’s warning that “if you look at risk, what you can control, fuel load is the only thing that matters”?

FITNESS TEST EXODUS WARNING TO CFA

The Victorian Government refuses to release fuel load data, instead giving us a computer-generated residual risk of 80 per cent — where we were just prior to Black Saturday.

Does Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio think there's a problem? Apparently not.

Yet the reality is Victoria’s most dangerous bushfire zone has millions of tonnes of fuel ready to explode this summer or next in the wake of drought and extreme heat.

The Minister best hope she doesn’t have to front another Royal Commission to explain her government’s failure that led to another black day in Victoria's history.

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