The Howitt Society, Victoria’s equivalent of the Bushfire Front in WA, is equally strong in advocating the benefits of prescribed burning. Here is an article from their latest newsletter on the role of fuel reduction burning, with excellent examples from their “Black…
The 2020 Bushfire Royal Commission
This post is a summary of an article published in the journal Quadrant by Bushfire Front Chairman Roger Underwood. The full article can be seen at :https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2020/11/the-flaming-idiocy-of-yet-another-bushfire-panel/ The Royal Commission into the 2019/20 bushfire disasters is a disaster itself. The TOR…
The Truth About Fuel Reduction Burning
In the aftermath of the disastrous 2019/2020 fire season in the Eastern States there have been many examples in the media of personnel associated with State fire suppression agencies, as well as academics, putting forward their theories concerning the role of fuel…
Outback Bushfire Problems
While public attention and the focus of the 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements will naturally relate to the recent summer fires and fire crises in Qld, NSW. Vic and SA, it is important to also consider the other…
Effectiveness of Prescribed Burning
Example of effectiveness of a prescribed burning programme in controlling major forest fires—the 2005 Perth Hills fire by Rick Sneeuwjagt An outstanding example of the contribution of fuel reduction burning in the control of a fierce forest wildfire was on the 15-25…
What Firefighters Say
Ask any fire-fighter : prescribed burning mitigates bushfire losses There has been a lot of comment in the media lately from Eastern States academics claiming that prescribed burning (also known as fuel reduction burning) is of no use in preventing large…
Importance of Prescribed Burning
Why prescribed burning has never been so important to Australia The purpose of a fuel-reduction burning program is not to stop bushfires, but to assist with their safe suppression. To understand this properly it is necessary to understand the complex and…
Why the Bushfire Front Supports Fuel Reduction Burning
We strongly support the need to carry out regular, mild-intensity burns in State forests and national parks. The aim is NOT to stop bushfires from starting. The aim is to reduce the killing power of a wildfire. Even on a hot,…
Further Comments on NSW and Victorian Bushfires
Comments on the NSW and Victorian Fires at New Year, 2020 by Roger Underwood AM Although deeply invested emotionally, I am lucky in two respects: (i) to be observing the NSW and Victorian fires from afar with no danger of…
The Eastern States Bushfires 2019
by Roger Underwood A recent article in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph paints a despondent picture: horrible bushfires are “the new normal” because of climate change. The fire season, we learn, now extends to nearly 10 months of the year, and…