It is not generally appreciated what a large proportion of the Western Australian jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata)forest is covered by mining leases for the extraction of bauxite, nor how bauxite mining has greatly complicated forest fire management and hugely increased fuel loads…
The Sawyers Bushfire – Disaster Averted
The January 2018 Sawyers Valley bushfire occurred under moderate temperature but windy conditions. Believed to have been started by an arsonist, the fire started at about 8 AM alongside Gorrie Road and moved rapidly to the west-south-west in jarrah and wandoo forest,…
The Blackboy Story
Even down south…. . ↑…
The particular need for prescribed burning in forested catchment areas
We do not hear much these days about the water levels in our Hills dams, which are all in forested areas. Now that we have two large (and very expensive) desalination plants the importance of the Hills dams has fallen off…
What is prescribed burning
What Happens in a Fuel Reduction Burn It is important to understand that when an area has had its understorey fuel reduced by a low intensity burn, it does not become a firebreak, in the sense that it will stop a running…
Smoke
The Smoke Issue The smoke that arises from bushfires, whether it comes from prescribed burns or from wildfires, is a controversial subject in Western Australia. Every time the metropolitan area is affected by smoke drift from a prescribed burn in nearby forests…