Updated
Queensland emergency services are bracing for what is
expected to be a long and "very active" fire season, with weather
experts saying the outlook is "not a good news story".
Key points:
- Significant fire activity expected from Rockhampton to the NSW border
- Dry fire fighting techniques will be used in areas such as the Granite Belt and Darling Downs
- About 33,000 volunteer firefighters are on call across the state
The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC released its bushfire outlook this morning — joined by fire representatives from across the country — who warned communities to be prepared.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Deputy Commissioner Mark Roche said Queensland had already started its fire season, with several fires coming close to homes and killing wildlife in the south-east last week.
"The bushfire season has started early and we expect it will go later as well," he said.
"Over the last couple of weeks we've seen some significant fires, we note this report in the bushfire outlook and we believe we are very well prepared.
"But we need the local community, we need the local government to be prepared and support us side by side."
He said they were expecting significant fire activity from Rockhampton to the New South Wales border, but also out to the west.
"We know that we have some dry areas in Granite Belt and Darling Downs where we will have some challenges in terms of water supply so we'll be looking at some more dry fire fighting techniques," he said.
The warning comes after last year's "unprecedented" fires in Central Queensland where more than 2,600 fires burnt around 4 million hectares of land.
"Last year was unprecedented when you talk about bushfires in Queensland ... catastrophic conditions we've never seen before," Mr Roche said.
He said because of that, authorities had completed a very thorough mitigation program across the state since April, and believed they were fully equipped to deal with what's to come, including about 33,000 volunteer firefighters across the state.
'Communities not well prepared'
What is a catastrophic fire?
- A catastrophic fire danger rating is as bad as it gets
- While some homes may survive a severe or extreme fire if you're well prepared, the Country Fire Authority says no homes are designed to withstand catastrophic conditions
- If a fire starts and takes hold during catastrophic fire conditions, the weather bureau says it will be "extremely difficult to control" and take "significant firefighting resources"
- This is the first time a catastrophic fire warning has been issued in Queensland
- When these warnings are issued, your only safe option is to leave the area early
- The catastrophic category was added following the 2009 Black Saturday fires in Victoria
Dr Richard Thornton from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC said this year's season would be driven by many of the same weather patterns experienced over the last several years.
"This year again we will see a lot of the activity in the east, is dominated both by an increased average temperature and also a decline in rainfall," he said.He said a lot of the community were not prepared for the fire season and this would be a good "trigger point" for people to start thinking seriously.
"All of our research shows that whenever we go into communities post event, that a large proportion of that community are not well prepared for the fire season and a lot of them express surprise that they were impacted by fires," he said.
"Even in the areas that are not in red or above normal, that fires are a normal part of the Australian landscape and fires can start anywhere and without warning, and in fact many communities will not receive a warning because fires will be on them so quickly."
David Jones from the Bureau of Meteorology said the outlook was not "a good news story" given the climate drivers.
"Australia is currently experiencing one of its most severe droughts in our historical records," he said.
"So it's not a very good outlook ... it'll certainly will be a very challenging fire season and we certainly anticipate an early start and a long season."
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