TRANSCRIPT
As summer gets underway, Australians are being urged to not put their safety on the back burner.
Minister for Regional Development, Kristy McBain, says this bushfire season could test the preparedness of many.
"We wanna make sure that individuals are prepared in this upcoming high risk weather season. It is incredibly important now to move towards those bushfire ready plans, to understand where evacuation centres will be located and to make sure that we're caring for vulnerable cohorts in your local community."
Emergency Management Commissioner for Victoria, Tim Wiebusch, is warning parts of the country could rapidly come under fire threat.
"We are likely to see over the summer months warmer temperatures than normal, both day time and night time. So, what that means is even though we've seen really good spring rainfall, we will see our conditions dry out again. And that will see further fuels in our environment, both grass and in our forested areas."
In the latest seasonal bushfire outlook, The Australian and New Zealand Council for Fire and Emergency Services has identified an increased risk of fires across parts of Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
CEO Rob Webb says they didn't see as much rainfall as they'd hoped for across Australia's eastern states.
"We were hopeful that we'd get a fair bit of rain through spring but we probably didn't get that across a wide area of eastern Australia so we have seen fires start to run a little bit through New South Wales and of course Queensland and the Northern Territory had fires as well through the earlier parts of the year. But it doesn't take long once these hot temperatures get into the landscape for the vegetation to dry out. Of course, the areas I've focused on aren't the only places that should be preparing for fire. Even in a normal year, there are many parts of South Australia that can experience a bushfire."
Chief Fire Officer for Forest Fire Management Victoria, Chris Hardman, says prolonged dry conditions in the state are causing particular concern.
"We've had some really significant long term drying particularly in the forested areas and many people in regional and rural Victoria know that that rainfall shortage is causing problems."
Mr Webb says the drying has turned much of Australia's bushland into prime fire fuel.
"A precursor to particularly bad fire conditions when you do have that deep, really deep drying. so not only your grass fuels dry out, but your trees start to come under stress as well. Once the heat gets in of summer, it can lead to rapid drying and fires can spread through much more easily."
As Australians enter the summer months, the Council for Fire and Emergency Services is also warning people living outside high-risk areas to stay alert for bushfires and visit your local fire authority's website to complete a bushfire survival plan if you haven't already.
