Last week you might have noticed a pick-up in news articles and broadcasts forecasting a hot, dry summer, and high potential for fire in some areas of the state. That news has come from the seasonal summer outlook distributed on Thursday (28 November) by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC), the national council for fire and emergency services in Australia and New Zealand.
The Seasonal Bushfire Outlook for Summer gives a picture of the likelihood of fire over the summer months, at both a state and national level. This year’s outlook for Victoria predicts higher potential for fire for most of western Victoria, as well as southwest Gippsland, including Mornington Peninsula, greater Melbourne and north-east Victoria.
The potential has been assessed this way because of the dry conditions in those areas, the availability of vegetation (e.g. grass, leaves, bark, shrubs and fallen branches) to ‘fuel’ fires, high temperatures and the continuing lack of rainfall to bring moisture to the landscape.
The fire potential elsewhere in Victoria has been assessed as ‘normal’, but hot, dry and windy weather can still pose a risk in areas dominated by forests, woodlands, or dense, low shrubs.
‘Normal’ is no reason to be complacent, but you should know that Victoria is prepared and that our land and fire agencies have worked all year to reduce our bushfire risk.
We are prepared and ready to respond
On public land this year, FFMVic carried out risk reduction works across more than 138,000 hectares – and, because it isn’t just about this summer or this season, I’m happy to tell you that we also carried out works on more than 90,000 hectares the year before. The impacts are cumulative.
Risk reduction works include planned burns, mowing, mulching, slashing and spraying. Collectively, we call these works ‘fuel management’. They reduce the amount of vegetation (e.g. grass, leaves, bark, shrubs and fallen branches) available to ‘fuel’ a fire, thereby reducing the likely speed or intensity of a bushfire. These qualities can help fire crews to respond to and put out fires while they are still small – before they can impact on communities, assets, infrastructure and the environment. You can find out about planned burns happening near you at Planned Burns Victoria.
In November we saw some of the reward for those efforts, with a fire in the Great Otway National Park – the Chapple Vale–Colac Tree Road fire – showing reduced spread in the footprint of one of our planned burns back in August. Thankfully, the fire was able to be contained before hotter temperatures set in just days later. Our crews remain in the area to manage hot spots and reinforce those control lines.
Recent weeks have also shown how we work together with and alongside our emergency sector partners. On the frontline, FFMVic has close to 1800 personnel, including full-time and seasonal firefighters, fire lookout observers and fire support officers. In recent months, many of them have completed training and accreditation to make sure they are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to be safe and help keep communities safe this summer.
They are supported by hundreds of emergency and incident management staff, including surge staff who have a fire and emergency role in addition to their day job, as well as firefighting equipment. This includes tankers, earthmoving equipment and aircraft positioned across the state – as well as additional aircraft that can be called upon when needed.
What you can do
Summer is a festive time in Victoria. We often have opportunities to steal a bit of magic as the year comes to an end – to come together with loved ones, to get away, to get in a bit more sleep – and a few more late nights, and to reflect on the year gone by.
But opportunity is never without responsibility. Now is also the time to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the fire season. Here are some quick tips to help you get started.
Five ways with fire
- Visit the CFA website to help you get started on a Bushfire Plan so you know what you will do in case of fire
- Download and get to know the VicEmergency app – then set up ‘watch zones’ and turn on notifications to be kept up to date wherever you are
- Get to know the Australian Fire Danger Ratings System – and work out what fire danger rating will trigger your Bushfire Plan
- Plan your travel – head to Explore Outdoors to help you stay safe when visiting state forests
- Never leave a campfire unattended – if they are cool to touch, they are safe to leave.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy festive season.
Chris Hardman AFSM
Chief Fire Officer
Forest Fire Management Victoria
Page last updated: 04/12/24