The NSW Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Centre was established in January 2023 as an outcome of the 2020 NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry.
The centre “unites researchers from partner universities with government agencies, frontline emergency services, Aboriginal people and community stakeholders in a collective effort to tackle the challenges posed by bushfires and other natural hazards”.
After wet weather in May the Rural Fire Service issued a media statement saying that “thousands of hectares of hazard reduction burns scheduled for autumn have been postponed”.
Two recent media articles have reported on research looking at the role of fire in tall, wet forests, and ‘long unburnt’ vegetation. These reports contribute to the ongoing discussion about the role of fire in the Australian environment and how fire can be managed with biodiversity conservation in mind.
The coroner’s report contains much useful information. Of particular interest is an ‘executive statement’ submitted to the coroner from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which is reproduced in full in the coroner’s report. The NPWS statement raises three concerns: Prioritisation of aircraft, particularly for rapid response to new ignitions, command and control of fires, investigation of fires.
Researchers report that changing fire patterns are having a major impact on biodiversity. Areas that have escaped fire for decades or centuries feature vital structures for wildlife such as logs and tree hollows, and are critical habitat for many threatened species. They found that this long unburnt habitat is in severe decline.
IBG concludes that while the recommendations are welcome, they are very limited in their scope. This and previous inquiries have only been able to scratch the surface of bushfire operations, and coronial inquiries are poorly suited to finding lessons from how fires are managed.
On 27 March the NSW Coroner delivered a two-volume report from this lengthy inquiry into the worst fires NSW has ever seen. The inquiry extended over 78 sitting days from August 2021 to August 2023 and considered 780 witness statements.
The media have been largely silent on the origin of recent fires, but until 26 October when a wave of storms across northern NSW sparked a reported 47 new ignitions, the role of lightning has been minimal. This leaves human causes.
IBG made a presentation to the 2023 NCC Bushfire on: Learning from past fire operations for future success.
The final Stage 2 public hearings of the NSW Bushfires Coronial Inquiry took place from 15 to 26 May 2023. The topic, one of several systemic issues identified from the Stage 1 hearings, was Backburning Operations – planning and execution.
Independent Bushfire Group