How “controlled” are controlled burns?
A Lancefield fire spread from a “controlled burn” that breached containment lines. The circumstances of one of the most destructive fires has prompted the Victorian state government to look for fresh answers in how to prevent future outbreaks. The Lancefield “controlled burn” turned into a bushfire which has destroyed five homes, 19 sheds, burnt almost 3000 hectares and generated fury among local residents.
Opponents regularly express concern over the impact of planned, or prescribed, burns on native forest and native animals. Some have questioned whether fuel reduction burns actually work!
The fire spread from a controlled burn-off that breached containment lines, while much of Victoria’s attention was on the AFL grand final on Saturday afternoon. Fire Chief Mr Goodwin could not say how many staff were rostered on that Friday or Saturday.
The CFA had hoped to bring the 4000-hectare fire under control by Thursday night but was racing to gain the upper hand before a northerly wind change and possible thunderstorms on Saturday.
(image: Burnt koala, Environment East Gippsland: The wildlife cost of DEPI burns – shocking imagery. )
A fire-bombing aircraft helped Edgar’s Mission, near Lancefield, a farm animal sanctuary that houses 250 rescued animals.
Alan Goodwin said the Cobaw forest burn-off’s escape was regrettable, but he denied emphatically the operation had been under-staffed and ignorant of pending heatwave conditions.
An external review, led by the director of Western Australia’s Office of Bushfire Risk Management Murray Carter, will examine whether enough staff were allocated throughout the burn.
The fire defied efforts to contain it, and fire-fighters were redeployed elsewhere even though hot and windy weather was predicted. The first scare for DELWP came when the fire jumped containment lines on Saturday. 20 DELWP and Parks Victoria fire-fighters were monitoring the fire on the Sunday and Monday.
The policy to burn 5% of Victoria’s vegetation each year, in order to reduce the risk of bushfires taking hold near properties and critical infrastructure, will be under greater scrutiny.
Chief Officer of the CFA, Euan Ferguson, said “history has shown us that a well-managed, well-resourced planned burning program can be successfully executed, (and) can make a difference”.
Victoria has a long history of catastrophic bushfires. These “controlled” burns are a disgrace and those who organise them should be charged with arson. They choose the wrong days when the weather is too dangerous for a burn and when the fires get out of control it’s the farmers, the home owners, the native birds and animals, and the national parks that suffer.
These “controlled” or “prescribed” burns are about using fire to squelch fire. This is about burning hectares of our bush, in Victoria, to clear it of vegetation, and wildlife are simply the collateral damage. In reality, it’s making our State more flammable by destroying what actually limits fires – the biodiversity, ecosystems, fungi, tree canopies that produce rain and maintain moisture, and wildlife such as kangaroos that eat the long grass! Torching small animals, such as possums and tree-dwelling koalas, is considered part of the price of keeping forests “safe” for houses, and properties.
Victoria is so cleared, and damaged, it’s like a tinder box, really to inflame more due to so-called “controlled burns” out of control.
A better way too would be to use leading-edge technology and communication to quickly spot fires and put them out! Controlled burning should be not based on hectares burnt, but by controlling where the risks to people are property are the greatest, and assessed by need.
Letter: The Age, 9 Oct, 2015
I am not aware of one instance in which a controlled or planned burn has subsequently stopped or slowed the progress of a bushfire. From the present Lancefield disaster back to the fire that devastated Wilsons Promontory, and further back, many controlled/planned burns have become out of control. In addition, the poor air quality in regional areas caused by controlled or fuel-reduction burns seriously affects the health of residents. This ridiculous practice must cease. The only basis for controlled burning is the desire of successive state governments to be seen to be doing something about bushfires. Authorities need to focus on such things as the prevention of arson, the education of machinery operators, and the use of 21st-century technology to locate fires as soon as possible after they start, so that they may be extinguished quickly. Where, during our bushfire season, are the large jet air tankers used in the US?
John Christiansen, St Kilda
