Letter to the Editor: Little Grove resident Andrew Duncan on how better management can lessen bushfire impact

Recent comments by armchair critics regarding the Fitzgerald River National Park fire cannot go unanswered.

The reason why this fire burnt approximately 170,000ha, and another at Dunn Rock 43,000ha and many others, is that rapid fire suppression is impractical in remote locations, especially when there are multiple lightning strikes, inaccessible terrain and high fuel loads.

Fire ignition often occurs with high temperatures or wind and very low humidity, resulting in fire outcomes which are beyond direct suppression capability in a very short period of time of five to 10 minutes.

I challenge anyone to show suppression is achievable in this time frame.

Much of this terrain is inaccessible to fire appliances, and aerial assets have night and weather limitations.

Often fire ignition is occurring during darkness.

The principal reason why these large uncontrollable fires are occurring is that fuel loads beyond 10 to 15 years are not subjected to rotational controlled burns as outlined in the management plans post the 1989 Fitzgerald fire.

I can guarantee that unless fuel load management is embraced, we will see repeats of fires of the recent magnitude in this time frame.

I have 40 years direct experience with fires within the Shire of Ravensthorpe which is approximately 70 per cent bush: reserves, private land, UCL or mining tenement, and have witnessed fires run more than 25km in a day.

Apart from the lack of managed fuel loads, the fact that the recent Fitzgerald River National Park fire ran for 10 days is an absolute disgrace.

Unwillingness to defer to local knowledge and poor utilisation of heavy assets well ahead of the fire front need to be questioned.

The impact has been significant — both within and outside the park: environmental, tourism, private property damage, volunteer input and road closures.

It’s probable that the direct cost to the WA taxpayer of the Fitzgerald and Dunn Rock fires may be in order of $2m or $3m.

These outcomes could all have been avoided if DBCA, DFES and the relevant shires had been provided with adequate ongoing funding for pre-fire mitigation, with a focus on fuel management.

You may wish to directly suppress fires but ultimately it results in increasing fuel loads which burn and cannot be controlled.

Andrew Duncan, Little Grove

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