Removing fuel reduces bushfires costs

                                                                                      A newly commissioned study by Deloitte Access Economics has shown that removing fuel from the bush by mechanical removal, combined with prescribed burning of trees and understorey biomass, could dramatically reduce the devastation caused by bushfires and save the community tens of millions of dollars each year.

The cost benefit analysis forms part of a scoping study commissioned by the Australian Forest Products Association to look into the benefits from increased fuel reduction in key fire prone areas.

The Deloitte study suggests that, for example, in New South Wales’ Blue Mountains area removing fuel from as little as 5% of the area each year could halve the extent of bushfires and save the community as much as AU$34 million per year in insurance claims, property loss and fire-fighting costs. This is a benefit-cost ratio of around 4.6. This is a stunning result. We need a national conversation which gets serious about severe bushfires while the smoke haze from a very difficult summer of fires is still in the air.

“For too long the idea of taking fuel out of the bush to reduce fire risk has been ignored in Australia despite being a widely accepted practice elsewhere in the world. Instead we watch as the bush goes up in flames in out of control mega fires,” said CEO of AFPA Ross Hampton.

The Deloitte study identifies a number of areas where a full cost benefit analysis would better inform bushfire policy, including the Melbourne fringe and Gippsland regions in Victoria, south-west WA, the Blue Mountains, the Pilliga and north and south coastal areas of NSW, and Tasmania.

The report identifies the benefits of using mechanical fuel removal in conjunction with prescribed burning also noting the narrow window of good weather days for undertaking prescribed burning, and the need to control fuel loads in bushland areas close to population centres or other important assets.

“The Abbott government is to be congratulated for allocating an additional AU$15 million for bushfire reduction measures in Australia,” said Hampton. “This study provides the impetus to conduct a more detailed CBA of bushfire management policy and a trial program of fuel reduction practices.

“This would help inform more effective bushfire management, rather than the usual expenditure on suppression using more tankers and water bombing helicopters. The latter approach merely treats the symptoms and fails to treat the cause.”

Article previously published at Friday Offcuts
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Alien Environment Fuels Firestorms by Viv Forbes

A recent report from friends who suffered terrible losses of buildings, fences, pasture and cattle in the Coonabarabran fire commenced with the ominous and oft-repeated message: “a raging fire came out of the National Park straight for us”.

There is only one way to limit fire damage – reduce the fuel available.

Fuel load can be reduced in three ways – by grazing animals, by planned small “cool” fires, or by mechanical reduction with slashers, mulchers or dozers.

Australia’s grassland landscape was created and managed by generations of Aborigines who were masters at using man’s most useful tool – fire. Every explorer from Abel Tasman (1642) and Captain Cook (1770) onwards noted the smoke in the sky and the burnt trees whenever they landed. This burning created the open grassland landscapes that dominated pre-European Australia. Aborigines lit fires continually, so their small patchwork fires caused no permanent damage to the environment and created and maintained the healthy grasslands on which many animals and Aborigines depended.

Misguided tree lovers and green politicians have locked the gates on ever-increasing areas of land for trees, parks, heritage, wilderness, habitat, weekend retreats, carbon sequestration etc. Never before on this ancient continent has anyone tried to ban land use or limit bush fires on certain land. The short-sighted policy of surrounding their massive land-banks with fences, locked gates and fire bans has created a new alien environment in Australia. They have created tinder boxes where the growth of woody weeds and the accumulation of dead vegetation in eucalypt re-growth create the perfect environment for fierce fires. Once ignited by lightning, carelessness or arson, the inevitable fire-storms incinerate the park trees and wildlife, and then invade the unfortunate neighbouring properties.

Many of today’s locked-up areas were created to sequester carbon to fulfil Kyoto obligations. Who pays the carbon tax on the carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere by wild fires?

The green bureaucracies and politicians are clearly mis-managing their huge land-bank. Aborigines and graziers did a far better job. There should be a moratorium on locking up any more land and a return to sustainable management for existing land holdings.  

Viv Forbes,
Rosewood    Qld   Australia
forbes@carbon-sense.com

 

Previous related discussions

Preventive Burning

Cold heart response to Gulf fires

Preventive Burning

In my previous post, Hookswood Rd Fire, I expressed my frustration at the incompetence of Qld fire & rescue who took control of all efforts to fight a fire and by their inaction causing a big fire to grow to something far more dangerous and destructive. I was also angry to learn from those who were on the scene on the Sunday, Monday and first thing Tuesday before I was called in as part of the Downfall Creek rural fire volunteers, of 3 occasions were the fire could have contained as a small fire and that on 2 of these occasions the opportunity wasn’t taken because of blindly following of the rule book by Qld fire & rescue.

Having hours of inaction on my hands during Tuesday and hearing the outrage of my fellow rural fire volunteers I made sure that their views became known to the media. These two articles are the result –

 Heat on resourcingas fire threats intensify

More RFS review forQld

This image above was developed from the NAFI web site gives the perfect illustration of why preventive burning is very important. http://www.firenorth.org.au

The image also shows what sectors of the fire the Downfall Creek brigade played a part.

On Tuesday night our crew joined others to back burn to save property of a family. The Qld fire & rescue incident controller would have had a heart attack if he knew that we went to the lead of the fire yet many km’s away. The sky glowed red, thick smoke billowed overhead and the roar of the fire was enough to strike fear. Earlier we had sighted a spot fire start up 1km in advance of the fire front. We knew of nothing that would stop this fires advance. We left that location to go back to burn a wide band around the house and buildings.

The Downfall Creek rural fire brigade operated within the Barakula State Forest at the western flank of the fire from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday night. The forestry fire fighters were on the eastern side of the fire on the Wednesday and could only bring equipment to the western side on the Thursday. When the forestry workers shift changed soon after dark on Thursday we learnt from the shift supervisor what stopped the fire front from going any further. On Wednesday night he was just off to the east of the lead of the fire front. At 3am the fire was still crowning, that is burning in the tree tops, when it hit an area that had a preventive burn back in September. In the image above it is the peach colour area. The fire lost its ground fuel source and bit by bit died down to a halt.

Look at the image to see how few preventive burns have occurred in the fires path, both in privately held land and the state owned state forest. There was a large fuel build up in this area. You don’t need to be Einstein to know that fuel load plus hot temperature plus ignition equals destruction. More needs to be done to encourage cool burns in August and September.

Photo - Wens night in Barakula State Forest

 

UPDATE #1

In this article from September 2009, Guest post: Barakula state forest to be converted into a national park , retired forestor Peter Lear warns of the  inevitable destructive fire event occuring.

 

Roading systems are allowed to revert to scrub and very little controlled burning is done. Fuel build up will eventually lead to fire which in the case of Barakula will destroy 100 years of sustainable forest management in the cypress forests. Barakula endures regular periods of severe fire risk, so it is not a matter if fire will occur but when it will occur. The resultant devastation will be dependent on previous controlled burning regime and the management of the particular wildfire, which is very difficult without good access (roading) and trained staff.

 

A previous article in which Brian Bahnisch writes about Barakula

 

 

UPDATE #2

Related article published 21st Jan 2013, Alien Environment Fuels Firestorms by Viv Forbes