Bushfires

THE catastrophic bushfires in Victoria this year, and the other great fires of recent years in Victoria, New South Wales, the ACT and South Australia are dramatic expressions not just of killing forces unleashed, but of human folly…     I am well aware of the drought, of the terrible conditions on the days of the fires, and of the view from some quarters that all of this is a result of global warming. I accept that drought and bad fire weather increase the risk of serious bushfires. What I do not accept is that “unstoppable” bushfires are the inevitable consequence.  And while I will always welcome improved firefighting technology, I know from experience and from an understanding of the simple physics of bushfire behaviour, that technology can never be a substitute for good land management.  

I am quoting from a paper given by Roger Underwood to the Stretton Group in Melbourne recently.

[Read more…] about Victorian Bushfires: The Result of Human Folly

IN the aftermath of the terrible Victorian bushfires, with more than 200 dead, there has been a lot of recrimination particularly over the issue of control burning – or lack of. Others blame a combination of drought and unprecedented weather conditions – some have even blamed global warming.

There are new building guidelines following claims that many houses were simply not built to appropriate standards. In all of this discussion I have seen no mention of the word “asbestos” – and I don’t mean in the context of disease, but rather in the context of a fire retardant.

Yes, some types of asbestos represent a genuine danger to workers at certain exposure levels and under certain conditions, but there was never any doubt that the material was an effective fire retardant.

[Read more…] about Asbestos and Rebuilding After the Victorian Bushfires

CHEAP, simple to use and extremely effective fire management tools that are owned and operated by almost every householder who is exposed to the risk of wildfire are the humble axe and the chainsaw. But the various native vegetation “protection” laws around Australia have effectively outlawed their use, even in the most extreme emergencies.

Indeed I have lost count of the number of published images of the Victorian fires that provide clear and damning evidence of our legislator’s role in the manslaughter of so many innocent Australians. Almost every image of a burned out home also exhibits the unmistakable signature of ill-informed social engineers who have abused their legislative powers to compel, what is now clearly proven to be, one of the most destructive social changes ever forced upon a minority community.

The facts clearly establish the case that the Victorian and other state governments around the country have made a direct contribution to the character, scale and intensity of the wildfires, and the death and destruction they have caused. They made critical choices as to the form and content of seemingly unrelated legislation which has banned the use of some of our most readily available and effective fire risk management tools.

And they have not just implemented that legislation in a manner that has prevented efforts to improve fire management and lower the associated risks. These people have established a policy architecture that has actively discouraged, on pain of penalty, rural people from preventing the state sponsored deterioration of fire management conditions and all the increase in risks associated with it.

In the days when large fires were fought and defeated by men and women without machinery, pumps, water bombers or GPS, the axe was an essential tool for reducing the height of the fire face at key defensive positions. My own father, the late T.R. Mott, spent most of the 50 years of volunteer firefighting, that earned him an Australia Medal, carrying the day with axe and hoe.

[Read more…] about The Humble Axe and Chainsaw: A Note from Ian Mott