Training Standards in wildfire risk planning for land and fire planners

TV reports show so many instances of houses under threat from vegetation fires. Why? Although the natural bias of the media to show human suffering is no doubt a factor, there is also no doubt that more
people really are in harm’s way from wildfire. The reason is the great expansion of habitation into urban fringe areas, the Wildland Urban Interface WUI. In the last 30 years considerable numbers of people
have moved from traditional suburbia into “special rural” subdivisions to live “among the green trees”. Local government has usually accepted this change in land use as it has increased their rate base, and in
rural districts, helped to mitigate the long term decline in rural population. However, many of these rural or semi rural settlement subdivisions are poorly designed, with little or no consideration given to
fire management issues. For example, housing blocks may extend into areas of vegetation types that are well known to be highly inflammable and the source of fast-moving fires driven by strong winds. In other
places we see houses constructed on steep rocky areas, or overhung by trees. These are houses that are “built to burn”. There are two difficulties with this “tree change” movement. Firstly, it has often displaced genuine farmers from that part of the landscape who were actively managing the land, including control of weeds, feral animals and fire. Secondly, they have been replaced by people with an urban background
and no appreciation at all for the real requirements of land use and land management. Many of these people have a romantic view of life in the forest, and desire to be surrounded by trees and greenery.
They almost invariably view fire as something to be excluded from the environment. Not only it is destructive, they believe, to nature and wildlife, but it produces that “nasty stuff, smoke”.
While this is obviously not true of all new inhabitants, many of these newcomers don’t really live in the country, they just sleep in it and commute off to work in the city each day, or visit their rural retreat on
weekends. They often do not join the local volunteer fire brigades and seem to expect the fire service to do all the work of controlling fire in the area. Instances have been observed where the local residents
were just watching the fire service controlling a fire on their own land. Even more, this attitude of “state-service” is also affecting the pre fire season work of preparedness and prevention measures.
It is time to call a halt to these irresponsible land use decisions which create a serious hazard or thre at to people’s lives. Further, these developments also affect safety of firefighters and resource availability.
At the very least, there should be planned and built into every new settlement adequate provision for proper fire management. This has to include effective minimization of fire hazards and protection of life
and property. People who choose to live in the forest and the responsible planners must face up to the fact that vegetation fires are a natural factor of the environment, as is rain or snow. To survive and protect their assets they must become directly involved in fire management, including fuel reduction activities and support for their local fire service brigade. The land-use planning agencies have to pay highest attention to the “connectivity of land and disturbance” and the inter- and intra connections of all fire related factors. Another aspect of mismanagement of land and forests is the closure of, or failure to maintain, access tracks that give vital access for fire-fighters, enabling them to attack fires before they become too large. A fundamental tenet of fire control is to detect it quickly, get to it quickly and knock it down while it is
still small. It may not be possible to prevent wildfires completely, but wildfire resilience can be improved through good forest management and landscape planning. This should focus on reducing the likelihood of
wildfires occurring, reducing the severity of damage and impacts on people and the environment if they do occur, and assisting with fire suppression activities.