Is Enough Being Done To Prevent This? Australia Fires 2019-2020

I'll start with the facts before I go into the nitty gritty of preventing this from happening again. Currently we are going through the worst fires we've had in Australia. Beginning in New South Wales last year, the fires have now increased in amount and in size. As of yesterday (Friday) at least 200 fires were burning across Australia.

Based on a fire map released by The Sun a few days ago. Locations may not be 100% correct, just something to give you a rough idea.

It's currently been reported that, nationwide, 18 people have lost their lives and over 1,300 houses have been destroyed. The animal death toll is pushing 500 million with more than 5.9 million hectares being burnt across Australia; the worst-affected state is New South Wales, with 3.6 million hectares being burnt so far.

It is so bad that a 'State of Disaster' has been declared in Victoria for the first time due to the fires in East Gippsland and also the Northeast, meaning that the government can impose certain policies and take charge, imposing on people to evacuate from at-risk areas.

"If you can leave, you must leave." - Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier.

Now I have given you the facts and statistics, we can get to the word of the day:

Preventing.

The thing I keep hearing during a lot of media interviews and posts on social media, is how we could have been preventing the risk of such large fires. And it is true. Higher up authorities and government aren't allowing much, if any: - Hazard reduction Also known as a planned or controlled burn, this is where authorities will burn areas at a time. The animals will at least have a chance to run away from the fire (as compared to mass bushfires) and the vegetation will eventually regrow better, enticing said animals to return. - Road cleanup Where people cut wood and clear bushland on the side of the road during winter, therefore cleaning up the added fuel for fires in summer. (And before you say it's a habitat, STOP! It's a piece of wood, there are bloody enough of the damn things and a lot of them are branches or aren't even hollow trees. So, not a habitat!) Word of advice for road cleanup: If someone dobs you in for cutting on the side without a permit, you can get fined. Good luck jumping through council hoops to get one of those permits, though! - Livestock on the sides of roads Livestock are great grass cutters, eating anything green and fresh for their dietary needs. What damage do they do if you temporarily fence them along the roads?

Because of all of this not being allowed, it means that the grass, trees, logs, leaves and other crap become more fuel for a bushfire to burn. Especially with our council, who haven't even bothered to slash/cut the grass on the sides of roads where I live. And with the lack of water in many areas due to the current drought, is it really a good idea to deny any of these things? How many more bushfire disasters have to happen before people higher up on the food chain allow this?

I actually read two interesting posts the other day, both in relation to hazard reduction. One stated that the Aboriginals have been doing this for many many years, reading the land and the weather, and planning it just right before hazard reduction. The second post was actually from a fire shed who had put in a request to hazard reduction and headquarters had knocked them back, all because they thought the weather might turn bad days after the hazard reduction.

We aren't asking for much.

Just allowing us and our firefighters to do simple things is enough of a start to prevent this from happening again so we can have a safer Australia.

To any of my Australian readers, I hope you are safe and out of harm's way. And to the many emergency services and crews involved, thank you for everything you do for us.