By Melissa Coleman
Two years ago, bushfires ravaged properties in the Granite Belt where farmers were battling drought, fast forward to now, and it’s a completely different story.
Rain has saturated the ground so much that Group Officer for the Stanthorpe area, Pedro Curr said when they head out in to the scrub, they have a high chance of getting bogged.
“There’s so much water still laying around from the recent rain events,” Curr said.
The veteran rural fire brigade officer has been involved with local brigades for over 30 years.
He’s no stranger to how quickly things can change.
“It’s important not to be complacent.”
“The weather can change quickly and all we’d need is a week of hot weather for things to go haywire,” he said.
Bushfire season often begins around October and extends through to May.
Curr said there has been a change to the way fire danger is graded recently.
The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) is a new approach to accurately predict bushfires and was implemented on Thursday 1 September 2022.
The new national system predicts what areas are at risk, so wherever you go in Australia, you can understand the level of threat and what you need to do to stay safe.
Curr said previously there were six levels of potential danger, but they have been condensed into four.
The four categories are:
Moderate: Stay up to date and be ready to act if there is a fire.
High: There’s a heightened risk so be alert for fires in your area.
The safest option is to avoid bushfire risk areas.
Extreme: Check your bushfire plan and make sure your property is fire ready.
Catastrophic: For your survival, leave bushfire risk area.
“The new rating system simplifies the reporting of danger,” Curr said.
However, the benefits don’t end there.
The system uses the latest technology in forecasting.
A fire behaviour index, published by the Bureau of Meteorology, will provide potential fire behaviour based on fuel and weather conditions across several different vegetation fuel types.
“We have to remember that things can change very fast, and there is a lot of fire fuel out there due to the wet weather growth.“
“The best advice is to be prepared,“ Curr said.
