Brad Barr
Two separate fires that started from lightning strikes earlier this month reinforce the need to increase the resources available for prescribed burning and plantation protection in our south-west forests.
During just one storm, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) responded to more than 20 fires resulting from over 300,000 lightning strikes across the south-west.
Fire one started in jarrah forest near Kirup on Monday, 9 January. 
It had been just two years since the area had been prescribed burned and with low fuel loads, the fire behaviour, even being pushed by winds, was only moderate.
It only took two DBCA fire trucks and one bulldozer to contain the fire to just sixty hectares.
Contrast this with fire two started at the same time, 10km south-west of Mumballup (WA).
Unfortunately, this lightning strike landed in fuels that had been not managed through prescribed fire for 16 years.
Despite the best efforts of fire crews, it escaped from the native forest and burned into pine and blue gum timber plantations, inflicting millions of dollars’ worth of damage to valuable tree crops, and destroying at least one home.
The fire eventually impacted an area of over 6,000 ha and at its peak, 40 fire trucks, almost a dozen pieces of earthmoving equipment, two large Air Tankers, several single-engine water bombers and fire-fighting helicopters fought the blaze.
The cost to extinguish the first fire would be under $50,000 while the second fire would be closer to $5,000,000 and still counting.
This does not include damage to farm infrastructure, lost earnings by volunteers and economic disruption of closed roads and the psychological stress upon the community of contemplating the safety of loved ones and enacting evacuation plans.
The difference of $4.95M in direct cost to taxpayers can be largely attributed to differences in fuel ages and prescribed burning in the immediate vicinity of the ignition point.
Prescribed fire is an essential tool to mitigate the risk of wicked wildfires and help protect the communities, biodiversity and business that surround Native Forests and ensure future investment in Australia’s timber supply.
With the closing down of the native forest harvesting and the sawmills that come with it, Western Australia has put all of its timber eggs in the plantation basket.
Without better protection of community assets like plantation forests, investment in new plantations to supply the timber we need will be untenable – the risks will be too great.
To get a pine plantation to harvestable age, it must not be exposed to fire for a minimum of 25 years.
Already, it is virtually impossible for small plantation owners to obtain insurance for their crop.
The massive plantation losses experienced on the east coast during the 19/20 Black Summer have scarred the insurers.
Continued losses in WA from fires like those experienced last week make any insurance, let alone affordable insurance, just a daydream.
Local governments in areas where new timber plantations are being established are looking with trepidation at what risks may be being introduced into their community. They are asking questions about what increased demands will be made of their volunteer firefighters.
Australia is relying on these plantations to sequester carbon, to offset emissions from our major employers and creators of wealth. Not much carbon is going to be sequestered if plantations keep being rendered into carbon dioxide by fire, before they reach an age where they can be turned into timber for our children’s houses.
The members of Forestry Australia call on the WA State Government to invest further in the successful and proven prescribed burning program, and to commit to native forest fuel age maximums around plantation areas of no more than four years.
Overall, prescribed burning activity should increase to exceed 250,000 ha per year.
When this level of treatment was applied through the 1970s and 1980s, plantation losses were essentially zero.
A virtuous side effect of such a policy would be that average intensity of prescribed fires, with less time for fuel accumulation between treatments, would be reduced.
This would make the fires “cooler”, with less tree canopy scorching, and increased prospects for mosaics of unburned areas within fire-boundaries, creating refuges and habitat diversity.
The reinforced prescribed burning could be complemented by dedicated mitigation crews, preferably involving Noongar, working on Country, tasked with mechanical fuel reduction, carrying out cool burns in the wetter months, and being available for rapid deployment in suppression efforts during summer.
Brad Barr is a professional forester with 24 years’ experience in New Zealand and Western Australia. He is experienced in plantation management, harvesting, and protection. He has had direct involvement in establishing 1,900 hectares of plantations registered as carbon projects under the Emissions Reduction Fund. He sits on the council of the Forest Industries Federation WA, is current chair of Forestry Australia (WA) and represents FIFWA on the State Bushfire Advisory Council. He volunteers with the Leschenault Catchment Council NRM group and the Gelorup Volunteer Bushfire Brigade.
