Why parts of Australia could face a horrifying bushfire season with residents in vulnerable areas warned to prepare for the worst NOW
14 November 2022
Published by: https://www.dailymail.co.uk
AUSTRALIA – Large parts of Australia will face a particularly dangerous bushfire season this year as the impact of climate change means fires will be even more ‘unpredictable’.
Experts from the Bureau of Meteorology warned Western Australia‘s Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson the bushfire season would start earlier this year.
The state’s fire services will be on high alert this month after warnings the season, which usually starts in December, could hit the west coast even earlier.
Mr Dawson requested a second air tanker for Pearce airbase in Bullsbrook, northeast of Perth, in addition to to a C130 Hercules aircraft from the US.
The plane, which was originally designed for cargo transport, will be stationed in Busselton every bushfire season for the next four years, costing the state government $11 million, the West Australian reported.
Up to 21,000 full-time and part-time firefighters and 38 other aircrafts will also be on hand to ensure the safety of residents in the upcoming months.
Government officials were warned this season could be ‘devastating’.
‘For the first time, Western Australia is funding a large air tanker, to be based in Western Australia, and funded by Western Australia,’ Mr Dawson said.
‘Last year was unprecedented. And the likelihood is that this year will be the same, if not worse.’
Firefighters battled four category three fires across WA last year – extinguishing major blazes in Bridgetown, Corrigin, Denmark, and Narrogin.
The devastating fires destroyed hundreds of homes and cost the government $100 million in damages.
Mr Dawson urged residents to have a bushfire plan as the impacts of climate change increased the frequency and intensity of fires.
He explained that unlike previous years, two fire seasons were overlapping and would cause chaos for emergency services.
‘Climate change is here. It is real,’ Mr Dawson said.
‘We are seeing our two fire seasons overlap. Previously there was a northern fire season and a southern one.
‘Both are dragging out. They are overlapping, which makes it more complex for us.’
Up to 1,751 bushfires burned between December last year and February which accumulatively burnt more than 1.2 million hectares of land across the state.
