Firefighters will have less time to prepare for bushfire season after a warm, wet winter, Firefighters Climate Alliance has warned.
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On Tuesday the Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC predicted a late start to the bushfire season due to high rainfall but a higher than normal risk for much of Victoria.
Ballarat experienced its wettest winter in four years this year and an average temperature of 7.4 degrees, up from a 7.2 degree average.
A wet winter reduces the effectiveness of burns offs, as well as increasing plant growth and therefore the fuel load.
“The problem is a wet winter and a warm winter, this means that winter becomes shorter, the period in which we can conduct hay hazard reductions becomes shorter,” FCA spokesperson and firefighter Jim Casey said.
“If you combine a warm and wet winter with a hot and dry summer what you have is the period where you can start to prepare for the fire season becomes shorter.”
The state’s preparation for the fire season will focus on western and central Victoria.
Mr Casey said the underlying causes of catastrophic fires – such as changes to the climate – needed to be addressed on top of individuals’ preparedness.
“We're actually saying that there's only really so much you can do and there's only so much firefighters can do as the actual conditions get worse.
“We don't know for sure what's going to happen this year but the longer term trends in a warming climate mean that it's not a question of ‘if’ but simply a question of ‘when’ we will face catastrophic fires.”