Temperatures 10C above average forecast as 130 bushfires continue to burn

Firefighters in New South Wales and Queensland are gearing up for a week of unseasonably warm weather as they continue to battle blazes across the two states.

A firefighter tackles a blaze at Canungra in Queensland.
 On Friday, there were still 70 fires burning in Queensland
and 45 south of the border in NSW.

And the former head of NSW’s urban fire service says early Australian bushfire seasons are here to stay, as he urges the federal government to step in as resources and firefighting assets stretch beyond current capacity.

Greg Mullins served as commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW from 2004 until his retirement in 2017 and currently sits on the Climate Council, a national climate change communications body.

With NSW bushfires making an early mark in 2019 – including the destruction of nine homes over the past week in the state’s north – Mullins says authorities should prepare for more of the same in coming years.

He says the entire Australian strategy of tackling bushfires – sharing firefighting resources between states as the risk moves from northern states in spring to southern states in summer – is under threat.

Read the story from The Guardian by Josh Taylor - “Temperatures 10C above average forecast as 130 bushfires continue to burn."