No amount of hazard reduction will protect human lives, animals and properties from catastrophic fires.

Australia’s 2019-20 bushfire season is shaping up as being the worst on record. Already, New South Wales and Queensland have suffered more property damage and forest loss than in any previous fire season, with the worst fire danger period yet to come for Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

This guide sets out the facts on hazard reduction and the role of climate change in this catastrophic bushfire season. 

“Hazard reduction is absolutely an important factor, but it is not the panacea. When you're running fires under severe, extreme or worse conditions, hazard reduction has very little effect at all on fire spread" - Shane Fitzsimmons, RFS NSW Commissioner.

Unless we address climate change and urgently reduce our emissions as part of a global effort, the window of opportunity for prescribed burning will continue to shrink. 

And as bushfire weather worsens, the effectiveness of hazard reduction will diminish – no amount of hazard reduction will protect human lives, animals and properties from catastrophic fires.

Check out the full fact sheet.