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ABC Radio National By Alice Walker Saturday 18 July 2020 It seems an age ago for many of us and like yesterday for others, but before COVID-19 had its name, there was a different disaster threatening the nation. Enormous bushfires tore through the country, burning more than 10 million hectares and killing 33 people. The season hadn't yet ended when attention turned to the unfolding coronavirus crisis, which brought to the surface the various ways we respond to threat, such as anger, anxiety, depression, denial, panic. Faced with the same information, we react differently — and we could see that playing out in the summer bushfires. In Victoria's East Gippsland, one of the hardest hit regions, the fires were so big that some created their own weather, and the usual modelling systems could not keep up. Right in the heart of the region, at the junction of the Princes and Monaro Highways, the small town of Cann River found itself marooned in a sea of burning bushland. Almost 70 per cent of the land in nearby Croajingolong National Park was impacted; in Alfred and Lind National Parks, it was 100 per cent. On December 29, 2019, the State Control Centre took the unprecedented step of sending text messages to 72,000 people in East Gippsland, urging them to leave the region. Not everyone did. I stayed, and so did these three Cann River residents, each for their own reasons. Click here to read the full article

BBC News 28 July 2020 Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced during Australia's devastating bushfires of the past year, scientists say. The findings meant it was one of "worst wildlife disasters in modern history", said the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which commissioned the report. Mega blazes swept across every Australian state last summer, scorching bush and killing at least 33 people. Mammals, reptiles, birds and frogs died in the flames or from loss of habitat. During the peak of the crisis in January, scientists had estimated that 1.25 billion animals had been killed in New South Wales and Victoria alone. But the new estimate takes in a larger area. About 11.46 million hectares - an area comparable to England - was scorched from September to February. What was the impact? "When you think about nearly three billion native animals being in the path of the fires, it is absolutely huge - it's a difficult number to comprehend," said Prof Chris Dickman, who oversaw the project by 10 scientists from Australian universities. Click here to read the full article

NSW RFS 15 July 2020 The Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC, commissioned by the NSW RFS, is undertaking research into people’s experiences of the 2019-20 bush fires in NSW. The Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC, commissioned by the NSW RFS, is undertaking research into people’s experiences of the 2019-20 bush fires in NSW. Community members are invited to participate in an interview via telephone or video conferencing (e.g. Zoom, Skype) to discuss their experiences of the recent fires. They are interested in hearing a range of stories and views from people who were directly and indirectly affected by the fires, including residents and tourists from all parts of NSW. The results of the study will be used to inform strategies to improve community bush fire safety in NSW. Results will be presented to the NSW RFS, and reports and other publications will be publicly accessible at www.bnhcrc.com.au Click here for further information

The Independent by Louise Boyle 1 October 2020 The United Nations Summit on Biodiversity convened on Wednesday with global leaders vowing to do more to protect nature following a devastating report which showed the world is failing to hit all targets to halt biodiversity collapse. It lent an added urgency to the summit which had originally been due to take place this month in Kunming, China, but was delayed to 2021 due the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak of Covid-19, a zoonotic virus which jumped from an animal to human, added another dimension this year, illustrating the potential risks to humanity if we continue on a destructive path through the natural world. “We are reminded that when we destroy and degrade biodiversity, we undermine the web of life and increase the risk of disease spillover from wildlife to people,” the UN stated. "Responses to the pandemic provide a unique opportunity for transformative change as a global community. An investment in the health of our planet is an investment in our own future." Click here to read the full article

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers, NSW RFS 25 August 2020 “The 2019-20 bush fire season was an extreme event that challenged everyone – including firefighters, agencies and the community like never before. “Today the NSW Government has released the report into the fires. The release of the Inquiry report goes a long way in providing answers to what worked well, and what can be improved for future events. “As the report highlights, we have learnt from previous events but the season of 2019-20 challenged conventional assumptions and tactics – and the way we prepare for and respond to extreme events. “We are already working on improvements including enhancing the way we detect and monitor fires, and how we can respond quickly to keep fires as small as possible. We are also implementing changes to further improve the way we deliver information to the community, especially in border areas. And we are continuing to focus on important mitigation work that can reduce the bush fire risk to NSW communities. “The report highlights the incredible work of our volunteers, our partner agencies and the community working together, and it’s important to recognise that being prepared for extreme fire events isn’t just a job for firefighters or Government – but for everyone in the community. Given the losses of the last season for communities and our own people, it’s important that we learn from this event. “Our thoughts continue to be with those who were affected by the fires, especially those who lost loved ones, including the families of the three volunteers and three American aircrew who made the ultimate sacrifice helping the NSW community.” Background The NSW bush fire season was unprecedented in terms of conditions experienced, the loss of lives and property, and the threat to communities across large parts of NSW. It was a combined inter-agency response from NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Forestry Corporation NSW, NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and the Australian Defence Force come together with our interstate colleagues. A Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster arrangements continues with recommendations and findings expected later this year. Click here to read the full response

The Guardian by Lisa Cox 25 August 2020 Report finds climate change ‘clearly played a role’ in conditions that led up to Australia’s 2019-2020 fires, which were so extreme, traditional firefighting methods often failed. Last summer’s bushfire disaster was so unusual that traditional firefighting methods, such as hazard reduction burning, failed in some instances, an inquiry into the crisis heard. The final report of the New South Wales bushfire inquiry, said the 2019-20 bushfire season brought fires in forested regions on a scale not seen in recorded history in Australia. “The season showed us what damage megafires can do, and how dangerous they can be for our communities and firefighters,” the inquiry chairs, former NSW police deputy commissioner Dave Owens and former NSW chief scientist Mary O’Kane, said in their opening summary.’ “And it is clear that we should expect fire seasons like 2019-20 or potentially worse to happen again.” The NSW government said on Tuesday it would be adopting all of the report’s 76 recommendations, which include the establishment of a major new centre for bushfire research and technology, new training to increase the capacity of fire authorities to deal with disasters of the scale seen in 2019-20, and examination of existing preparedness strategies to determine the best approach to increasingly frequent, extreme fire seasons. The inquiry found climate change and rising greenhouse gas emissions “clearly played a role in the conditions that led up to the fires and in the unrelenting conditions that supported the fires to spread” but climate change alone “does not explain everything that happened”. Click here to read the full article

Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW Government 31 July 2020 On 30 January 2020 the Premier announced an Inquiry into the 2019-20 bush fire season to make recommendations in relation to bush fire preparedness and response and to report by 31 July 2020, ahead of the 2020-21 bush fire season. The Inquiry has worked to understand what happened during the 2019-20 bush fire season and how it was different to seasons that have come before, and to make recommendations for future improvements to how NSW plans and prepares for, and responds to, bush fires, rather than to attribute blame. The Inquiry was not asked to and did not examine bush fire recovery issues. The focus of this report is to provide analysis and recommendations for change to ensure that, when bush fires like this happen again, there is less damage to property and our environment and, as much as possible, there are no lives lost. On 30 January 2020 the Premier announced an Inquiry into the 2019-20 bush fire season to make recommendations in relation to bush fire preparedness and response and to report by 31 July 2020, ahead of the 2020-21 bush fire season. The Inquiry has worked to understand what happened during the 2019-20 bush fire season and how it was different to seasons that have come before, and to make recommendations for future improvements to how NSW plans and prepares for, and responds to, bush fires, rather than to attribute blame. The Inquiry was not asked to and did not examine bush fire recovery issues. The focus of this report is to provide analysis and recommendations for change to ensure that, when bush fires like this happen again, there is less damage to property and our environment and, as much as possible, there are no lives lost. Click here to read the full report

ABC News By Vanessa Milton, Kerrin Thomas, and Claire Wheaton 24 August 2020 Some volunteers are using old trucks with sprinklers that can only be turned on from the outside Some firefighters were unable to defend their homes in the last bushfire season due to communications failures The NSW Cabinet has signed off on all 76 recommendations of the bushfire inquiry Frontline firefighters from some of the state's smallest brigades are urging the NSW Rural Fire Service to fast-track upgrades to equipment and communications which were revealed by last season's bushfires to have potentially deadly failures. Some crews feel they are being treated like "sacrificial lambs" being sent out in old and dangerous equipment. Their concerns are being raised ahead of the NSW bushfire inquiry recommendations being made public tomorrow. The State Government tonight decided to implement all 76 recommendations. RFS volunteer Peter Heward from Rockton, on the NSW-Victoria border, said he was left unable to protect his own neighbourhood because the RFS failed to plan for emergency communications in a known blackspot. With no radio or phone reception, fire crews were forced to remain on the edge of Rockton as it burned. Mr Heward, who also serves with Fire and Rescue NSW, said he could only listen to what he described as a "sonic rumble" as his house burnt down. "It hits you in your bones, knowing that it was my house and there was nothing I could do, because we weren't sending any firefighters down to protect my area," he said. "The RFS is responsible for this area, we're in their patch. They are aware that this is a communications blackspot, they knew the fire was coming." Click here to read the full article

ABC News by Rachel Clayton 23 August 2020 A $110 million recovery plan to help fire-affected communities rebuild after Victoria's deadly summer bushfires has been released by the State Government as the Premier assures Victorians authorities are prepared for the upcoming season. The bushfires that struck eastern Victoria in December and January burnt through more than 1.5 million hectares of land and killed five people. The State Recovery Plan, released on Sunday, will fund local projects to create jobs, rebuild towns and generate long-term stability in the region over the next 12 to 18 months. Premier Daniel Andrews said despite the strain on resources due to the pandemic, the Government had the capacity to deal with both the health crisis and a bushfire emergency. He also warned the next bushfire season could be more challenging than the last. "I think our volunteer, career workforce ... are all working very hard," he said. "I'm confident we will have all the planning in place but it won't be an easy summer. But we will be ready." Under the plan, more than $78 million will be provided for region-wide projects, $10 million to repair and reinstate roads, crossings and fire-tower infrastructure and $8 million to ensure the safety of the arterial road network. A further $8 million will be used to build short-term modular homes and $5 million will be used to protect rare and threatened species. Read the full article here

The Drum, ABC News by Elly Duncan 2 August 2020 Former emergency chiefs, scientists, economists and other experts came together to release more than 160 recommendations for future bushfires strategies. Although not connected to the current Royal Commission or the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, the independent report from the Climate Council and Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ECLA) detailed how we might think about firefighting going forward. It claims the impacts of a fire are broad, deep, and long-lasting. Former fire chief Greg Mullins told The Drum that means Australia's strategy has to go beyond the fire prevention and fighting process itself. "Right across different sectors, we've got huge changes needing to be made," he said. Resilience has been a word used often when speaking about the small communities impacted by bushfires. The Climate Council/ECLA plan said it was "essential" that vulnerable communities were helped to build resilience, in a number of ways. The group wants the federal government to come up with a national strategy on the effects climate change has on health and wellbeing. In addition, there are calls for a dedicated program addressing the mental health of firefighters, emergency responders, and affected locals. Resilience can take other forms. The cost of insurance premiums, for example, has soared in recent years. "If people aren't insured, they can't bounce back," Greg Mullins told The Drum. Gwenda and Keith Duncan's Rainbow Flat property and business were not insured at the time fires rolled through the area. The couple, both pensioners, could not afford the payments. "It took a long time after the fires before help started to come. Slowly money did come out and we're using that to build a shed so we have somewhere to live." Click here to read the full article

The Guardian, by Phoebe Weston and Guardian readers, Friday 31 July 2020 After last summer’s deadly bushfires, Guardian readers have found tentative signs of renewal in the charred landscape. From the eerie absence of birdsong to green shoots sprouting from burnt-out trees, Guardian readers in Australia have shared their stories and pictures of nature in the aftermath of the country’s devastating bushfires. ‘The utter silence left a deep impression’. I went for a drive out to Tallowa Dam as I heard the fires had been bad there. Bad doesn’t even begin to describe the utter devastation. Melted road signs, split rocks and skeletons told me that for a few days this was literally hell on Earth. However, the speed and force with which the regrowth had commenced was breathtaking and the way that some shoots burst through scorched trunks reminded me of childbirth. There were shoots emanating from everywhere – and quickly. The deepest impression I was left with, though, was the utter silence. Australian bush is usually a riot of noise. I could just hear the trickle of water and the odd insect, and I saw no marsupial life at all. In late February, we came back to camp at our “special place” at Lake Conjola. It was shocking and I was conflicted in my response to the devastation – the sight of all the dead, lifeless trees was tragic and yet hauntingly beautiful. l will never forget the smell – it was like burnt toast, only worse. There are signs of life around the lake. The undergrowth is starting to shoot and most of the trees look a bit dishevelled and not their best – as if they are still in their pyjamas, with frilly green shoots sprouting up and down their bodies. Read the full article here...

ABC News, by Kevin Nguyen, Philippa McDonald and Maryanne Taouk 27 July 2020 It burned for 79 days and remains seared in the memory of all who feared and fought it. The statistics are staggering. Over a million hectares burned; a hundred homes destroyed on Sydney’s doorstep. Gospers Mountain became famous as Australia’s first “mega-blaze”. But behind the smoke, flames and evacuations, there is still much to learn about the monster. The ABC has pieced together data, imagery and interviews to form a new narrative of the fire. The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) contributed information and access to operational commanders, some speaking for the first time. ABC News reveal the fire’s starting point, and how close Sydney’s suburbs came to disaster. Firefighters tell of raised hopes as the flames faltered, and despair as backburns backfired. This is how the mega-blaze unfolded. Read more...