Autumn prescribed burn program underway

Burns of varying sizes and complexities have been prepared this autumn. Eighteen burns are planned to protect communities in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region, with the remaining 19 set to occur across a number of other regions.

The first burn will occur on Friday April 4 in the Cobbler Creek Recreation Park.

Prescribed burns are a vital fire management tool to reduce fuel loads across public and private land, and to help protect communities and industries by limiting the spread and intensity of bushfires.

NPWS Fire Management Director Fiona Gill said the program was starting later this year due to the ongoing dry conditions across the state, and the late start could mean that fewer burns can be undertaken before conditions become too cool and wet.

“Ongoing dry times can create challenging conditions for burning, and some plant and animal species are under stress from the prolonged period of low rainfall,” she said.

“We will assess conditions at all proposed burn sites and may decide to conduct some burns later in the season, or even postpone them for a season, if the conditions are likely to impact the habitat’s ability to recover or for the burn to be safely managed.

“As part of our fire management programs, we take every opportunity to complete as many burns as possible in suitable weather and fuel conditions.

“The number of prescribed burns that can be safely and effectively completed in any season is always subject to a window of specific weather conditions and NPWS will never burn unless we can achieve a safe outcome.”

Ms Gill said the importance of the prescribed burns had been highlighted recently during the bushfire in Mount Remarkable National Park.

“NPWS conducted a number of prescribed burns within Mount Remarkable National Park between 2021 and 2023,” Ms Gill said.

“This created areas where the fuel levels were reduced, which modified the fire behaviour and gave firefighters a safer area to work from. These burns were critical in providing fire crews the ability to prevent the entire park from burning like it did during a bushfire in 1988.”

Prescribed burns can also play an important role in regenerating habitats for native plants and animals, and the requirements of these species are factored into the planning process.

A strategic, risk-based approach is used to carefully manage smoke around the state’s wine grape areas, and smoke taint from NPWS prescribed burning has not been recorded since its fire management program started in 2004.

A total of 33 out of 45 planned burns (73 per cent) were completed across the state in the spring 2024 fire management program, compared with the long-term average of about 70 per cent each year over the past decade.

Prescribed burns are planned in partnership with other land management agencies (ForestrySA and SA Water), Country Fire Service, councils and private landholders.

Burns that are unable to be completed due to unsuitable weather are rolled over to the following spring or autumn as part of an ongoing, rolling 3-year mitigation program.

More information on the fire management program is available here: https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/topics/fire-management/upcoming-prescribed-burns