Bushfires in Australia

by Richard Conan-Davies
20 March 2005

Overall location of bushfires(map and description) Bushfires tend to occur in areas where there is plenty of material to burn, it also needs to be dry. The CSIRO has also produced a special satellite tracking system called sentinal...original info from CSIRO news release frequency/occurance of bushfires in Australia Bushfires are frequent in Australia with several hundred of various sizes per year. But only some cause damage to property. For example there were 20 bushfires between 2000 and 2005 in which 2,958 houses were damaged and 830 homes destroyed. source: Emergency Management Australia Potential impacts on australia Bushfires have an obvious potential threat to homes near bushland areas. This might also include the long term impacts that bushfires have. So for example some bushfires might disrupt water supplies by contaminating water catchment areas with ash or erosion. responses of victims of bushfires There are several possible victims of bushfires. Local animals and plants ( flora and fauna) and people. Plants must adapt to the physical effects of fire for example protective bark or seeds that can survive the fires underground. It is the bushfire intensity and speed that determines how well some animals can survive

Image: bom.gov.au Responses of People who are victims of bushfires. People can repsond in different ways depending on what the bushfires do to them. If their home is destroyed by fire then they sometimes can suffer psychological stress of loss. If the fire is approaching people can try to prepare. Emergency Management Australia has a number of suggestions for preparing for bushfires such as removing rubbish, clear gutters fiiting wire screen doors stay alert, listen to radio information about locations of fires.