Victoria must embrace a coordinated, science‑based approach to fire management in the wake of the state’s largest fires in years, that is according to Timber Towns Victoria (TTV), the body representing eleven municipal councils across the state’s north, east and west.
In a media release today, Karen Stephens, Mayor of Glenelg Shire and President of TTV, said the fires reinforced what forest scientists have long understood – that prescribed burning and strategic use of “good fire” must play a central role in reducing risk: “A coordinated proactive fire management approach, guided by scientific evidence, needs to be prioritised as a key method of reducing the future risk of catastrophic fires of this intensity,” she said.
Pointing to Forestry Australia’s Forest Fire Management Position Statement, Stephens said that fire is an inherent part of the Australian landscape and cannot be eliminated without consequences: “It stresses that effective fire management must be grounded in decades of research, Traditional Owner knowledge and collaboration, and coordinated action across all land tenures – both public and private,” she said.
Prepared by a number of Australia’s top forestry professionals and scientists, it states that prevention, not just emergency response, must be prioritised, with year‑round vegetation management, risk‑appropriate land‑use planning, and the strategic use of prescribed burning, cultural burning, and mechanical fuel reduction forming the backbone of resilient landscapes. In addition, it highlights the importance of rapid detection, with shorter detection‑to‑response times significantly increasing the likelihood of containing new ignitions.
Yesterday, Wood Central reported that new satellite images captured by Japan’s Himawari weather satellite and European Sentinel‑2 data, which for the first time, revealed the full scale of Victoria’s fire emergency. Speaking to the ABC, Professor David Bowman, a leading pyrogeographer from the University of Tasmania, said the pattern of the spread is a stark departure from the Black Summer fires.
“This is a different scenario than the previous fire disaster we had in 2019‑20 when the eucalypt forests were bone dry, and they were the things burning, and there wasn’t a lot of fuel in the rural landscape because it’d been a prolonged drought,” he said.“This seems to be, at the moment, more of a grassland story right now, where the rural lands are burning because we’ve had good wet years.”
However, the loss of timber plantations has been substantial, with HVP Plantations last week reporting that upwards of 10,000 hectares may have been lost in the blazes. According to Andrew White, CEO of the Victorian Forest Products Association, the fires damaged “critical parts of Victoria’s housing supply chain”, with the softwood plantations underpinning the manufacture of paper, packaging, framing, trusses, and other essential building products.
“Our plantation sector is resilient and well‑established, and industry is working closely across the supply chain to manage the impacts of the fires while continuing to support housing delivery,” he said. Nonetheless, White commended the “extraordinary efforts” of emergency services, particularly Forest Fire Management Victoria, the CFA, and Forest Industry Brigades, which are integral to Victoria’s fire response capability.
Stephens echoed that sentiment. “We acknowledge and commend the outstanding efforts of firefighters and all the emergency services personnel who have worked tirelessly to protect lives, landscapes and livelihoods,” she said.
“Now is the time for the Victorian Government to act — to prioritise proactive fire management, strengthen support for the forestry sector, and commit to reforms that reduce risk, build resilience and ensure communities are better protected in the future. This fire season must be a turning point. We call on the government to listen, learn and lead.”
