After the January fires close to our town, I’ve become quite paranoid about the bush block behind and below our house (we’re near the top of a steep hill). It’s a really big block with some very large trees that tower over our house some 10 to 20 metres further up the hill, and according to the locals it has not been burned for 15+ years, which means the fuel load is pretty nasty.
Well, after a little bit of agitating and sending off emails etc. to the owners of the block (a state government department) and the local shire ranger and emergency and fire people, we got a flyer in the letterbox last week saying that they intend undertaking a controlled burn of this block over two days this coming week. Assuming it goes ahead (obviously if there’s a lot of rain it won’t happen then), I’ll hopefully sleep a little easier this summer.
Here’s a picture of the trees on this block — what you can’t really see here is the degree of slope, but take my word for it — these trees are a long way down from us, but are higher than our house. The controlled burn won’t burn the trees, just the 15+ years of undergrowth and accumulated logs, leaf litter, etc. on the ground.
Towering eucalypts on bush block behind our house
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 