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It’s a perfect spring Saturday and fire sheds across the Hawkesbury are taking advantage of the weather to carry out end-of-winter pile burns, giving crews valuable experience working with live fire.
Not so long ago — though it feels like another era — new volunteers would learn their skills through local hazard reduction burns. These were cool, gentle fires lit on a rotational mosaic pattern around rural villages. They reduced fuel loads, protected people, homes, and wildlife, and gave firefighters the confidence and practical knowledge they needed to face real bushfires.
Although repeatedly recommended in official reports, this approach to cultural and community-led burning, which was common practice right up until the mid-2000s, has become very difficult to continue. A mountain of paperwork, coupled with shifting regulations and approvals processes, now stands in the way of what was once straightforward, effective, and locally driven bushfire management.
So thank you to the volunteers who front up to training, learning how to fight bushfires and — just as importantly — how to avoid being killed by paperwork.
