Playing with fire

‘Acts of God’ as they are commonly known, including hailstorms, flooding, cyclones, earthquakes, and lightning are considered by every grower in their seasonal planning. ‘Acts of men’ however should be equally considered as we enter a new season. 

As we head into another summer, it’s been worrying that several horticulture growers have recently experienced and reported suspicious arson activity, an activity which records show is responsible for up to 50% of all bushfires across Australia. The message from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services is clear – don’t let arsonists win! It is up to all of us to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity. It only takes one unlawful act to ruin many people’s lives and livelihoods. 

On the back of a wet couple of years and a hotter than average August in Queensland, this does not bode well for the upcoming bushfire season. Only last week the Bureau of Meteorology released their bushfire outlook which has much of Queensland covered by a warning of an increased risk of fire. 

A lot has happened since the 2019/20 catastrophic bushfire season which destroyed over 9,000 buildings, 5.3 million hectares, and sadly saw 34 people lose their lives as a direct result. Although it may now seem like a lifetime ago, the key learnings from our conversations with fire impacted growers are still relevant today:

• Make bushfire preparedness an annual priority. The time is now. 

• Consider investing in a small (1,000L) firefighting trailer or “slip on” unit on-farm ready at all times.

• Join the local rural fire brigade and learn some basic firefighting skills.

• Talk to your neighbours about hazard reduction to protect life and livelihood.

• Equip orchards with an emergency power source that could operate when mains power may be down. This will be essential to operate irrigation during a bushfire emergency and potentially several days or weeks afterwards reducing potential for post-bushfire crop losses.

QFVG has developed a glovebox guide to bushfire preparedness based on grower experiences, observations and lessons learnt. You can access this resource online here: bit.ly/3qRixFm

Put some time aside this week and go through your Bushfire Survival Plan. To use as a reference Queensland Fire and Emergency Services also has an online planning portal: www.qfes.qld.gov.au/bushfires

Stay safe everyone.