Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with CDU Bushfire Researcher Dr Andrew Edwards

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with CDU Bushfire Researcher Dr Andrew Edwards · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And as we heard on Friday last week, Territory Day
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: is now going to be held much later in the year,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: August twenty nine. Now it's happening on that date to
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  Speaker 1: coincide with Freedom Day, which commemorates the Wavehill walk off
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and Indigenous land rights. But the problem is that August
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: twenty nine is a day which is typically a high
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  Speaker 1: fire danger day, potentially catastrophic fire conditions. Now we've had
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  Speaker 1: quite a few of you in contact with us about
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: this topic. Peter has sent an email this morning and
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: he said, Morning Mix, Michael Gunner should man up and
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  Speaker 1: move crack a night to early next year before the
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  Speaker 1: fire risks starts. Personally, I love fireworks, but common sense
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  Speaker 1: needs to prevail over Michael Gunner's self obsession and then
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  Speaker 1: self interest, says Peter. And like I said, I know
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  Speaker 1: that it's something that is concerning quite a few people,
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  Speaker 1: given the fact that it is going to be incredibly
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  Speaker 1: dry and the potential for fire could be greater. Now
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  Speaker 1: joining us on the line to talk more about this
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  Speaker 1: is doctor Andrew E. Edwarods, bushfires researcher at Charles Darwin University.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, How are you really well, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Andrew, can you tell us a bit more about
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  Speaker 1: the type of fire conditions that we can expect in
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  Speaker 1: late August.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. Well, I mean we're talking more specifically about
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  Speaker 2: the top end than perhaps the bottom half of the NT,
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  Speaker 2: but it does relate to that part of the world
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  Speaker 2: as well. I mean, as you all know, we haven't
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  Speaker 2: had much rain by that time of the year, and
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  Speaker 2: in fact very very little. We've had a good wet season,
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  Speaker 2: so we've got good fuel built up across the across
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  Speaker 2: the landscape and you know, particularly around the Greater Darwin
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  Speaker 2: area with gamber grass, we're at the most fire prone
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  Speaker 2: time of the year, that period sort of from the
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  Speaker 2: end of August through to October before we start to
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  Speaker 2: get rain. And you know, it was a colleague of
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  Speaker 2: mine at Bushwise in ta once said, those fires that
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  Speaker 2: we have in May and June, they're the ones that
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  Speaker 2: we light up ourselves to control old fires. Then in
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  Speaker 2: July we're fighting fires, and another ones in August and
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  Speaker 2: September we've run away from. You know, they're the scary ones.
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  Speaker 2: They're the ones that you know, burn down properties and
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  Speaker 2: fence lines and potentially could take a life.
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  Speaker 1: You know, so taking that into account, I mean, is
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  Speaker 1: August and the end of August, is it traditionally a
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  Speaker 1: time of the year where we do see and where
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  Speaker 1: we have got issues with those bushfires.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Traditionally that time of year is when we're looking
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  Speaker 2: at extreme fire weather and fire conditions. Is for fire
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  Speaker 2: does occur and it usually leads to a total fire bans,
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  Speaker 2: particularly for the top end of the NT. So it'll
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  Speaker 2: be highly unlikely that you know, anybody would be able
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  Speaker 2: to have a permit of any sort to light a firecracker,
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  Speaker 2: any sort of fire, a little alone a firecracker. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they're quite dangerous, and I think there'd be a lot
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  Speaker 2: of volunteer firefighters out there maybe being shaking in their
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  Speaker 2: boots of the thought of us deliberately lighting fires at
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  Speaker 2: that come of the year. I think it's just the government,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they've tried to do the right thing, bias
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  Speaker 2: by you know, it was school holidays when the lockdown came.
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  Speaker 2: We all lost firecrack at night in that territory day,
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  Speaker 2: so we're all pretty disappointed. I know I was, But
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe just they haven't had enough time to
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  Speaker 2: think about you know, it was a very lovely offer.
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  Speaker 2: I think to have it on Freedom Day, but I
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  Speaker 2: think we just need to talk to a lot more
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  Speaker 2: people and think about it a bit more.
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  Speaker 1: That's all well, And that is what we're hearing, you know,
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  Speaker 1: on the text line and on the email this morning.
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  Speaker 1: I've got a message here. It says, morning Katie, it's
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  Speaker 1: a shame our Chief Minister refused to listen to the
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  Speaker 1: advice of NT fire Services. And I think that that's
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  Speaker 1: what quite a few people are feeling a bit concerned about.
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  Speaker 1: Can I just ask what kind of impact could letting
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  Speaker 1: crackers off on August twenty nine have? Is there potential
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  Speaker 1: here that we could wind up with some pretty big fires?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Definitely, definitely. I mean that's what the total fireban
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  Speaker 2: is all about, because one small fire can turn into
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  Speaker 2: something immense and cause a lot of damage, you know,
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  Speaker 2: not just as bush but to houses and potentially to lives.
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  Speaker 2: And and aside from that, from a scientific perspective, the
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  Speaker 2: greenhouse gas emissions of those fires at that time of
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  Speaker 2: the year a double of any other time of the year,
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  Speaker 2: more than double, you know, so we're talking about, you know,
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  Speaker 2: really bad atmospheric effects on people's health as well. You
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  Speaker 2: increase all that smoke, you're increasing the incidents of people
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  Speaker 2: presenting at hospital with respiratory illness, that kind of thing.
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  Speaker 2: So I mean it has, you know, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: impacts having a fire at that time of the year.
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  Speaker 1: We did catch up with bushfires ties Andrew Turner early
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  Speaker 1: last week. Take a listen to what he had to say.
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  Speaker 3: I've got a personal view, Katie, and that is that
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  Speaker 3: there are other parts of the year that might be
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  Speaker 3: better suited to it. The fire danger period, which was
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  Speaker 3: declared last week and goes for about four or five months,
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  Speaker 3: dictates that you require a permit to burn it any
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  Speaker 3: time during that period. My view is that's what you're
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  Speaker 3: doing when you're light to file, is potentially starting a fire.
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  Speaker 1: When would be a better time.
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  Speaker 3: A month ago would have been quite suitable, and probably
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  Speaker 3: November the strong drying wind tend to go away. It
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  Speaker 3: doesn't need to be in the pouring rain. It could
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  Speaker 3: well be just the sholder season to the dry season.
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  Speaker 3: It's a big decision. Quite often, see the ramification the
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  Speaker 3: impact on our volunteer crews and our resources in the
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  Speaker 3: days afterwards when people do unfortunately act irresponsibly.
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  Speaker 1: So that was talking about us having crackers on the
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  Speaker 1: first of July. Andrew, Now, when we talk about the
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  Speaker 1: twenty ninth of August, what can we expect here?
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  Speaker 2: Oh well, I mean it's everything and Andrew Turner just
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  Speaker 2: said and more. You know, everything's going to be exacerbated markedly.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to go from conditions that are barely you know,
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  Speaker 2: we can fight those fires that occur around early July,
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  Speaker 2: but we're going to go to conditions at the end
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  Speaker 2: of August where the fires are almost unstoppable. You know.
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  Speaker 2: That's They're the sort of conditions we're talking about. That's
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  Speaker 2: why the total fireban exists, because if a fire starts,
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  Speaker 2: it's the cost you know, to fight one fire. The
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  Speaker 2: cost of fighting a wildfire is ridiculous. Do you think
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  Speaker 2: the anti budget has that. I be surprised to think
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  Speaker 2: it does the best. Trying to move it would be
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  Speaker 2: like the first to me, it's the beginning of our
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  Speaker 2: prescribed burning period. In the top end. You know, you
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  Speaker 2: could light up to your heart's content and it'd be
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  Speaker 2: really good, and it helped reduce fuels and potentially stop
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  Speaker 2: wildfires later in the years. That's my personal opinion. But
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  Speaker 2: you know, first of July, even in my mind, is
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  Speaker 2: a little bit late in the season to be burning safely,
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  Speaker 2: you know, to have fires occurring safely. It's twenty nine
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  Speaker 2: to August. It is just yeah, no, it's it's in
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  Speaker 2: the realms of a really bad idea.
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  Speaker 1: So doctor Andrew, it would just in wrapping up, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: what is your message for government here? Do we realistically
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  Speaker 1: do we need to maybe take a step back and go,
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  Speaker 1: do you know what, even though it's disappointing, we maybe
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  Speaker 1: need to either hold it off till a bit later
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  Speaker 1: or wait until next year. What do you reckon needs
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  Speaker 1: to happen?
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  Speaker 2: I look, you know, Andrew Turners and Bushwys and Tea
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  Speaker 2: hooked into all the volunteers. There's a lot of community
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  Speaker 2: knowledge about the best time to burn, I reckon, we
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  Speaker 2: just do a bit of consultation, ask some you know,
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  Speaker 2: switched on people, talk to some people in the in
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  Speaker 2: the field, find out what's good. There's plenty of damn
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  Speaker 2: good fire research in the Northern Territory probably one of
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  Speaker 2: the best place places internationally in terms of fire research,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, and lots of experts on the ground
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  Speaker 2: and we've got you know, huge traditional knowledge of burning
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  Speaker 2: as well. I mean we're almost exclusive in that as well.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, and he's got a lot of knowledge and
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  Speaker 2: a lot of capacity and a lot of people that
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  Speaker 2: could assist the government in helping make a really really
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  Speaker 2: well informed and good decision about choosing a good more
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  Speaker 2: appropriate date.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Dr Andrew Edwards, bushfire researcher at Charles Darwin University,
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  Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time this morning, and we might
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  Speaker 1: try and catch up with you again as we do
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  Speaker 1: get into that bushfire season and talk a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more about some of that traditional burning and other things
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  Speaker 1: that you touched on there.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we barely touched on anything, but there's a lot.
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  Speaker 1: Very it sounds that way, and you sparked my interest
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  Speaker 1: in lots of ways there. Andrew, thanks so much for
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  Speaker 1: your time. Good on you, that is, Doctor Andrew Edwards,
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  Speaker 1: the bushfire researcher at Charles Dalin University. And as I said,
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  Speaker 1: plenty of you are concerned about the change to the
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  Speaker 1: day that we're allowed to let the fire crackers off.
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  Speaker 1: I think we all love it. I know I enjoy it,
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  Speaker 1: but gee, we do not want a situation here where
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  Speaker 1: we end up with bushfires around the place and with
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  Speaker 1: our emergency service crews. Our Fire Emergency Service crewis in
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  Speaker 1: dangerous situations