This is the second of two posts describing the Barjarg-Harpers Rd planned burn in the Strathbogie forest. The previous post and the below image describes what an observer sees from a distance, with the naked eye. It looks like a lot of little campfires puffing out chimneys of smoke. If that’s all you saw, you might just believe the government’s rhetoric that:
The Barjarg-Harpers Rd planned burn showing the 200+ ha of the eastern face of the burn with Mt Strathbogie on the middle horizon (beyond the burn).
The below two images taken with a thermal camera (in the infra-red spectrum) compare the progress of the burn at about 2.5 and 4.5 hours after ignition. In the interval between the images, the helicopter carrying the aerial incendiary machine flew repeatedly over the burn area, sparking fires progressively lower down the slopes. Clear from the images is the expansion of the many smaller fires and the joining up of previously isolated fires, as well as some of the fires ignited early on and burning intensely at 2 pm, beginning to decrease in severity several hours later.
Thermal view of the Barjarg-Harpers Rd planned burn, 2.5 and 4.5 hrs after initial ignition on May 8, 2024, in the Strathbogie State Forest, Victoria, Australia. The burn is about 5 km away, the yellow line represents an on-ground distance of about 500 m and cows can be seen grazing about 700 m away in the second image.
Thermal video of the Barjarg-Harpers Rd planned burn 2.5 hours after initial ignition on May 8, 2024, in the Strathbogie State Forest, Victoria, Australia. The burn is about 5 km away, the Midland Hwy in the middle foreground is 1 km away. View the video in full-screen mode with volume up for best effect.
At this point the burn has been only partially lit. Burning vegetation is clearly visible, as are the hot combustion gases emanating from the fire. Bursts of hot gases and embers are clearly seen, rising high above the tree-tops, when dense vegetation ignites. Some of the flare-ups visible in the video are clearly canopy explosions. The plumes of hot gases above each burning area correspond to the chimneys of smoke in the visible light photography. This is not a gentle fire creeping through the undergrowth! The helicopter dropping incendiaries can be both heard and seen (tiny, moving white dot) flying above the burn area.
This is the first of two posts describing the first day of the Barjarg-Harpers Rd burn. This post, a rather lengthy one, examines what was planned for this burn and what we saw on Day 1.
On May 8, 2024, a 540 ha area of the Strathbogie Forest was set alight as part of DEECA’s planned burn program (for fuel reduction). Known as the Barjarg-Harper’s Rd burn, this forest is home to the nationally endangered Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans).
As described in communication with Victoria’s Chief Fire Operator, the burn delivery plan shows there are ignition lines along virtually every ridge across the entire 540 hectares of the burn (see also map, below). This appears surprising given the threat fire poses to the species and that the area “was part of recent monitoring project which detected high densities of Southern Greater Glider. It is likely this species occurs throughout Foothill Forest within the broader burn footprint – especially along gully and drainage lines where larger hollow-supporting trees are numerous.” (DEECA Barjarg-Harpers Rd Delivery Plan, 3-7-2023).
As well as including the above map, the Delivery Plan notes several mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the burn “on this important area for Greater Glider” the most pivotal of which is to:
“Ensure that fuel moisture differentials are sufficient that they moderate against higher intensity burn coverage and exclude fire from damper drainage lines and gully systems.” (Ibid.).
The Delivery Plan also notes that burn coverage is expected to be >60% and that the “Burn unit has significant variability in topography and slope” (Ibid.).
The nature of the Delivery Plan seems particularly problematic for the Southern Greater Glider given DEECA’s own research has found that, of all the hollow-bearing trees in the study that were reached by fire (273 trees), 52% of those trees either collapsed or sustained serious structural damage.
Even more curious is the location of the burn exclusion zones, where fuel will not be reduced. These include those parts of the forest closest (within several hundred meters) to people and houses. In other words, fuel hazard reduction is excluded from precisely those areas where peer-reviewed research tells us fuel management is most beneficial – “Clearing vegetation around houses was at least twice as effective as recent prescribed burning in the near vicinity for protecting houses on Black Saturday (Dr Geoff Cary pers. comm. to ABC Science 2012) (also Gibbons et. al. 2012, Leonard 2020).
Now, call me risk averse, but igniting most ridge-lines in a topographically complex burn area (with very steep slopes, up to 22 deg/40%), to achieve a burn coverage of >60%, excluding fuel hazards closest to assets, all while trying to maintain a healthy population of a nationally endangered species, appears fraught. A bit like Wilhelm Tell’s dilemma – not much margin for error and perhaps misguided from the start!
Is DEECA genuinely concerned about the impact this planned burn could have on a nationally endangered species, or is the risk of impacting the Southern Greater Glider considered acceptable collateral damage? How can DEECA even assess whether its Delivery Plan mitigation measures for the Southern Greater Glider have been successful?
The Mt Albert burn south-west of Swanpool was ignited over two weeks ago, on 24th April, 2024. On the day of ignition it produced as much smoke as a sizeable bush-fire and produced its own fire weather. It was certainly a far cry from the way planned burns are portrayed by the Victorian government, below image:
Victorian government websites often portray planned burning as being pretty benign (FFMV website).
The above image doesn’t convey the whole story – Mt Albert planned burn, below. For explanation of the photo, see Open letter to the Chief Fire Officer..
With the Mt Albert burn still in the ‘Patrol’ phase, public entry is restricted so it’s not possible to assess the burn’s impact. However, it’s also clear that it’s too early to be able to assess the burn’s impact. Within a week most of the smoke had cleared, though there were still smouldering logs and tree stumps visible from the burn perimeter (Police Tk).
In the second week after ignition, when the weather warmed and a breeze sprang up, parts of the smouldering burn reignited and began producing copious smoke (below). Pictured are fires in three separate gullies within the Wild Dog Creek catchment. So, although the burn operations plan insisted that the fire should “exclude drainage lines and gully systems” – that’s exactly where these fires are now burning. This is not the fire misbehaving, this is mismanagement. Wild Dog Creek is rich in wildlife and is known habitat for the Southern Greater Glider. Forest Fire Management Victoria knew this and deliberately ignited multiple ridge lines in that gully system. We pointed out the risk to them in an email and with maps. They chose to ignore those concerns and took the risk.
The amount of smoke produced, which lasted several days, indicates there was/is significant timber burning. Is it fallen timber? Is it glider habitat trees? Is the fire toppling old giants, then burning down into their root-systems, where it could smoulder for weeks? That’s just what happened in the Tames Rd planned burn in 2015. The below pictures are a reminder that planned burns can have significant environmental impact. What carnage will we find in these Wild Dog Creek gullies when we finally go in to assess the impact?
It appears that sometimes, planned burns don’t go to plan.
Our Strathbogie Forest 