I share your sympathy for the struggling Australians. On a rugby league note I should inform forum members that rugby league legend Ron Coote had his house burned down on New Year’s Eve.

Quote ="the artist"They have the fires every year though, and they break out in different areas, mainly due to the climate being so hot and dry with a lack of rainfall in the period before christmas. This year they are especially bad as they have no rain at all in most areas which helps to put them out, and i believe no substantial rain is due until the end of January which is pretty unusual. Very doubtful its arson as they occur every year, though you will always get a few stupid people who like to light fires in remote areas when camping for example. They tend to break out in very remote areas where nobody is about to nip them in the bud before they spread. One or two could in theory be caused by litter etc but most seem to be natural causes - for example lightning strikes have caused them in the past. The other factor this year are strong winds which is helping them to spread'" Sadly, an esitimated 85 a day upwards... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50400851

Quote ="the artist"They have the fires every year though, and they break out in different areas, mainly due to the climate being so hot and dry with a lack of rainfall in the period before christmas. This year they are especially bad as they have no rain at all in most areas which helps to put them out, and i believe no substantial rain is due until the end of January which is pretty unusual. Very doubtful its arson as they occur every year, though you will always get a few stupid people who like to light fires in remote areas when camping for example. They tend to break out in very remote areas where nobody is about to nip them in the bud before they spread. One or two could in theory be caused by litter etc but most seem to be natural causes - for example lightning strikes have caused them in the past. The other factor this year are strong winds which is helping them to spread'" Sadly, an esitimated 85 a day upwards... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50400851

Australian bush is meant to burn.
A lot of plant species in Australia were impossible to grow overseas till someone worked out they only released seeds after a fire.
A damn good fire clears out all the introduced weeds and lets the native species regenerate.
The problem is that a lot of people build homes in the bush, and gum trees burn much hotter than other trees and release oil and embers that travel for miles and spark new fires all over the place.
I've only seen a "treetop" fire once in my lifetime and it's like someone has let off a bomb. The one I saw got to about 100 metres of our home and the roar and heat from 100 metres away was impossible to describe. I can't believe that anyone who has seen that would build in the middle of the bush, but people do.

I heard (or read in some random paper) that part of the problem is displacement of Aboriginals that used to manage the landscape by setting (and controlling) fires?

You are quite right in your observations about where we build, flooding in the UK is largely down to planning permission being granted, on known flood plains

a fire goes treetop in this clip. only 1 in 10 fires do this, and when they do, you just get out of there. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ ... 1a0285f867

a fire goes treetop in this clip. only 1 in 10 fires do this, and when they do, you just get out of there. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ ... 1a0285f867

Quote ="roopy"a fire goes treetop in this clip. only 1 in 10 fires do this, and when they do, you just get out of there. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ ... 1a0285f867'" Or film it.

Quote ="roopy"a fire goes treetop in this clip. only 1 in 10 fires do this, and when they do, you just get out of there. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ ... 1a0285f867'" Or film it.