2002/03 Big Desert Fire - Fire Suppression and Biodiversity Impacts

Mike Wouters Department for Environment & Heritage, GPO Box 1047 Adelaide, 5001, South Australia e-mail: wouters.mike@saugov.sa.gov.au (formerly with Parks Victoria, Mildura, Victoria)

Abstract In December 2002, lightning caused a wildfire event which eventually burnt some 180,000 hectares in the Big Desert area of North West Victoria. This fire burnt over 10 days and exibited extreme behaviour in mallee and mallee-heath fuel types. The fire event, subsequent rehabilitation works and broad biodiversity impacts are outlined. The implications of large fires on landscape-scale biodiversity management are discussed. Introduction On Tuesday, December 17, lightning strikes in the Mallee region of Victoria started 2 fires in the Big Desert Wilderness Park and, in the west of Wyperfeld National Park. This part of the Victorias Big Desert is dominated by mallee and mallee-heath vegetation types (LCC 1987). These fuel types are characterised by an ability to carry fire within a relatively short time since fire and will burn with short pulses of considerably higher rates of spread and intensities (Keith et al 2002b, McCaw ). At the time, the fire was the largest fire that state had seen in 20 years and posed a large threat to the wilderness and adjoining private land. Weather conditions were severe, with low humidity (8-12 %), high temperatures (30-42C) and erratic strong winds (10-30 km/h, gusting up to 40km/h) occurring through much of the fire. Forest Fire Danger reached 50 or greater on Days 1 5 of the fire. The Big Desert fire was declared safe on Tuesday, December 31st, following easing weather conditions. It burnt a total area of over 181,400 hectares and a perimeter of 350 km, including 300 hectares of private farmland and scrub (Map 1). Over 350 km of control lines were established or maintained by firefighters from Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Parks Victoria (PV), Country Fire Authority (CFA) and South Australia's Country Fire Service (CFS).

The Season 2002 was one of the driest and warmest years on record for Victoria. North West Victoria experienced particularly dry conditions with KBDI not dropping below 75 during the winter period (Figure 1). As a result, the mallee woodlands and mallee heathlands had dried out significantly in the lead up to the 2002-03 fire season and by late November 2002, wildfire activity was running around 2 months ahead of normal.
Figure 1: Rainfall & KBDI at Walpeup, Victoria 1999 2004 (Esplin 2003)

The Big Desert Fire a brief chronology Tuesday 17th December (Day 1) On Tuesday, December 17 2002, two fires were detected in the remote Big Desert Wilderness Park and South Wyperfeld Wilderness Area of Wyperfeld National Park in the Victorian Mallee. Both of these fires were started by lightning strikes. Under a moderate SW wind (15 km/h, gusting to 25 km/h) and Forest FDI conditions over 50 (Figures 2 & 3), the fire travelled 18km between 1630 hours and 1930 hours (average Rates of Spread of 2.2 & 1.5 m/s). By the end of Day 1, the fire area had grown to some 15,500ha. Suppression activities under these conditions were limited to establishing control lines well away from the fire front and private property protection.
Figure 2: Max. Air Temperature & 3pm Relative Humidity at Walpeup, Victoria December 2003 (Esplin 2003)

Figure 3: Rainfall, FDI & 3pm wind speed at Walpeup, Victoria December 2003 (Esplin 2003)

Wednesday 18th December (Day 2) The area of the larger (western) fire was approximately 60,000 hectares by 1000 hours, and eighty personnel from DSE/DPI/PV were working on the fire. Suppression was focussed on constructing control lines along the Murrayville-Nhill Track and along the public land-private property boundary to the north. In some places the fire was burning over old fire scars (c.1987) with reduced activity. Fire bombing aircraft were operating from Linga and the Incident Management Team was now located at Walpeup. Thursday 19th December (Day 3) Some 100 personnel, six bulldozers and four large tractors were working to control the fires. By midafternoon the original two fires had merged, resulting in a fire area of nearly 75,000 hectares. High temperatures and strengthening southerly wind conditions caused several 'runs' of fire to head north with average rates of spread of 1.1 and 0.9 m/s were recorded between 1600 and 1800 hours. These 'runs' brought the fire some 20 km out of the Park/State Forest and onto private land to the south of Murrayville, burning several hundred hectares of grazing land before being contained by CFA and DSE/DPI/PV crews. The southwestern flank of the fire extended several kilometres into South Australia until it ran into

a large area previously burnt in a wildfire in 1999. This South Australian sector was quickly contained. By the end of the Day 3 the fire size was approximately 104,000 ha. Friday 20th December (Day 4) By the end of Day 4, the fire had burnt an area of 120,000 hectares. A further farmland breakout was quickly controlled by CFA, supported by DSE/DPI/PV personnel. Erratic and unpredictable behaviour again occurred mid afternoon Forest FDI reached 60. Fire fighting effort was focused on preparing fall back control lines along the northern public land-private property boundary and well to the east of the fire's edge. Saturday 21st December (Day 5) Saturday brought extreme heat and windy conditions. Temperatures reached 42 C with winds up to 15 - 25 km/h, gusting to 35 km/h (Figures 2 & 3). The fire formally became a jointly managed DSE/DPI/PV and CFA fire, with DSE/DPI/PV providing the Incident Controller. A combined team of more than 300 personnel from DSE/DPI/PV, CFA, and CFS were now fighting the blaze in two shifts, with local CFA crews also on standby. The fire had now burnt an area of around 139,000 hectares. A change in wind direction caused a major fire front to form and travel some19.5 km in the late afternoon (ROS 1.5 m/s). This new front, some 11 km wide burnt some 24,000 ha in 3.5 hours. Fire fighting operations focussed on line construction works along the southern boundary of the fire, and the construction of fallback lines to the east of the fire. Fanned by strong southerly winds and warm overnight temperatures the eastern fire front continued to burn through the night. By early morning the fire had almost travelled the 16 km to reach the northern public land-private property boundary south of Underbool. One vacant house, a shed and 300 ha of private land burnt on Saturday night. Sunday 22nd December (Day 6) Two areas of active fire fronts to the northwest and northeast of the fire continued to cause problems for fire fighters working to contain the fire. The fire area was now 179,000 hectares, and was progressively coming out onto the farmland across the Park/State Forest northern border stretching a distance of 40 km. Breakouts continued to the eastward with farmland and private assets close to the park still considered under threat. The combined resource list for the fire was now: more than 300 personnel from DSE/DPI/PV, and CFA, 8 bulldozers, 3 large tractors and rollers and six aircraft. Monday 23rd Wednesday 25th December (Days 7 - 9) Weather conditions moderated for Days 7 - 9 (Figures 2 & 3) and sixty firefighters were released from the fire. The weather, particularly the winds, continued to moderate, hence the fire was much quieter. The fire was considered contained within outer control lines, and firefighters worked to construct control lines closer to the fire edge in order to reduce the area of park/state forest burnt by the fire. An infrared line scanswere used to pin-point hot spots close to control lines. Firebombing aircraft were also used to drop retardant to slow the progress of and hover-exit crews were used to 'black out' these hot spots. The fire was still not contained due to difficult terrain (sand dunes) and the huge perimeter of the fire. Planning now also began for subsequent rehabilitation of control lines and for the identification and maintenance of future strategic fire access tracks to maintain the balance between environmental care of park values and protecting adjacent property values. A total 687 firefighters from DSE/DPI/PV and CFA had been deployed to the fire. The final area being over 180,000 hectares, including 300 hectares of private land. Tuesday 31st December Day (Day 15) Around 25mm of rain fell over the fire area in summer storm on the 30th-31st December. The Big Desert Fire was declared safe with a total area burnt of 181,400 hectares and a perimeter of some 350 km. Fire Behaviour Rates of Spread Infra-red line scan was used extensively during the fire, with runs being flown nightly (with successive scans on several nights). Together with the satellite imagery obtained after the

fire, some very accurate mapping of fire spread has been possible. Table 1 contains rates of spread data for the main 'runs' (refer to Map 2) identified in this mapping.
Table 1: Rate of Spread data for main fire 'runs' Date Start Time End Time Distance (km) Time (hrs) ROS (km/h) ROS (m/s) 17/12/04 17/12/04 19/12/04 19/12/04 20/12/04 20/12/04 20/12/04 20-21/12/04 21/12/04 21-22/12/04 1630 1715 1700 1700 1600 1600 1800 2100 1600 1930 1715 1930 2300 2300 1800 1800 2100 400 1930 230 6.0 12.0 18.7 24.0 5.0 7.0 5.2 10.9 19.5 16.3 0.8 2.3 6.0 6.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 7.0 3.5 7.0 8.0 5.3 3.1 4.0 2.5 3.5 1.7 1.6 5.6 2.3 2.2 1.5 0.9 1.1 0.7 1.0 0.5 6.6-5.5km wide front 0.4 1.5 0.6 11.7km wide front Comment

These rates of spread are up to two times that predicted by the McArthur Forest Fire Danger meter. This is consistent with observations from mallee and heathlands elsewhere (McCaw 1998, Wouters 1993, McCaw et al 1992, Billing 1981). They do, however, compare well with the fire behaviour guide for mallee-heath in Western Australia (Keith et al 2002b, McCaw 1998). The further investigation into the adaption of the Western Australian Mallee-Heath Fire Behaviour Guides (McCaw 1998) for use in similar fuels of the Big Desert is warranted. In the interim, fire behaviour predictions should not rely soley on the McArthur Forest Fire Danger meter for rate of spread and other fire behviour calculations; McArthur Grassland and other appropriate models should be used in additon to the Forest meter to make a range of behviour predictions. Fuel Reduction & Previous Fires The Big Desert fire burnt into several recent fires and fuel reduced areas, particularly during the extreme fire behaviour of the first 2 days (Map 3). On Day 1, the fire ran into an area which had been fuel reduced (burnt autumn 1999) along the Nhill-Murrayville track. Effective fuel reduction to moderate (McCarthy et al 1998) levels had been achieved to an average depth of some 500m; fuel levels had returned to high levels by 2002. Field observations at the time (D. Martin, PV Wyperfeld pers. comm.) and analysis of imagery, indicates that the head fire appears to have been initially slowed by this width strip, but a fresh run of fire in the evening easily spotted across the fuel reduced zone (Map 4). The fire failed to burn far into the 1999 large and intense 'Ngarkat fire area to the northwest (Map 5). Several other fires dating from 1998 to 1993 do appear to have either halted the fire run, or at least been burnt around (ie remained largely unburnt) (Maps 5 & 6). Clearly, areas of recent fires or fuel reduction do slow, and can even stop the progress of a major fire. Fuel levels need to be at low moderate levels (as in McCarthy et al 1998) for this to occurr. The examples from Fire 47 indicate that fuel reduced areas need to be at least 500 1000 m wide and only remain effectively fuel reduced for up to six years. Older and narrower fuel reduced areas can still have positive suppression and biodiversity effects. The areas of previous fires burnt up to 10 years old have resulted in many unburnt areas within the huge fire area (Map 7). Many of these areas burnt at lower intensities during the fire, which could provide safer operating areas during suppression operations or areas where backburning could be undertaken with lower risk. The resulting unburnt patches from the earlier fires also will provide important refuge areas from which fauna species, in particular, can survive and later recolonise regenerating areas. Fire Rehabilitation Rahabilitation Planning The Incident Management Team identified the need for rehabilitation works early and a Rehabilitation Plan was commenced on Day 7 of the fire, before fire containment was achieved. The initial task was to identify the control lines established during the suppression

operations and assess the requirements for rehabilitation. The initial control effort was based on indirect attack from the Nhill-Murrayville Rd, hence few new control lines were constructed during the first few days of the fire. In later days, it was possible to construct control lines on the flanks of the fire with the support of aerial retardant drops. Fire control works on public land involved the construction of over 350 km of firebreaks new mineral earth breaks, new rolled breaks, and the reinforcement of existing tracks (Map 1). Specific new infrastructure constructed to support the fire suppression operation included: New firebreaks along the fire perimeter New firebreaks set back from the fire edge well within the public land boundary. New firebreaks on the private property boundary Widening of firebreaks / buffers adjacent to existing roads and tracks. The Rehabilitation Plan formed part of the greater fire recovery program put in place following the Victorian Alpine fires. Table 2 summarises the rehabilitation works carried post-fire.
Table 2: Summary of scope of works (refer Map 1). (DSE/PV 2003) Sector Est. length (km) Brief description of work required North-west 10 Retain as firebreak. Double width. 24 Respread and restore. Single width. 17 Respread and restore. Double width. 40 Smudging / grading of existing tracks. 28 Respread and restore. Double width. Underbool 9 Respread using excavator (narrow with large heaps). Tritter Track 34 Respread and restore. Double & single widths. Gunners Tk 15 Respread over dozed strips. South-east 14 Respread and restore. Single width. ND* No works required. Milmed Rock Tk ND* No works required. Fire 48 33 Respread & restore. Duplicate tks first 1-2kms. 13 Respread & restore. Double & single widths. 9 Respread & restore. Single width. 10 Respread & restore. Wilderness 55 Respread & restore within dozed line. Nhill-Murrayville Rd 60 Restore capping to dune crests. 371 *ND not defined.

Biodiversity Impacts The Big Desert contains the largest undisturbed areas of Broombush Mallee and Mallee Heathland in the Victoria. These communities are characterised by nutrient-poor soils and a fire regime of relatively frequent, high intensity fires (Cheal 1995). Key species and tolerable iter-fire periods have been identified for these communities (Wouters et al 2000). For the majority of areas, the minimum inter-fire period of 20 years had been exceeded before fire 47 occurred. Some 590 ha of Scrub-pine woodland (6% of total) was burnt in this fire. This community is significant given that it depends upon the long-term absence of fire for its development and is believed to occur in areas that are unaffected by the large-scale fires of 1959 and the 1980s (fire-sensitive species with canopy-stored seed are vulnerable to frequent fire events, Gill 1981). Although some of the current fire area was also burnt in 1991, there appears to have been adequate time for these species to mature to seeding. Table 3 summarises other biodiversity impacts of the fire.
Table 3: Summary of priority biodiversity values potentially at risk in the post-fire period. (DSE/PV 2003) Threatening Values Affected Specific Values High Priority Risk Conservation Process affected Values at Risk Score Objective Erosion by wind Dune crest habitats Dune crest habitats Disjunct populations Mod provide critical locations of species such as for the mating and Ogyris otanes and breeding of a suite of Theclinesthes diurnal Lepidoptera albocincta may be at (family Lycaenidae). risk. Increased A number of Threatened vertebrates. Australian Bustard, High foraging by foxes significant species Species in these Malleefowl, Littleusing access of ground dwelling categories are likely to be pygmy Possum, Stabilise dune crests such that they do not become mobile, and that original vegetation community (habitat) is restored. Restore vegetation cover within areas disturbed by fire

Threatening Process provided by control lines.

Values Affected

Specific Values affected

High Priority Values at Risk

Risk Score

Conservation Objective suppression activities.

at enhanced risk from fox Silky Mouse, predation until there has Rosenbergs been vegetation Goanna. recovery, both on control lines and in their habitat generally. Increased A number of reptile Endemic reptiles. The Bardick, Desert High foraging by foxes species have been status of these reptiles is Skink, Heath Skink, using access recorded in Vic. not clear due to limited Lined Earless provided by from relatively few survey effort in the Big Dragon. control lines. sites including the Desert. Big Desert. Weed invasion Invasive weeds (if Some plant species have Plant species with Low due to increased they occur) may restricted occurrences in restricted soil disturbance. spread to the Big Desert and may occurrences in the undisturbed be threatened by the Big Desert, eg. vegetation establishment of invasive Lowan Phebalium. communities. weeds.

birds, small mammals, and reptiles.

Survey to determine whether species occurs where previously recorded, or at other locations in the Big Desert. Control of any invasive weeds as required.

The ecological vegetation communities (EVC) represented in the burnt area are as shown in Table 4 below. The Big Desert fire has significantly shifted the age class distributions for the Big Desert area as a whole and for most of these vegetation types. Much of the area burnt in December 2002 was previously burnt in either fires of 1958 or 1981. Graphs 1 & 2 and Map 8 show the current age class distributions for the whole area and Graphs 3 & 4 for Banksia (Sandplain) Heathlands. Because of these changes, three ecological burns planned for Wyperfeld National Park and the Big Desert State Forest (primarily for changing the age class distribution, Wouters et al 2000) were postponed, pending further analysis of the impacts of the fire.
Table 4. EVCs represented in the area of Fire #47. Bioregion is Lowan Mallee. EVC EVC NAME Area burnt (ha) 48 89 93 88 95 92 97 99 Heathy woodland Sand plain heathland Broombush mallee Mallee heathland Red-swale mallee Scrub-pine woodland Pine-buloke woodland Savannah woodland / grassland mosaic 505.1 42,575 23,257 106,353 7,367 592 5 69 8 180731.1

106 Riverine grassy forest

Regional Context The historical average area burnt for the Big Desert is approximately 18,000 ha per year. This figure is significantly influenced by very large fires occurring in decadal cycles (Bradstock & Cohn 2002, Morelli & Forward 1996, LCC 1987); 1958, 1981, 1999, 2002 and 2003 all experienced in excess of 30,000 ha burnt 1958, 1981 and 2003 exceeding 100,000 ha. A similar pattern exist in the neighbouring Ngarkat complex of Conservation Parks in South Australia; together the areas total some 885,000 ha in area and have experienced an average area burnt of close to 35,000 ha per year since 1973. This rate of burning (just under 4%) gives rise to a fire cycle of just over 25 years slightly shorter than those for other for SE Australia vegetation types(NRE/PV 2002). This together with the particularly large areas burnt in recent years (equivalent to 63% of the total area in the last 6 years, 80% in the last 15 years) has given rise to some concern about the size and frequencies of fire events.

Graph 1: Big Desert Age Class Distribution 2003 (all EVCs)

Big Desert Age Class Distribution - All EVCs 2003

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Graph 2: Big Desert-Ngarkat Age Class

Big Desert-Ngarkat Age Class Distribution

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0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 (All) 36 39 42 45 48 51 57 60 n/r

Graph 3: Distribution Big Desert Sandplain Heathland Age Class Distribution

Big Desert Age Class Distribution - Banksia Heathland 2003

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Graph 4: 2003Big Desert-Ngarkat Banksia Heathland Age Class Distribution 2003

Big Desert-Ngarkat Age Class Distribution

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Banksia heathland

It is important to take the regional or landscape context into consideration when planning fire regimes across a large contiguous area (Keith et al 2002a). Graph 4 shows that for all vegetation types across the greater Big Desert-Ngarkat, the age class distribution is still quite varied, despite the large recent fires, including some 20% of the area long unburnt (ie no record of fire). Clearly some substantial areas are remaining unburnt, while other areas are being burnt at shorter intervals. This will be having an effect the flora, fauna and biodiversity of the area; both in terms of habitat availability and re-colonisation post-fire. Whether this is a positive, negative or neutral effect depends on the objectives and scale used and needs to be examined further. What is clear is that it is vital in the current situation to assess and carefully manage the fire regime, and in particular the intervals between fires. Desirable fire regimes based on the

ecological needs of the flora, fauna and other values of the area need to be determined and then used to assess the impacts of successive fire on the overall biodiversity (NRE/PV 1999 NSW NPWS 2003, Seager 2001). This information will be vital for the fire management of these areas and the management of the impacts of these very large fires. Conclusions Very large fires have occurred in the Big Desert area, and are likely to continue to occur in the future. Unplanned fires are frequently portrayed as an emergency and huge measures are put in place to suppress them, often at great cost. In large areas away from the denser settlement, biodiversity is often the main value at threat. We need to consider in our fire planning, what circumstances fire is an ecological emergency (Bradstock 1999) and what part of fire regime (and in particular the interval between fires) is acceptable. It is also important to consider the wider regional context, in addition to the local needs of flora and fauna. Conservation management (including the management of fire) should be planning for the conservation of species and viable populations across the broader landscape. In this context, very large fires may have detrimental impacts on some species, on predator numbers, and on species and communities ability to regenerate/recolonise. The principles which must guide the management of fire include: A range of age classes is necessary to protect long-unburnt habitat and provide for a range of successional stages. A mosaic of burns across the landscape is better than few large burns. Fire will continue to be part of the landscape, but we must manage it in order to maintain biodiversity and protect human life and property.

References Billing, P.R. (1981) Hazard reduction burning in the Big Desert. Fire Research Report No. 9 Forest Commission Victoria, Melbourne. Bradstock, R.A. & Cohn J. S. (2002) Fire Regimes and Biodiversity in Mallee Ecosystems. In Flammable Australia: The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent. (Bradstock, Williams & Gill eds.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Bradstock, R.A. & Gill, A.M. (1999) When is Fire an Ecological Emergency? Aust. Jour. of Emergency Management 14:6-8. Cheal, P.D. (1995) Fire Succession in heathlands and implications for vegetaion management. Paper presented to North West Ecological Management Workshop, National Parks Service Victoria November 1995. Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Mildura. Dept of Conservation & Natural Resources (CNR)(1994) Big Desert Wilderness Park Management Plan. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Melbourne. Dept of Sustainability & Environment and Parks Victoria (DSE & PV)(2003) Mildura Fire District Fire Number 47 Big Desert Rehabilitation Plan, Unpublished report, April 2003. Dept of Sustainability & Environment and Parks Victoria, Mildura. DSE/PV (1999) Interim Guidelines for Ecological Burning for Public Land in Victoria. Department of Natural Resources & Environment and Parks Victoria, Melbourne. DSE/PV (2003) An Analysis of Disturbance by Fire for Public Land in Victoria. Fire Ecology Working Group, Department of Natural Resources & Environment and Parks Victoria, Melbourne. Esplin B., Gill A.M., & Enright N., (2003) Report of the Inquiry in to the 2002-2003 Victorian Bushfires. Dept. of Premier & Cabinet Victoria, Melbourne. Gill, A.M. (1981) Adaptive responses of Australian vascular plant species to fires. In Fire and the Australian Biota, (Gill, Groves & Noble eds.), Australian Academy of Science, Canberra. Keith, D.A. McCaw, W.L. & Whelan R.J. (2002b) Fire Regimes in Australian heathlands and their effects on plants and animals. In Flammable Australia: The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent. (Bradstock, Williams & Gill eds.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Keith, D.A. Williams, J.E. & Woinarski C.Z. (2002a) Fire Management and Biodiversity Conservation. In Flammable Australia: The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent. (Bradstock, Williams & Gill eds.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Land Conservation Council (1987). Report on the Mallee Area Review, Land Conservation Council, Melbourne. LCC 1989 McCaw, L. (1998) Fire Behaviour Guidelines for Mallee-Heath in Southern Western Australia. Department of Conservation & Land Management, Western Australia, Manjimup. McCaw, W.L., Maher, T. & Gillen, K. (1992) Wildfires in the Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Austrlia, December 1989. Technical Report No. 26, Department of Conservation & Land Management Western Australia, Perth. Morelli, J. & Forward, L.R. (1996) Mallee Fire Ecology. In A Biological Survey of the South Olary Plains, South Australia (Forward & Robinson eds.). Department of Environment & Natural Resources, South Australia, Adelaide. Mueck, S. G. (1985). Fire break monitoring Murray-Sunset National Park, Unpublished Report. NSW NPWS (2003) Tarawi Nature Reserve Fire Management Plan. National Parks & Wildlife Service, New South Wales, Sydney. Robertson, P., Bennett, A.F., Lumsden, L.F., Silveira, C.E., Johnson, P.G., Yen, A.L., Milledge, G.A., Lillywhite, P.K. & Pribble, H.J. (1989) Fauna of the Mallee Study Area Northwestern Victoria, ARI Technical Report Series Report No. 87, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands, Victoria. Segar, P.G. (2001) Managing fire for biodiversity outcomes a risk management approach. Paper presented at the Australasian Fire Authorities Council 2001 Conference: Risk Management and Hazard Identification, Darwin, 10-12 August 2001 Wouters, M.A. (1993) Wildfire behaviour in heath and other elevated fuels: a case study of the 1991 Heywood fire. Fire Research Report No. 36 Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Melbourne. Wouters, M., Wouters, C., Macdonell, P. & Kerr, D. (2000) Wyperfeld NP Mallee Shrublands in Victoria: A Pilot Study of Guidelines for Ecological Burning on Public Land. Unpublished report, Parks Victoria, Mallee Region, Mildura.

Maps
Map 1: Fire 47 spread and control works as at Dec 24, 2002.

Map 2:

Fire 47 Spread and Main Fire runs.

Map 3:

Recent Fire & FRB Areas within the Fire Area.

Map 4:

Impact of 1999 Fuel Reduction

Map 5:

Impact of 1999 & 1992 Fires

Map 6:

Imapct of 1997 Fires

Map 7: Unburnt Areas within Fire 47 Area

Map 8:

Big Desert Ngarkat Fire History