Spring 2015

The Spring prescribed burning season has started now that the vegetation has dried for safe burning.  A list of the prescribed burns for the 2015/16 season is available here.

Sign up for prescribed burn notifications or visit Fire Management Maps for more information on planned burns in your area.

Survey feedback

Thank you to those who took the time to complete the survey sent out earlier this year.  The results have given the Fire Management team a good understanding of what our subscribers are after and if we are on the right track with timing and detail of prescribed burn notifications.

A lot of feedback was around wanting further information about fire histories, future planned burns, conservation areas and burn locations. We are currently developing a map insert of the burn location and boundary into the email notifications. Until this is implemented this information, and more, can be found on the online mapping tool Fire Management Maps.  Another option is to visit the prescribed burns page and click on the 'map' link to the right of the burn.

If you are after more detailed information about conservation areas, vegetation types plus other map features, visit Naturemaps. Information about vulnerable or threatened flora and flora is available from both Fire Management Maps and Naturemaps.

Timings and stages of prescribed burns are also in development. In the future the website will display the real time progress of the burn: proposed, ready for ignition, ignition, patrol start and patrol end. 

Some other feedback requested information about road closures and receiving this through a feed.  This can be sourced through Alert SA. Their free app enables you to recieve proximity alerts or browse their webpage for current incidents. Alert SA collates all of the information from South Australia's emergency services agencies and puts it in one place for easy access.

We have divided up the burn notifications into each region, and the majority are happy with this method.  If you would like to receive all of the notifications please update your preferences on the stay informed webpage.

We will continue to give ongoing updates about ecological monitoring and information about fire management processes in future newsletters. If there is something in particular you would like to know more about, please contact the DEWNR Fire Management branch at DEWNRFireManagement@sa.gov.au

Fire regime

Deliberately using fire to manage vegetation requires planning and management. In order to plan a prescribed burn, the correct intensity of the fire, the burn size, the season in which the burn is undertaken and the interval between fires all need to be considered. This is called the ‘fire regime’.

Different fire regimes can be used to achieve different outcomes. Two fires in quick succession may be used to reduce fuel and the fire threat to homes and infrastructure, but may prevent some species of plants from regenerating.

Fire exclusion for a very long period means some plant species that need disturbance to stimulate regeneration do not get a chance to regenerate. Other outcomes, such as weed control or biodiversity management, also require different fire regimes. As such, DEWNR parks are zoned into three different priorities - asset protection zones, buffer zones and conservation zones. In asset protection zones, DEWNR can burn frequently to reduce fuel hazard. In buffer zones, the goal is a reduction in fuel hazard plus the maintenance of biodiversity. In conservation zones, any burning done is aimed at maintaining or restoring the habitat of the species living in that area.

Prescribed burns

Stay informed about prescribed burns on the Fire Management website.

Contact

For more info or feedback contact us at: DEWNRFireManagement@sa.gov.au.

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