It’s time for the Northern Beaches to prepare for Bushfire season

On the Northern Beaches we are fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful National Parks and bushland, but this beauty also poses a significant bushfire risk.

Meteorologists are warning that NSW is in for a dry, hot spring and summer, with a 95% chance that temperatures will be warmer than average. There is also an 80% chance rainfall will be below the long-term average throughout spring. 

This forecast follows back-to-back La Nina events which led to record rain and abundant overgrowth in our bushland. Now the Rural Fire Service is warning we could be in for a dangerous fire season – including here on the Northern Beaches. 

Spring had barely sprung when our local fire services responded to a grass fire in Belrose in early September, giving us a taste of what we could be in for this summer. While our amazing local, volunteer led rural fire services have been doing everything possible to prepare for the fire season, their attempts to carry out hazard reduction burns have been hampered by wet weather. So as a community we must also do our bit to help prepare for the upcoming bushfire season.

That’s why I’m hosting a free bushfire preparation panel and expo event at Glen Street Theatre on October 10. 

The free ‘Fire and the Forest’ panel event is a chance for people to hear from experts such as former Commissioner of NSW Fire and Rescue and local legend Greg Mullins, on how we can prepare our families, homes, businesses and community for the upcoming bushfire season. The community is also welcome to attend the free concurrent expo event with representatives from the Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, Red Cross, NSW SES and Sydney Wildlife Rescue.

However, it’s not just bushfires we must prepare for this summer. As our climate continues to warm, we must also prepare our community for the impacts of severe heat-waves and more air pollution. We know heat kills more Australians every year than any other extreme weather event, while 61,000 Europeans died due to heatwaves last year. Jurisdictions around the world are already planning for heat refuges and we must do the same. 

We also know that air pollution is responsible for more than 5,000 Australian deaths per year. This spiked during the Black Summer Bushfires causing over 480 deaths. As a GP working in Narrabeen during the Black Summer Bushfires, I vividly remember treating patients with respiratory difficulties exacerbated by the smoke and air pollution.

As a community we can take steps to protect our families and communities from the impacts of a hot and dry spring and summer ahead. But it’s also time our federal government acted more decisively when it comes to climate and energy policy. 

The scientific, health and economic advice is clear – we must transition away from our reliance on fossil fuels both domestically and decarbonise our exports. If we don’t, then the type of summer we endured during the Black Summer Bushfires could seem like a mild summer.