Victorian Fire Authorities Failed to Complete Planned Burns Ahead of 2024 Bushfires, Report Finds

A government report has found Victorian fire authorities failed to complete all their planned burns in the years ahead of the devastating 2024 Grampians National Park bushfires.

The Victorian Auditor-General's Office report also warns an incomplete network of strategic fuel breaks could pose a risk to properties and communities in future bushfires.

Bushfires in the region in consecutive fire seasons — February 2024 and December that year — destroyed 51 properties and razed more than 85,000 hectares of bush and farmland.

A report found the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) had successfully worked to keep the Wimmera district's bushfire risk level well below state-mandated fire targets overall, but failed to meet other specific targets.

Properties at risk without fuel breaks

According to the report, the CFA in the western region only delivered 41 per cent of its planned burns in the financial years 2021–22 and 2022–23 before the 2024 Grampians bushfires.

It also indicates that in the financial year when the first of the two fires occurred, 2023–24, the CFA exceeded its target and completed 125 per cent of its planned burns, which included deferred burns.

However, the report shows data gaps mean it was unclear what effect these burns had.

"Limitations in CFA's West and South West regions' record keeping mean it cannot show how much it protected impacted communities leading up to the 2024 Grampians bushfires," the findings read.

The report also found DEECA did not deliver all of its proposed strategic fuel breaks in and around the Grampians National Park, and Wimmera district staff suggested 16 strategic fuel breaks should be constructed or remade near the Grampians.

The department selected five of these to proceed and planned to have all these breaks completed by August 2022.

The report found the department only built three and has still not completed the remainder of the breaks.

"Although the two uncompleted strategic breaks are outside of the 2024 Grampians bushfires' boundaries, more properties could be at risk in future bushfires if they are not established," the report warned.

The report did not indicate whether more planned burning or strategic fuel breaks would have saved properties or reduced the spread and damage in the 2024 Grampians fires.

More work to do

The report acknowledged the agencies had made improvements to how bushfire risk was managed following a 2020 audit.

But it said further work was needed to improve how the department and the CFA measured the effectiveness of different fuel reduction methods, managed bushfire risk on private land, and assessed fuel hazards.

The report also said the department had work to do to ensure its computer software simulations and bushfire hazard assessments were accurate.

CFA deputy chief officer Alen Slijepcevic said the planning and delivery of fuel treatments were reviewed annually by the CFA and the Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic).

"CFA exceeded its statewide planned burn targets in the last two years — this is attributed to good seasonal conditions," Mr Slijepcevic said.

"Each year, the area treated by CFA is highly dependent on weather conditions and moisture levels in vegetation to allow for effective fuel reduction burning.

"In the two-year period 2021–22 to 2022–23, CFA undertook a significant amount of planned burns in the west region with 2,500 hectares burnt."

FFMVic chief fire officer Chris Hardman said the organisation had implemented significant reform since the 2020 audit.

"Community safety is always our priority and we are continuously strengthening our approach to bushfire risk management," Mr Hardman said.