Summer bushfire risk higher following wet start to winter

The nation's fire chiefs have released the fire outlook for the season ahead, showing large swathes of the Northern Territory, Queensland and NSW, and some regions in Victoria and South Australia could soon be feeling the heat.

A primary threat is fast-moving grassfires, with three years of relatively wet La Nina conditions fuelling incredible growth across the country.

But there's also real concern for bushland that didn't burn in the devastating Black Summer fires of 2019 and 2020.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers says firefighters are braced for a difficult fire season, and a spring of above average fire potential that extends north to the Queensland border, to areas south of Sydney, and out west including the Blue Mountains.

He says parts of the state are covered in incredibly dense grass that's a metre tall and ready to burn.

"There's also a strip along the coast both in the north, and in the far south coast in Bega - areas that didn't burn in 2019/20. All of those areas we're quite concerned about," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"While it's correct that we're not as dry as we were in 2019/20, some areas in the north and the south, on the coastal areas, are already staring to experience drought conditions."

It's a similar situation for much of Queensland from the border northwards almost to Cairns and extending into the west, as well as in central parts of the Northern Territory and south of Darwin where years of good rain has sent invasive gamba grass into overdrive.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Greg Leach says fuel loads are high across the state and that's drying out with below average rainfall in the past six months.

"We have seen some quite significant fire behaviour for this time of year, with some of the fires across the southern and western Downs over the last few weeks. Now is the time to prepare your bushfire plan."

In the Northern Territory, authorities are confident that early season burning has created enough fire scars in the landscape to protect gamba grass areas south of Darwin, and north of Katherine.

But Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Commissioner Stephen Sewell had a blunt warning: "Don't rely on rural or remote areas to have adequate services to come to your aid. Everyone in the territory needs a survival plan."

Victorians have been told to expect a warmer and drier than average spring, and that means a heightened risk of fires and a possible early start to the danger period. There's particular concern for Gippsland, which is drying out quickly, along with the Mallee region in the north west.

The Bureau of Meteorology says spring will bring drier and warmer conditions across Australia, with a chance of unusually warm conditions for most regions, and unusually dry conditions for some including south and eastern Australia.

"This spring will be conducive to weather systems which can rapidly dry vegetation and this means fire dangers can escalate over a short period of time," the bureau's Dr Naomi Benger told reporters.

But she says the country is nowhere near as dry as it was leading into the Black Summer fires, which were preceded by two to three years of drought conditions.

Even so, authorities say it doesn't take Black Summer conditions for the danger to be real and present, and the message for all Australia is clear: prepare now.

"We need the community to do their part and make sure they plan for their survival, knowing whether they are going to stay and defend, or whether they are going to leave. And if they are going to leave, where are they going to go? Make sure all members of your family understand that," Commissioner Rogers says.

The bushfire outlook is produced by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council, which represents the nation's fire and emergency services. It draws on weather bureau and other expertise to create a national snapshot of risk.

Australian Associated Press