ABC’s Catalyst program tonight, Earth on Fire, was excellent. A pity its promo and introduction was so misleadingly sensational: ‘The nature of fire is changing’. 

No.

The nature of fire is not changing.

It is the nature of its required ingredients that are changing. As the program itself showed: human activity and climate change. And a lot of this is up to us.

The unchanging requirements of fire remain:

Fuel - density of vegetation to give it intensity of heat

Heat - ignition source: lightning, human activity

Dryness - dryness of air (low relative humidity) to hasten ignition and burning

Oxygen - strength of wind to speed and extend reach of flame & spread of embers

We can’t change the heat, dryness, oxygen factors. But WE CAN THE FUEL FACTOR.: within and around our properties; within and around our towns.