Despite repeated warnings, we keep building houses in places that will burn, putting increasing numbers of people at risk. The continuing expansion of our cities into the urban fringe is exposing more and more people to bushfires. We are putting people in harm’s way because of population growth. Professor Alan March Sydneysiders were shocked last week by images of planes dropping flame retardant on homes in South Turramurra, a leafy and affluent outer suburb of Sydney. They should not be.

Many fires are lit by humans, either deliberately or accidentally. More people in leafy areas means more fires, and more homes burnt and lives lost. Loading “We are putting people in harm’s way because of population growth,” says Professor Alan March, an urban planning expert at the University of Melbourne. “Yes, climate change is causing more-severe weather, but demographic changes are having an equal impact and deserve just as much of our attention," says Dr Richard Thornton, CEO of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Centre. Marysville and Kinglake



The Kilmore East blaze that hit the hamlet of Kinglake on February 7, 2009 killed 122 of the 173 people who perished on Black Saturday. Days later, then-Premier John Brumby toured the devastated townships. “Virtually the whole town has been destroyed,” he told reporters. “But whatever steps are necessary to rebuild the town, we will rebuild it.” The royal commission would later call for development in some high-bushfire-risk areas to be restricted. But by then the rebuilding had already started in earnest. This image shows development in Pine Ridge Road, Kinglake West, before and after the 2009 fires. Ten people died in the area in 2009. Credit:Google Earth “We clearly have not followed that recommendation,” says Professor Jan McDonald, a planning expert at the University of Tasmania.

“We have new development continuing to happen in these fringe parts of our ever-expanding urban areas." Aerial photos show large parts of Kinglake were rebuilt just as before - although with many more houses packed in. Kinglake’s population shrunk after the fires, but is now growing strongly and is likely to soon exceed 2009 levels. There are already more houses. Something is not working in the process of learning from past bushfires. Professor Jan McDonald Pine Ridge Road, where 10 people lost their lives, “remains an extraordinarily high-risk location,” the commission wrote. It recommended the government buy back land in the area so owners could leave.

That has not happened. There are now about 22 houses on the road. “Something is not working in the process of learning from past bushfires,” says Professor McDonald. “Is it time to rethink: is this the best place to have a lot of people living?” Mark Morrow's Kinglake property is surrounded by bush and scrub. He has firefighting equipment including hoses on hand. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Deb and Mark Morrow live in Kinglake West. Their house, and eight others around it, were lost in 2009. All bar one has now been rebuilt. Is the area better prepared for a bushfire now? “I don’t think it is,” says Mr Morrow. “If we get another fire now, it’d be just as bad as Black Saturday. They’ve done no clearing, they’ve done nothing with the undergrowth. I went for a walk through the bush, and it’s just as thick as it was – probably thicker.” The Morrows’ new house is built to withstand bushfires: there is a dam, four fire hoses, a water system on the roof. And most of the other rebuilt houses in Kinglake are designed according to new building regulations meant to protect them from bushfire. “They’ve been built with fires in mind,” says Murrundindi Shire Council mayor and Kinglake ward councillor Leigh Dunscombe. “They have defendable spaces around them. There are a lot more fire pumps, a lot more fire planning.” Leigh Dunscombe, the mayor of Murrindindi Shire, at home in his ward of Kinglake. Credit:Chris Hopkins

CFA on the lookout Victoria's planning provisions were changed after Black Saturday to ensure all decisions and development in high-risk areas prioritised protection of human life, according to Victoria's Country Fire Authority. The Bushfire Management Overlay and State Planning Policy ensured development did not occur where the bushfire risk or environmental cost of people’s safety is too high, it said. "New developments, including in Kinglake, must include appropriate bushfire protection measures," a spokeswoman said. "CFA considers and provides advice and conditional consent to building applications subject to the Bushfire Management Overlay, including in Kinglake. We do not make decisions lightly." The CFA examines the distance of a building from vegetation, landscaping, access to water, access for emergency service vehicles and construction materials when considering an application. Councils are then responsible for approving building applications and ensuring adherence to permit conditions. "Townships and houses situated in highly-forested areas face an inherent risk of bushfire which can never be completely mitigated," the CFA spokeswoman said. "Therefore we focus not only on ensuring houses and buildings are safer, but that communities and people are better prepared."

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video A question of standards That said, the evidence indicates these ‘bushfire-hardened’ houses mentioned by Cr Dunscombe may not be as tough as their owners think; several toughened homes burnt down in the Wye River bushfire in 2015. And these houses are often built next to older houses which are not fire-resistant. If a fire comes through, the old house is likely to catch on fire – and ignite the new house. “That’s one of the great weaknesses in the standards,” says Kate Cotter, CEO of the Bushfire Building Council.

And bushfire-hardened houses need to be maintained after they are built, otherwise they lose their resilience – something owners are often not warned about. "When you get the keys to your new house, you should walk in and on the kitchen counter is: 'Welcome to your new home, it’s built to this standard. And this is what you need to do to maintain it, or all these measures won’t be effective'," says Justin Leonard, a CSIRO expert on buildings designed for bushfire. The bigger issue is not new houses in Kinglake or Marysville, of course – it is all the other houses we have built over many decades. Some 90 per cent of properties in high bushfire-risk areas are not fire hardened, Ms Cotter estimates. They were built before planning schemes restricted extremely high-risk developments next to things like pine plantations. It is a matter of when, not if, fire again threatens places like Kinglake.