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Early fire control program under way in Kimberley despite recent record floods

Barely four months have passed since record floods swamped the Kimberley, but the region is already burning.

Tim White, from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, said the region is already dry enough to allow controlled burning to take place.

As early as late March there were some lightning-ignited fires occurring. Our planned burn program is absolutely critical this year, when you consider the consequences of a number of really good wet seasons in terms of vegetation growth.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie dumped a year’s worth of rain at Dimond Gorge in the space of a week, not far from the main operations base for the conservancy’s Mornington-Marion Downs wildlife sanctuary.

Nearby Fitzroy Bluff, part of an ancient range of cliffs that rises 341 metres above sea level, became an island.

The Adcock river burst its banks, submerging many of the base’s buildings.

© Provided by The Guardian Flooding at Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley area of Western Australia in January. Photograph: Sally Towne

At the height of the drama, choppers were sent in to evacuate staff and researchers who had retreated to the few buildings that were not swallowed up.

White said the early season burning program, covering over 6m hectares of the Kimberley, was essential to ensure large-scale fires don’t break out.

One of the big aims is to maintain areas of long unburnt fuels – around three to four years of vegetation.

– AAP