Australia’s climate has a hot dry season in Summer and this season’s bush fires started in Sep 2019, after sporadic fires as early as Jul 2019, made worse by coming after a period of prolonged drought.

The previous worse fires were in 2009 on Black Saturday when $4.4Bn economic damage was caused and devastated 450,000 hectares, to the north of Melborne. This season has destroyed at least 8.4M hectares all along the south east coast, including serious damage to Cobargo and Mogo on the NSW south coast, and Mallacoota in the far south-east of Victoria. Parts of South Australia and Tasmania have also been affected.

As well as the consequences of the fires on Australia, smoke and ash plumes from the fires have passed New Zealand in the general easterly circulation and in a report from NASA in early Jan 2020, forecast that they could join up to encircle the southern hemisphere, reducing air quality everywhere.

The federal government in Canberra had committed at least $AUS 20M by Jan 2020, to lease scores of firefighting aircraft (helicopter and fixed wing) to attack the fires, but the government has been slow to declare a State of Emergency. The Australian Defence Force has partially mobilised to assist and overseas governments have sent troops and equipment to help, in particular New Zealand and Singapore.

Lives, wildlife and property has been destroyed and in rural areas roads are having to close and food and fuel supplies are being topped up by emergency deliveries by the defence forces. The Australian Red Cross is coordinating international donations of money ( https://fundraise.redcross.org.au/drr ) to fight more than 200 individual blazes.

In a 27 Jan 2020 ceremony near Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island, SA, a unit of New Zealand engineers departed after specialist support during Operation Bushfire Assist.