Crisis Management: Bushfire Damages and Management in the Northern Territory Australia

Crisis Management: Bushfire Damages and Management in the Northern Territory Australia

           

Bushfire Damages Northern Territory Australia

Bushfire is a natural and human contributed phenomenon happening in fire-prone regions around the Globe. Australian ecological system is warm and produces intense heat contributing certain changes in the climate of the region resulting in bushfires. The bushfire crisis in the Northern Territory of Australia has a historical context and the likelihood of bushfires has increased in recent years. The scale and impact of the bushfire crisis in the Territory are relatively smaller compared with other regions of Australia. The study determines the reasons behind bushfire crisis in the Territory focusing on environmental aspects and human factors resulting in various types of economic, environmental, social, agricultural and medical impacts causing increasing economic costs to the Northern Territory Government in context of managing bushfires. Climate change is a predominant factor behind air, sea and land temperatures. Managing a crisis before it turns into a disaster requires resilience, consistency and strong planning. These aspects of crisis and disaster management are examined in this research in the context of bushfire crisis in the Northern Territory of Australia to present a balanced overview of the problem and possible solutions in the form of findings and recommendations.

Bushfire as a Global Problem: A Contextual Debate

A crisis leads to a disaster if it is not managed effectively thus causing damage to the social structure of a society (Boin et al., 2017). Bushfire is a predominant factor behind damaging and causing interruptions to human lives. The historical records indicate that bushfires have caused severe damage to earth surface whenever it gets out of control and due to this factor this topic has become an accelerated issue of interest for researchers globally (Scott, 2000). The global climate is largely affected by increasing fire burning causing a high volume of CO2 emission resulting in natural environment damage. Bushfire is a major element behind the spoil of landscape forcing people to think about its management (Doerr & Santin, 2016). For Australians, the concept of fire that ignites naturally or caused by human factor involves the burning of large areas causing different types of damages is called bushfire while wildfire and forest fire are the terms used in the United States and Europe respectively (Salter, 2016). The perception about wildfire or bushfire is bad because of its damaging impact, intensifying the need for having a unique command and control system that evaluates human behaviour and natural causes to determine the scale and impact of the problem to avoid the reoccurrence of bushfires or to reduce its impact (North et al., 2015). Countries harshly affected by bushfires follow traditional European framework to perceive the scale and impact of a wildfire to enforce strategic crisis management plans. However, the effectiveness of the European fire perception model as argued by Doerr and Santin (2016) is under question because of being less effective. Western societies in general and the USA, Australia and Mediterranean Europe, in particular, follow the European model to fight against wildfires. The focus of political and social policies of these Western counties is to align all the efforts using a useful model to reduce the overall impact of bushfires. It is a common political and social agenda to avert the impact of bushfires that severely damage social, political, economic, health, environmental and agriculture fields (Moritz et al., 2014; Kyriazopoulos et al., 2013; Gowlett, 2016). Historically, the German system for fire exclusion designed by the German Forestry School proved insufficient in late 19th and 20th centuries because of its 100% fire exclusion claims (Pyne, 2016; Fernandes, 2013). The projection of bushfires in media broadcasts appears as human enemy thus forcing experts of crisis and disaster management in the USA, Australia and other countries to design certain policies and rules that can contribute to lowering bushfire scale (North et al., 2015). Fire is perceived as an avoidable crisis contrary to an earthquake. However, fire management policies require a lot of resources in the form of finance, training and equipment to improve the overall response system (Donovan & Brown, 2007). The Western societies have invested in ample financial resources to improve fire exclusion system and have achieved convincing success (Doerr & Santin 2016). However, the threat of wildfires in the future remains eminent requiring strong policing, decision making and constant evaluation of policies to change them with the changing nature of bushfires (North et al., 2015).

According to the World Health Organisation (2020a) statistics, extreme environmental conditions contribute to bushfires involving drought, fast winds and dry weather conditions. Similarly, human factor is another primary reason for increasing bushfires. The problem is that, the source of 50% bushfires remains unknown despite all compiled records. The WHO estimations indicate that almost 6.2 million people had affected from bushfires and volcanos globally from 1998-2017 and the mortality rate was determined as 2400.

Recent studies as noted by Wang et al. (2010) indicate a decrease of biomass burning comparing with the past. The use of cooking gas has brought ease to human lives but despite this all, fire burning incidents are emerging because of human negligence. Though the scale and number of bushfire events as Doerr and Santin (2016) argue has decreased but the significance of this topic has increased due to human safety concerns.

The areas burned due to wildfire and the infertility of land are certain consequences that are emerging because of bushfires. The mapping of the burned area is a common practice to estimate economic losses and impacts of bushfires (Randerson et al., 2012). Carbon emission due to bushfires has contributed a major loss to agriculture sector globally (Flannigan et al., 2009). Due to these impact, bushfires are paid due consideration globally. For instance, Australia reviewed its fire management policies in 2009 as 173 people lost their lives in Victoria bushfires and the day was marked as Black Saturday of 2009 (Royal Commission, 2009). The financial cost of bushfires is another big concern for governments. Calculations indicate that because of an increased economic damage caused by bushfire, governments have to spend high amounts on bushfire management. For instance, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and France spend almost €2500 million each year. Similarly, the Canadian government spends US$ 531 million for fire safety management. The figures concerning the United States of America show annual spending of US$ 2500 million for fire management activities (Doerr & Santin, 2016).

The World Health Organisation (2020a) report indicates that the aftermaths of bushfires in certain areas of the world are beyond the imagination as it not only involves high fatality rate but people face psychological pressures for a longer period. Such health conditions damage people’s ability to participate in daily life activities on a routine basis. Similarly, the smoke is a major problem behind air pollution causing health issues related to respiratory system along with cardiovascular issues.

Overview of Bushfire Crisis in Australia

Bushfire crisis in the Australian context is a well-debated topic since Australia has a long history of bushfires in different regions and territories causing different types of damage to human and animal lives. Communities living in urban or suburban areas are affected by bushfires (Mikaelsson, 2008). According to CSIRO findings as noted by Salter (2016), the occurrence of bushfires in Australia is inevitable and these fires damage 50 million hectares of land every year. Thus bushfires cause huge damage to agriculture land and residential areas. South-eastern areas of Australia have a relatively high risk of bushfires in summer comparing with the Northern Territory of Australia.

Australia has a long history of bushfires and major known bushfires include 1939 Black Friday and 2009 Black Saturday. However, 2009 bushfires are considered catastrophic in terms of human lives losses as it claimed 173 lives, damaging 2000 homes and burnt almost half a million-hectare land (Salter, 2016). The economic impact of bushfires in Australia is also great. Butler (2020) notes in 2009 alone Australia suffered from $4.4bn economic losses caused by Black Saturday bushfires. The fire harmed local industries, especially the fresh produce. The tourism industry also suffered from heavy losses and visitors could not visit in summer due to smoke in the area.

The health impact of Australia’s bushfires is damaging as well. Wahlquist (2020) notes during 2019-20 almost 445 people died of smoke caused by bushfires. The statistics indicate that 4000 plus people were hospitalized for treatment. It is believed that 80% population of Australia was directly affected by bushfire smoke. The government had to spend almost $2billion in the healthcare sector. This amount is higher than the amount spent for previous bushfire management activities. Russell-Smith et al. (2007) note Australia can be called a fire-prone place and because of biomass burning the environment safety has become a vital issue for people. Bushfires cause a major interruption in social life and cause serious property damage. There are certain areas in Australia where bushfire incidents happen repeatedly. It has been figured out that some areas have experienced an 8-time fire crisis from 1997-2004. The starting season of bushfire is different in every region. For instance, in the Northern Territories, the bushfire cases appear in winter and spring. In Alice Springs area of NT, in Tennant Creek MT ISA, Port Hedland and Brisbane bushfires start in spring, Canberra, Sydney and Geraldton areas are largely affected in summer and spring, Melbourne, Kalgoorlie, Perth and Adelaide experience bushfires in summer and Hobart experiences bushfire in summer and autumn.

Eriksen and Gill (2010) note bushfires have the potential to damage and interrupt everyday life and change the landscape, especially, in rural areas. 2009 Victoria bushfires caused major migration of landlords from urban areas as they suffered from high economic losses. The situation forced the landlords to bring change in the lifestyles and ways of doing agriculture business. Landlords established their fire preparedness system to cope with this problem but remained ineffective as the government-led initiatives are more successful because of the use of different types of resources. Barr (2008) note bushfire hazards cause a major change in geographical landscape and residential culture of areas where this crisis happen repeatedly. The authorities need to focus on the gap that exists in action plans to reduce the scale of this crisis in fire-prone areas of Australia.

Australians have been facing bushfire crisis since centuries and despite all efforts, this crisis sometimes changes into a disaster. In December 2019, a devastating fire on Gospers Mountain destroyed 9352 houses making 3500 people homeless and caused serious damage to 350,000 hectares of land. This is considered one of the biggest forest fires in Australia. Dries weather was the identified reason behind these bushfires. The decrease in rainfall in the area dried gum trees and these trees burnt swiftly (Alexander & Moir, 2019).

According to a report published by UNEP (2020), Australia faces ten different types of impacts because of bushfires and bushfires appear as a major reason behind the change of Australian environment causing problems not only for humans but for wildlife habitat as well. These impacts include physical impact in the form of land burn cases. It has been estimated that 18 million hectares burnt in 2019 alone, with 5900 property damages including 2800 homes. Biodiversity problems, public health issues, cross border impact on New Zealand, Argentina and Chile, psychological treatment cost impact, economic and climate costs, air pollution, agriculture impact and change in public attitude are some of other impacts of bushfires.

Bushfires in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory is less populated territory comparing with other regions of Australia and has a total population under 250,000, living in different areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020). The Northern Territory has a history of bushfires; however, comparing the scale of bushfire cases in the Northern Territory with other regions it can be said that these incidents are of a small scale with less damage to humans. However, despite this all, bushfires are a potential threat that might turn into a disaster if it is neglected (DENR, 2019).

Bushfires burnt 7 million hectares in the Northern Territory in 2019 alone (Parliament of Australia, 2020). It has been identified that 1974-75 were the worst bushfire years in the Northern Territory as the fire damaged 117 million hectors of land. This was 15% of the total NT land. Some of the primary causes behind these bushfires were lightning and heavy rainfall in the previous year letting the vegetation grow fast to serve as fuel. A notable data indicates that most of the bushfires in the Northern Territory were caused by seasonal changes. This trend is still dominant and statistics indicate that bushfires burn vast areas every year (Romsey Australia, 2020).

Bushfire in the Northern Territory according to the above-given figure start in winter and spring (Russell-Smith, 2007). The seasonal bushfires create problems for inhabitants. The Northern Territory Government has firefighting offices in Darwin & Arnhem, Batchelor, Katherine, Gulf & VRD, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs to minimise the impact of bushfires. These offices coordinate to launch an instant response against bushfires (NTCA, 2020). There are reports that most of the cases of bushfire appear in areas where Aboriginal people reside. NASA Earth Observatory (2007) report confirms this notion as images from its 2007 report highlight Arnhem Aboriginal Land with a potential risk of bushfires.

Xinhua Agency (2020) editor Huaxia noted in a report that there are chances of extreme bushfires in the Northern Territory in 2020 as the authorities "have warned of catastrophic bushfire conditions in Australia's Northern Territory". The Northern Government has a fire ban policy that has been enforced since 2015 because of the potential threat of high-level bushfires in the Territory. Different visiting sites are facing closure because of high wind pressures as they might lead to bushfire spread. Bushfires NT Department has been in a constant struggle to enforce firebreaks to avoid any such crisis. There are small bushfires in certain areas such as in Humpty Doo, south of Darwin. The Australian Government 

Significance of Bushfire Research

Bushfires cause immense damage to daily life and these are a major concern for governments around the globe, especially, in areas which are fire-prone and create economic problems for countries. Many deaths and illness cases are caused by bushfire smoke (Doerr & Santin, 2016). Australia has been facing bushfire problems since centuries and its management to avert the scale of this problem is a major concern for the Australian Government (Scot, 2000). Though, the scale of bushfires in the Northern Territory is not of great scale but it takes no time for a fire to ravage everything that comes into its way. Victoria bushfire in 2009 is the worst example in this case scenario. Handling such a crisis is a pain taking issue that the Northern Territory Government is facing. There is a need for cooperation among all the members of the society whether they are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal to overcome this issue. This research will analyse how NT Government can improve its Disaster Preparedness & Management System to review its policies and to bring reforms to make the fire fighting spirit high and how behaviours towards bushfire can be made more cautious (NTCA, 2020; Royal Commission, 2009; DENR, 2019). This will further help people in the research filed to investigate certain aspects of bushfire management related to the Northern Territory, particularly, as the available information is scanty and provides no records of mortality or fatality rate in NT caused by bushfires. However, the case with other regions is different. An examination of root causes of fire in NT and their impact at national and territorial levels would help to determine how a Disaster Preparedness & Management System can be improved using crisis leadership model to identify the potential threat of bushfire in NT (NTCA, 2020; Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, 2020; Boin et al., 2017).

Growing bushfires in Australia and other regions of the world are indicators of climate change and its effects that are reshaping human lives. Australian bushfires are considered limited but sometimes become problematic for people working in fire management fields (Dutta et al., 2016). The historical discussion in the first chapter provides insights into fire events that happened in Australia and highlights the potential threat in coming times. This chapter highlights the reasons contributing to bushfires, impacts and fire management initiatives adopted by the NT Government.

Understanding the Reasons behind Bushfires in the Northern Territory

Bushfires and grassfires occur in Australia frequently and spread very fast. There are two factors behind the start of bushfires known as a human factor and natural reasons. Grassfires spread faster than bushfire however, the heating pressure of bushfires is worse than grassfires. The biological diversity of Australia has made the continent fire-prone as different local plants have combustible characteristics (Australian Government Geoscience Australia, 2020). Bushfires are of three types known as ground fire, surface fire and crown fire. The ground fire remains below a certain level on the ground while surface fires are 1.3 meter high from ground fires. Crown fires are intense fires that spread all around in the area and reach to the top of trees (Javaid, 2020). The coming discussion will evaluate human factors and natural factors behind bushfire burning in Australia.

Human Factors: The Changing Demography and Rural Culture

Bushfires are part of Australia's culture, history and ecology and people are accustomed to live in. The consequences of bushfires are equally dangerous for urban and rural areas because the rage of fire does not spare anyone if it gets out of control (Collins, 2006; Pyne, 2006). The demographic changes in the Australian landscape are a predominant factor as government-facilitated agriculture activities lure people to migrate to rural areas for agriculture purposes. This Amenity-led migration has increased the movement of population from urban to rural areas resulting in lifestyle and environment change. This situation is contributing to overall demographic changes (Hugo, 2005).

The Amenity-led migration has provided the urban population with facilities to buy farmlands on subsidised rates resulting in increased business activity and population growth. People settled in rural or semi-rural areas as this term is used because of frequent movement of people from rural to urban and urban to rural areas, have little knowledge and experience related to bushfires management (Eriksen, 2010). These people often contribute to bushfires start in rural areas. Researchers' claims indicate that the case of Black Saturday in February 2009 has a direct link with amenity-led migration and it is considered one of the worst bushfires in Australia (Clode, 2010; Teague et al., 2010). A bushfire incident is considered a social and cultural issue as it is related to human attitude, behaviour and lifestyle (Elsworth et al., 2009).

The Amenity-led migration and rural cultural change are increasing as the Northern Territory Government has started certain grant programs that allow Australians to expand their businesses and use local products to increase the business activity in the area. In recent times the Northern Territory Government has started horticulture grant system for Australians to improve forestry and fisheries persuading people to move to different areas. The amount of the grant according to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Science (ABARES) is $22,000 (DPIR, 2020a). The Northern Territory Government has bushfires subsidy offers for landlords to move to rural areas for business activity (NTCA, 2020b).

1: Automatic approval of fire management equipment by Bushfire NT

2: Complete guidance from local Bushfire NT staff

3: Bushfire NT will pay 50% price of the equipment

4: Subside fire trailers, water tanks, slip-on fire fighting units, fire fighting water pumps

5: Subside equipment such as suction hose, delivery hose, hose fittings, strainers

6: Nozzles handpiece, MacLeod tool, drip torch, replacing tanks, fire fighting units

7: Radio ultra-high frequency portable mobile   (Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2019)


1: 50% on small business solution maximum AUS $20,000

2: 20% on installing renewable energy systems maximum AUS $20,000

3: 10% on installing on-grid renewable energy system maximum AUS $10,000

4: AUS $10,000 grant individuals working as agronomists, geneticist and nutritionist

5: Farm investment incentive is AUS $2 million and 3.58% variable interest

6: On-Farm Water Infrastructure Rebate Scheme 25% of the cost maximum AUS $25,000  (NTCA, 2020b)

Deliberate Attempts to Start Bushfires

Bryant (2008) notes that the Australian Institute of Criminology records indicate a lack of consolidated data rated to the Northern Territory deliberate bushfire attempts. However, records indicate that intentional bushfire incidents have direct linking with people who suffer from psychological problems. In a research report prepared by Salleh (2015) for Australian Broadcast Corporation indicates that Australian bushfire records show that 40% fires start because of deliberate attempts while 47% bushfire incidents are accidental and 13% are linked with lightning. These statistics include the Northern Territory figures as well. Bryant’s field research indicates the happening of 113,000 bushfire cases from 1997-2009 in different regions of Australia. Amos (2019) conducted a detailed investigation for the British Broadcasting Corporation to identify the reasons of Australia's Bushfires incidents. The report indicates that people in Australia are afraid of the scale of bushfires as these are spreading in different areas, claiming noticeable human lives and damage millions of hectares during a single year. The annual scale of bushfires in Australia has been estimated 52,000 to 54,000. However, Australia's Bushfire Research Centre estimated 62,000 annual bushfire cases in all the regions and territories of Australia. The report indicates that 13% of bushfires are confirmed deliberate attempts from individuals while 37% are suspicious. It is believed that 85 bushfire incidents occur in Australia on daily basis. However, the question is who starts them? Amos further notes that a research carried by Dr Paul Read who is the co-director of Bushfire and Arson Research Centre of Australia indicates individuals with a psychological disorder or having malicious thinking are behind deliberate bushfire cases.
Human Negligence and Carelessness

Bryant (2008) notes negligence is a predominant factor behind bushfires around the globe. The careless attitude and mischievousness have been identified among some of the reasons behind bushfire cases. Bushfires also start due to human negligence and this type of fire is categorised accidental. The statistics indicate that 0.5% of cases have a direct link with negligence, 3.2% happen due to carelessness and 0.9% cases involve stupidity.

Javaid (2020) note historical studies indicate smoking and careless attitude during entertainment activities in forests serve as fire triggering tools initiatives. Eriksen (2010) notes carelessness is a big factor among landlords who pay less interest to the potential threat of mega bushfire.
Children as Fire Agents

According to Bryant (2008), the records prepared by the Australian Institute of Criminology indicate that almost 20% Aboriginal Children set the fire in settlement areas mischievously while the percentage of fire cases at schools linked with Aboriginal children is 17%. The time of bushfires matters a lot to determine who can be behind a bushfire. Investigations indicate that most of the fire cases appear between 1pm to 4pm indicating children's role behind the start of the fire. Similarly, during weekdays children go outside the home from 3pm to 6pm unaccompanied and set bushes on fire. The study further reveals that, on weekends most of the fire cases have been reported between 1pm to 4pm and are linked with children. The age of identified children is 13-16 years.

Natural Factors behind Bushfire: Environment

Climate change is a major concern for people; especially, countries with fire-prone climate. The Australian climate is hot and dry and favourable to mega bushies. Environment safety is a major concern for the federal as well as regional and territorial governments. The changing global environment is a major factor behind Australia’s bushfires that are starting without (Readfearn, 2020). The Northern Territory Government has started certain initiatives to examine the role of environment on soil and land to decreases fire-prone factors. The poor environment is not only damaging the land but the decreasing the water level as well. These are certain issues that have attracted the attention of environment scientists to start an investigative study in the Territory (DENR, 2019b).

Greenhouse gases are destroying the global environment and creating a huge impact on weather. Australia has been experiencing 40% rainfall shortage since 2019 and this has increased the chances of bushfire crisis turning into bushfire disaster. Scot Morris, the Australian Prime Minister has declared the situation as an environmental catastrophe that is crippling Australian economy, lifestyle and ecology (Readfearn, 2020).

In a detailed investigation, Read (2020) denotes that in 2019 fire season started early in Australia because of changing environment. The fires in Victoria started in late August 2019 and it became worse during the next six months making it's a "deadliest fires for 200 years". However, Dr Read is not convinced about the scale of bushfires in the Northern Territory. He accepts that bushfires in the Northern Territory has burnt millions of hectares but was insignificant "when height was added to cover three-dimensional biomass". In contrast, the Northern Territory Government according to Xinhua Agency (2020) has enforced a ban on fire burning activity in open areas since 2015.

Similarly, the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (2020a) data indicates a potential threat of bushfires in the Northern Territory in October and November 2020 indicating change in the climate as a potential threat to start a mega bushfire. Any mismanagement can lead to catastrophic bushfires that might result in human lives and economic losses. The following Figure will help to understand the impact of climate change on NT weather as the temperature has increased to 1.5c in the last 10 years. Rising temperature has been determined as one of the leading causes behind increasing bushfires in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Early Season Change

Seasons are changing earlier than their normal time causing longer hot weather that is full of heat. Read (2020) notes climate change has affected the Australian seasons and astonishingly the weather is becoming warmer and longer comparing with the past. The Northern Territory weather according to the statistics of Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (2020b) has been changing since 1980 and it has become warmer. Most of the bushfires in the territory as noted by Read (2020) start due to lightning and spread in different areas. The fire season in the Northern Territory According to Russell-Smith (2007) starts in winter and summer and all four fire department offices in different regions launch a collaborative response to these fires. According to DENR (2019c) statistics, the bushfire season in Central Australian areas started in December in 2019. These statistics indicate early season change resulting in increasing bushfires.

Drought

Environmental changes cause droughts which are long term dry, hot and abnormal period that not only affect the surface of the land but become a major source of heatwaves that torch bushes and trees. Low rainfalls are a major source in the Northern Territory drought that causes the ground level to surface level bushfires. Most of the droughts happen in central areas because of high dry and warm weather (SecureNt, 2020a).

Heatwaves

Heatwaves are common in the Northern Territory and extreme heat conditions cause serious disruption to social life. The Northern Territory has records of bushfires caused by heatwaves and high temperature. Strong heatwaves dry the moisture from leaves making them flammable (SecureNT, 2020b). Australia embraced highest heatwaves in 2019 as the BBC (2019) report indicates that in December 2019 the temperature reached to 49.9C in Nullarbor, 45.3C in Adelaide and nearly 40C in the Northern Territory.

Biofuel

There are certain kinds of vegetation in the Northern Territory that burn easily. Australian bushfires have a strong source of burning because of vegetation. Dry leaves and dry timber serve as fuel to forest burning (Eriksen, 2010). The biomass burning further makes the environment worse contributing to small level burning. Grass in the Northern Territory Tropical Savannah serves as biomass for burning the bushfire. 23 types of vegetation in the Northern Territory are highly combustible (Russell-Smith, 2007). Surface fires according to Murphy et al. (2018) use biomass as fuel and spread 5-10 times faster and reach to the top of trees. Surface fires in the Northern Territory Tropical Savannah are less frequent and less dangerous compared with NSW bushfires. The Northern Territory surface fires consume almost 20% more biomass comparing with biomass consumption in other regions of Australia.

The slope of the land

The slope of the land in the Northern Territory is 40 degree. Upslope and downslope are dangers if the wind is blowing fast the fire can reach to a vast area (Geoscience Australia, 2020a). Every 10 degree upslope or downslope increase the fire speed that spreads into a vast area. Bushfires burn largest areas in the Northern Territory. The upslope gets fire easily that spreads in surrounding areas (Geoscience Australia, 2020b).

An Evaluation of the Impacts of Bushfires in National and Territorial Contexts

Severe bushfires are costing the Australian society a lot and are a major reason behind environmental spoil which is contributing to change in life patterns of Australian inhabitants. The studies of historical events indicate economic, social, agricultural, environmental and health impacts exist at a high rate because of bushfires. The ecology of Australia is fire-prone and its intensity is increasing (Stephenson, 2010). The research carried by UNEP (2020) indicates various types of impacts that the Australians are facing because of bushfires. 

The environmental impact has different shapes as it appears in the form of pollution caused be bushfire smoke, high level of CO2 emission, water pollution, less productivity on agricultural land, health issues and destruction of coral reefs. Environmental pollution does the major impact on marine life and humans. The marine ecosystem has been affected in the Pacific Ocean due to bushfire smoke (UNEP, 2020). Water and air quality of all the regions and territories in Australia have decreased due to smoke that is worsening the impact of greenhouse gases in the region. The biological and chemical reactions of bushfires contaminating Australian soil thus contributing to the emission of different gases that are making the soil unsuitable for agriculture production. Uneven rainfalls further make it impossible to replace the soil after it gets wet. Rains flush burnt biomass and certain vegetation into rivers and streams thus contributing to low-quality water which is used for drinking and agriculture purposes (Stephenson, 2010). Disasters appearing from natural hazards are a major threat to the environment and have generated serious impacts on human lives in the last 50 years. Bushfires, cyclones and floods are categorised among natural hazards (World Risk Report, 2017).

Economic Impact of Bushfires

The cost of managing ecosystem in the Northern Territory as argued by Sangha et al. (2019) has been estimated $780 per km2. Similarly, the welfare cost is high as well. For instance, NT Governments spends $68,186 on an Indigenous person annually. This includes the amount of $30,695 rehabilitations purposes to cope with bushfire aftermaths. The environmental cost of bushfire management in the Northern Territory is increasing on every passing year. The amount of $7663 is given as welfare per person. The annual spending has been estimated $272 million to cope with environmental damages caused by bushfires. The statistics indicate 20% land burn every year due to bushfires and the cost of burnt grains, crops, timber, houses, farmland and cattle has been estimated between $95 million to $150 million annually. The subdivision of economic losses indicate economic loss to Indigenous burnt land is $112.77 million, conservation burning loss is $12.71 million and grazing area burning loss is 22.44 million. According to UNEP (2020) report, the economic losses of bushfires include industries, tourism sector and services sectors as people lost their jobs due to farmland burning and banning on tourists activities.

• Direct losses
• Indirect losses
• Electric equipment pools and supply wires
• Transport disruption
• Agriculture products
• Drinking water shortage
• Food and fruit industry losses
• Business disruption
• Construction sector losses
• Tourism halt
• Cultural losses due to tourism ban
• Physical health issues
• Water, air, soil and biodiversity losses
• Psychological health issues             (Stephenson, 2010)

The economic impact of a natural disaster is always catastrophic especially if the natural disaster occurs repeatedly. Bushfires stop economic activities, damage to road infrastructure, trains and other transport systems. This costs the government a lot of money. To keep the business activity running, road infrastructure rebuilding is essential and this process increases budgetary costs (Ulubasoglu et al., 2018).

Impact of Infrastructure Damage

Bushfires and floods in Australia highly damage road infrastructures. Electricity supply is heavily damaged as electricity pools and wires burn because of fire. It is not possible to reinstate the electric system instantly. Power disruption is a major issue in the bushfire season and costs the government a lot of money. Power lines maintenance is not possible in areas which are highly burnt and replacement takes time. Water supply disruption also takes place and this further creates problems for people (Stephenson, 2010). The repair activities in the context of railways, roads, electricity and communication demand high-level of coordination and resilience that often decreases due to psychological problems directly resulting from bushfire stress (Ulubasoglu et al., 2018).

Impact on Forestry and Agriculture

Bushfire incidents are a harsh reality damaging every aspect of human lives. The biggest concern is the scale of bushfire spread in different regions of Australia because it is severely damaging forestry and agriculture. Bushfires are a direct threat to forestry and agriculture. Almost 20% of the land in the Northern Territory burns annually because of bushfires and this includes, 4% grazing land (Sangha et al., 2019). The detailed findings of UNEP (2020) investigation indicate bushfires torch millions of hectares in all the regions of Australia and kill thousands of animals. For instance, in New South Wales thousands of sheep have been directly affected and killed because of bushfire in 2019-202o and the calculated figures indicate the ratio of livestock damage was 17%. Lee and Sedgman (2020) note bushfires have directly affected the lifestyle of Australians, especially, “what they eat and wear”. A significant quantity of wool for the clothing industry is taken from sheep and recent bushfires in Australia has put a question mark on the scale of clothing business activities. Recent bushfires in NSW have burnt 28 million acres of land including farmland and grazing fields, 100 farms burnt, 900, 000 litters milk spoiled because it was not collected from farms. Meat shortage is expected in Australia as 80 ranching properties in NSW burnt because of recent bushfires. 1.7 million of sheep have been killed. These are certain serious figures that indicate the intensity of bushfires in Australia. Bushfires are damaging, meat, wine, dairy, wool, fruit and Sorghum crop creating an increasing financial burden on the agriculture sector. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2017) report indicate natural disasters are directly affecting the agriculture industry and might lead to a food shortage in near future. The agriculture sector heavily relies on natural weather and natural resources and changes in seasons are creating a direct impact on cultivation and harvest seasons devastated by bushfire impacts. The soil change is directly affecting the growth of fruit and food products. A little change in the supply chain can create chaos in different regions of the world.

Landlords of mango farms in the Northern Territory have been suffering from heavy financial losses because of recent bushfires in Humpty Doo area. The 72 hours bushfire cost the landlords millions of dollars as estimation shows a single farm lost 2000 mango trees in the bushfire. Similarly, 500 mango trees burnt at Lambells Lagoon. The statistics according to Mr Slliros the president of Mango Union NT indicate bushfire burnt 10% production and source trees (Brann, 2019).

According to the findings of Agriculture Australia (2020), Australian farmers are aware of environmental changes as the Australian weather has certain variables. These farmers manage their crops according to low or high rainfall variables. However, despite this, all farmers sometimes cannot do anything against the natural disaster that occurs suddenly. The farm productivity was slower in the 1990s; however, it rebounded in 2000. The Tropical Savannah in the Northern Territory according to Russell-Smith (2007) has high and low rainfall systems. The high rainfall in winter is useful for farmlands but in summer it creates heat that causes bushfire. DPIR (2020b) findings show a noticeable damage scale to mango orchards in Berry Springs, Lambells Lagoon and in Arnhem. The NT Government is doing its best to find all the details of losses to make plans to save future production of mangoes and other fruit products in the region.

Physical and Psychological Impacts

Bushfires are the primary reason behind Australia's health emergency and people are cautious and intend to identify areas near their homes which are fire-prone. Bushfires in Australia is one of the significant reasons behind physical and psychological injuries and contributes to additional financial burden on hospitals (Yu et al., 2020). Health impacts or problems caused by bushfire are of two types categorised as physical impacts and psychological impacts. Physical impacts are direct and instantaneous involving illness, burning and death. While psychological impacts include stress, anxiety, inability to think faster and mental disorder. Toxics from bushfires impact the body and mind equally (Stephenson, 2010).

Physical Health Issues

The respiratory system of the human body according to Dennekamp and Abramson (2010) is directly affected by bushfire smoke because it has certain pollutants that directly impact the lungs system. Particulate matter (PM) increases during bushfires thus creating respiratory issues among humans. The pollution level in urban and rural areas exceed to the level set by the government because of bushfire intensity. This situation causes asthma attacks reducing the lungs’ function. This situation also leads to increasing mortality figures appearing because of suffocation. Gras et al. (2001) denote that PM10 in NT is as high as 95% because of bushfire smoke and it lasts for 8 months. In comparison to this figure, PM10 has been estimated 5% only caused by industrial and vehicle emissions. This high PM10 is a major source behind asthma problems among patients. The Asthma problem was identified among all age groups making the situation serious. Yu et al. (2020) note an incursion in the PM level in the Northern Territory due to 2019 bushfires. This poor environmental situation has increased the danger of cardiovascular mortality of Australians up to 4.5%. The daily increase of PM10 during bushfire season has been estimated 5.6% which is extremely higher than WHO set standards. An increased number of patients were hospitalised during NSW bushfires who were facing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung rated infections. Campbell et al. (2020) note studies reveal that bushfire smoke is fatal for patients already having underlying health problems. For instance, there are likely chances that 5.25% people with diabetic issues would die from bushfire smoke, 7.2% people with cardiovascular problems have a high risk of stroke and 21.2% of people above 65 years of age are in danger. Records also indicate that almost 22.6% of people sought medical assistance. In a research report for Guardian Newspaper, Gorman (2020) noted that the Australian Medical Association has shown concerns on increasing physical impact among humans, especially, for children and elderly people. The highest risk noted by the doctors is asthma. This problem can last for a longer period despite bushfires are putout but increased PM level damages the respiratory system significantly. Public health according to UNEP (2020) report is a major problem for the Australian Government to manage. The air quality, harmful smoke, hazardous gases are contributing to a poor environment that causes asthma, eye irritation and inhalation problems. Pregnant woman according to O'Donnell and Behie (2015) suffer from certain issues during bushfire season and give birth to heavier babies. This is a striking fact that has recently been investigated making studies and observation in areas which are highly affected by bushfires and areas which are less affected. However, the critical examination of the data indicates that this claim is true up to an extent as there are other contributing factors as well which involve higher consumption of alcohol and smoking.

Psychological Health Issues

People who are directly affected by bushfires and those who are fire-fighters come across with Psychological stress that spoils their long term relations with people and they avoid mixing with people. They remain unable to do their job and it takes a long time to come out of stress. Fire-fighter’s families also suffer from high-level stress and this causes interruptions in family life. Residents of bushfire prone area feel certain types of stress, depression and anxiety thinking that fire might kill them and this requires long term consultation from psychologists. People with mental health issues are dangerous for others because their emotional level increase and they become sentimental (Stephenson, 2010). According to UNEP (2020), people feel anxiety and stress because they have to leave their homes due to sudden fires. Married people are concerned for the safety of their children and this is a major source of stress for them. The cost of treatment is another problem that increases anxiety as some people remain unable to go on their jobs because of stress, depression and anxiety caused by bushfire incidents. Gardiner et al. (2020) note that people in Australia live in remote areas especially aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and it is difficult to reach them at the time of the incident. However, most of the people who face direct and high risk of fire or injured in bushfire are rescued using Air Medical services. However, despite these initiatives, people remain in stress due to emotional climax. Charlson (2020) notes grief is a major contributor to frustration and poor mental health. People are concerned and feel anxious for the loss of their property; food security and the quality of air make them anxious to think about the safety of their lives. The 2019-20 bushfires have caused economic losses to people at a larger scale. The federal government initiated $2bn to improve people’s economic situation. This includes $76 million for treatment purposes for people who are under stress. The Northern Territory of Australia has different hospital and clinics to treat psychologically stressed people.

Political impact

There is a strong political impact of bushfire management. Governments are often criticised and blamed for not doing a lot to decrease the impact of these issues. Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia has been blamed for not adhering climate change issues. His absence from the bushfire scene in NSW has been heavily criticised in international and Australian media (Chain, 2020). Morrison's absence according to Weedon (2020) has raised concerns among Australians who see his initiatives a political stunt as Morrison uploaded a video on social media to advertise his government initiatives in response to bushfire crisis.

NT Government Bushfire Management Initiatives to Improve Disaster Preparedness & Management System

To manage any crisis or disaster organisations, communities and governments require the services of effective crisis managements leadership who can handle, reduce and eliminate the scale of the crisis or disaster. The second most predominant aspect of managing a crisis or disaster is to install or improve Disaster Preparedness & Management System to initiate all the activities related to bushfires or any other disaster. The Disaster Preparedness & Management System can be different in nature and scale as it depends on the nature of a disaster and the requirements that a particular region has (Boin et al., 2017). 

Crisis Management Leadership Initiatives

The Northern Territory has strong crisis management leadership system comprising on various professionals from bushfire department, researchers from Charles Darwin University, professionals from land, water and environment departments, people from Australian Bureau of Meteorology and politicians (DENR, 2020d; NT. GOV, 2020; DENR Annual Report, 2019). The primary focus of crisis management leadership is to respond effectively during crisis time evaluating governance issues to highlight the significance of the issue (Boin et al., 2017). The significance of the role of crisis leadership increases during crisis time because it requires an intensive response with 100% attention different from normal circumstances (Schwartz & Pgge, 2000). Crisis management leadership is responsible not only for rescue activities but maintaining all other activities related to medical and economic fields. The role of medical governance in recent times has emerged significantly because of increasing bushfire incidents (Pronovost et al., 2009). The Northern Territory has a strong crisis management leadership structure responsible for all such initiatives. Bushfire NT Executive Director is Collene Bremner, she is responsible for planning policy, training initiatives and bushfire operations for all regions. 

Disaster Preparedness and Response

The initial response requires the identification and evaluation of the crisis or disaster this helps crisis management leadership to understand the nature and scale of the issue to devise a plan (Boin et al., 2017). For this purpose, it is essential to know the origin of the problem to directly initiate the response efforts using available resources (Collins-Nakai, 2006). The environment is changing fast (Firestonre, 2020), hence the factors starting bushfire season in the Northern Territory appearing with diverse nature (Read, 2020). The preparedness and response efforts according to Boin et al. (2017) require strong strategic thinking ability to initiate decision-making process with complete coordination and adoption of meaning-making measures. The accountability factor and learning from a disaster helps to avoid future disasters or crisis. Irimies (2016) denotes that meaning-making enables crisis management leaders to closely observe the response efforts to understand the nature and scale of response to a disaster to bring performance improvement. The Northern Territory has strong alerts and warnings system to broadcast bushfire warnings to people to ensure their safety (DENR, 2020e). The response to bushfires involves certain cultural, social and lifestyle barriers that are essential to understand to manage this issue. People working in firefighting team must have certain professional characteristics to save people because the ground level response is essential (Boin et al., 2017). Bushfire NT has a strong communication system because of the coordination that is visible from the above-given figure related to governance (DENR Annual Report, 2019). To end a crisis successfully according to Boin et al. (2017) the learning from every crisis is essential along with timely and effective decision making.

Legal Initiatives

The Northern Territory Government has enforced a complete legal framework to protect people from bushfire. The old laws have been changed and the new Bushfires Management Act 2016 has been fully operational. This act provides all the details for people to managing bushfires and how to respond during such crisis time (DENR, 2020f). The Bushfire Management Act of 2016 has been implemented in 5 regional zones to mitigate the impact of bushfires. In 2017 the Northern Territory Government made an addition of new General Bushfires Management Regulation. The Volunteer Bushfire Brigades Regulations 2006 are of certain help to manage bushfire crisis in the Territory (DENR Annual Report, 2019).

Bushfires Alerts and Warnings Initiatives

Bushfire NT has a strong system for sending bushfire alerts and warnings to people to avoid any unusual bushfires in their surroundings. The alert and warning system is based on three steps involving, advice, watch and act and emergency warning. Territorians are emphasised to contact using emergency phone number '000'. The government has banned fire burning in open areas near bushes or forests. The NT Government uses the social media platform to warn people about bushfires and to convey updated weather forecast (DENR, 2020e).

Firebreaks in the NT

The professionals from the Northern Territory Department of Environment and Natural Resources engage in with all stakeholders to convince them to help in fire management using firebreaks initiatives in the region. However, the behaviour of landlords in certain areas is reluctant to install firebreaks even though in 2019 alone the department issued 1000 warnings to landlords in rural areas of Darwin. Firebreaks help landlords to decrease the intensity of bushfires and their impact. It has been made compulsory for landlords to follow Bushfire NT advice within 72 hours after the notice to install a firebreak is issued. The NT Government has set a fine payment of $15,500 if the firebreaks are not installed (DENR, 2020g). There are certain firebreaks initiatives compulsory to follow. For instance, the distance between firebreaks is 4 meters wide, must be installed around the property and vegetation height should not be more than 50mm. If there is gamba grass, landlords must keep 15-meter wide gamba free buffer (DENR, 2020k).

Prepare Survival Plans from Bushfires

Planning to survive from bushfires is recommended by the NT Government and the complete guidance is provided to people who are interested in it. The survival plans are made following the Bushfire Management Act 2016. The NT Government provides complete assistance for rural property bushfire plans. Bushfire plans involve survival activities for individuals, family, animals, property and farmland (DENR, 2020h).

Volunteer Strategy

The Northern Territory Government has certain training programs for volunteer training that increase the strength of Bushfires NT fire fighting force. Volunteers are prepared and are made part of plans, training and mitigation activities. The Volunteer Bushfire Brigades Regulations 2006 highlights responsibilities and roles designed for volunteers (DENR Annual Report, 2019). Volunteer bushfire brigade plays a significant role in fire management initiatives and thus the NT Government has a strong network of volunteers (DENR, 2020i). Bushfire NT has trained a good number of volunteers in the last few years and NT Government surveys indicate that their morale is high to the satisfaction level and they are confident to put out fires in their areas. The statistics indicate that 408 volunteers were trained during 2017-18, the number of trained volunteers increased in 2018-19 as 457 volunteers got bushfire management training. The recent figures indicate that the 2019-20 target of 520 trained volunteers has been achieved (DENR Annual Report, 2019).

Aboriginal Carbon Industry Strategy

DENR (2020j) report indicates the term is particularly used for initiatives adopted to reduce greenhouse gases emission levels by increasing agriculture activities in the Northern Territory or by storing "carbon in the soil or vegetation" (p. 3). These are the approved methods used to decrease the impact of bushfires. 25 projects are going on using this strategy and it is believed that these strategic initiatives would help to reduce 50% greenhouse emission in the area. The details indicate that Savannah burning causes almost 40% carbon emission annually.

Technology Use

Technology use is a convincing option to create awareness and to reduce the impact of bushfires in the Northern Territory. Bushfire NT uses the social media platform to interact with people to delegate bushfire news (DENR, 2020e). Technology can help people to protect themselves before and after the fire starts (Campbell et al., 2020). A web-based application The Bushfire Emergency Management System is largely used in the Northern Territory as it allows people to plan and calculate all the incidents and prepare a plan following the statistics. The digitisation of such process creates accuracy for all the actions used to put out bushfires (DENR Annual Report, 2019). Australian Bureau of Meteorology uses satellite images to decipher the weather information to predict bushfires (Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, 2020). Technology can help to change public behaviours thus playing its role for the safety of people. According to Campbell et al. (2020) results of surveys indicate that AirRater App helped Australians during 2019-2020 bushfires season especially in NSW. A noticeable number of people die of smoke impact and a majority suffer from asthma, cardiovascular and eye disease. Technology according to Tan et al. (2017) can help people to get alerts and warnings related to bushfires. Satellite images according to Campbell et al. (2020) help authorities to investigate certain areas with high fire-prone characteristics to delegate the information before any bushfire happens.

Creating Awareness

Creating awareness and educating people about health, economic, social, cultural and heritage impacts would certainly help to fire management efforts. It issue has been focused during the making of Aboriginal Carbon Industry Strategy (DENR, 2020j). Bushfire alerts and warning system is a good initiative to create awareness among people so that they can save their lives before the fire rages in a vast area (DENR, 2020e). The Northern Territory Government has initiated different educational and awareness programs to decrease the impacts of bushfires and to make people more responsible. An extensive community relationship and interaction is encouraged. Workshops, seminars and media campaigns are certain platforms used to create awareness among people to ensure safety standards. Risk-based maps and planning templates are used to create awareness among people to mitigate the impact of bushfire (DENR, 2020l).

Gamba Action Program

Maintaining a cleaner environment according to Eva Lawler, the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources is a major concern for the Northern Territory Government. The government initiated the Gamba Army Project to produce more jobs to local people and to improve the business environment for companies doing business in weed management. People associated with Gamba Army Project are a part of protecting tourism activities, parks’ improvements and they have a significant role in bushfires management. Gamba Armey is contributing to the Weed Management Plan for Gamba Grass 2020-2030. The government has invested $225,000 annually to mitigate bushfire risks (NTG Newsroom, 2020).

Gamba grass has the potential to resist drought if it gets an ample amount of water from rainfall. It was brought from Africa in 1930s and according to the Northern Territory weather conditions it requires 600mm of rainwater annually. It resists to drought and bushfires. However, the negative impacts of Gamba weed are highly catastrophic because it is a major source of fuel and contributes to uncontrollable fires. Because of its potential of fuelling bushfires, it has been categorised dangerous compared with other native grass types (NT. GOV, 2020). To inform the negative risks of gamba grass to landholders, Bushfire NT held a program in collaboration with other departments and volunteers at Charles Darwin University campus in Katherine. This meeting highlights the serious impacts of gamba grass because of being fire-prone (DENR Annual Report, 2019).

Bushfire Behaviour Training and Learning

Understanding of workplace behaviour is essential to cope with bushfire issues. The workplace behaviour in bushfire context is dangerous and requires a good understanding of the atmosphere and bushfire behaviour. It might sound strange how a bushfire can have behaviour. Bushfires behaviour means understanding the nature and scale of bushfire because it is the only way to improve crisis or disaster preparedness and response system. Human protection is necessary and learning about bushfires behaviour from practical examples and from simulations in this technological age help firefighters to overcome their fear during fire fighting mission. The psychological calmness is essential in this daring job especially when Australian bushfires cases are increasing because of climate change (Salter, 2016).

There is an obvious evidence in bushfire behaviour change as the summer seasons are becoming longer in Australia and causing drought and heatwaves to ignite bushfires season early (Handmer & O'Neill, 2016). The New South Wales early summer fires in 2019-20 have proved catastrophic because of their impact and intensity crippling the Government to overcome it. (Read, 2020). Australian Land Management Agency is playing a pivotal role in the preparations of certain mechanism that help fire-fighters to improve their knowledge to understand the behaviours of bushfires and to improve their skills using professional training opportunities (Salter, 2016). Bushfire NT has effective training programs enabling firefighters to understand the nature, origin and causes behind bushfires to tackle them early. The statistics from volunteer fire fighting training indicates that 99% people are happy from training and learning opportunities and confident enough to do the job effectively. 87% trainees declared the program a success declaring it a very good initiative to save the Northern Territory from bushfire impacts (DENR Annual Report, 2019). Understanding bushfire behaviour is crucial for fire-fighter’s safety. Wahlquist and Cox (2020) give details about the death of two firefighters in victoria during the blaze. A similar type of incident happened in Sydney in 2019 when a truck run-down a firefighter to avoid while avoiding the balze (Reuters, 2019). Professional firefighters are paid for their services while volunteers are not paid. Some volunteers do not focus on their training or sometimes training procedures lacking an element of interest. The Australian firefighting training programs are extensive and address the needs of communities living in different regions. International cooperation and knowledge sharing can benefit in the Australian context as the United States of America and Mediterranean wildfires are similar to Australian bushfires up to some extent (Salter, 2016). The training program of Bushfire NT has proved successful because of real-time fire fighting opportunities for fulltime and part-time volunteers and professional (DENR Annual Report, 2019).

Summary

This chapter highlights the reasons behind bushfires in Australian in general and the Northern Territory specifically. There are two factors behind bushfires classified as human factors and natural factors. The chapter also highlights the impacts of bushfires in the Northern Territory that appear in different forms and types creating a disturbance in the life of Territorians. The bushfire preparedness and management section highlight the struggles and initiatives of Bushfire NT to overcome this issue and evaluates the success factor. The Northern Territory is the third largest area of Australia with a noticeable population of Aboriginal People who are part of NT Government policies in fighting bushfires.

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