Victorian Fire Agencies Failed to Meet Burn Targets Ahead of 2024 Grampians Blazes, Report Finds

Victorian fire authorities did not complete all planned burns in the years leading up to the devastating 2024 Grampians National Park bushfires, according to a government report. The Victorian Auditor-General's Office also warned that an incomplete network of strategic fuel breaks poses a risk to properties and communities in future fire events.

The Grampians region experienced severe bushfires in February and December 2024, which destroyed 51 properties and burned more than 85,000 hectares of bush and farmland. While the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) generally kept the Wimmera district's bushfire risk below state targets, they missed specific objectives.

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Limitations in CFA's West and South West regions' record keeping mean it cannot show how much it protected impacted communities leading up to the 2024 Grampians bushfires.

In the western region, the CFA completed only 41 percent of its planned burns in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial years preceding the 2024 fires. Although the CFA exceeded its target in the 2023–24 financial year, completing 125 percent of planned burns including deferred ones, data gaps make it unclear what effect these actions had. The December 2024 fire alone resulted in the loss of over 700 livestock across farmland and pasture.

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Although the two uncompleted strategic breaks are outside of the 2024 Grampians bushfires' boundaries, more properties could be at risk in future bushfires if they are not established.

Limitations in record-keeping by the CFA in the west and southwest regions prevent a clear assessment of how communities were protected before the 2024 fires. The report also found that DEECA failed to deliver all proposed strategic fuel breaks in and around the Grampians National Park. While staff suggested 16 breaks be constructed or remade, the department proceeded with only five, aiming for completion by August 2022, but has still not finished the remaining ones.

The report does not specify whether increased planned burning or more fuel breaks would have saved properties or reduced the damage from the 2024 Grampians fires. However, it cautioned that if the department does not deliver and maintain strategic fuel breaks with high operational value, communities could face greater risk in future bushfires. The agencies have improved bushfire risk management since a 2020 audit, but further work is needed to measure the effectiveness of fuel reduction methods and manage risk on private land.

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If the department does not deliver and maintain strategic fuel breaks with high operational value, communities could be at greater risk during bushfires.