Volunteer firefighters are leaving the forces due to disrespect shown to them by city-based emergency managers,the bushfire royal commission has heard.
Significant environmental assets are exposed to bushfire damage due to lack of preparation,the Environment Department says.
The bushfire royal commission has berated the ambiguity of bushfire warnings,including by the NSW RFS,and asked why it will take so long to implement a new system.
Hopes were high that hearings might shed fresh light on what succeeded and failed in last season's"Black Summer". So far,there has been a lot of talk without any clear breakthroughs.
The NSW Rural Fire Service is testing a new plan aimed at estimating which assets are at risk from bushfires.
In a late submission to the NSW inquiry the deputy premier says hazard reduction and traditional ecological burns are"under-utilised".
State bushfire-fighting efforts are being frustrated by the lack of an overarching national system to decide where firefighters,water-bombing aircraft and other resources are deployed during emergencies,the bushfire royal commission has heard.
It is hard to believe it was only five months ago that bushfires were threatening much of the eastern seaboard. Now we know how perilous that was.
The Australian Red Cross has been hit by almost 900 cyber attacks attempting to access the $216 million raised in donations for bushfire victims.
Another 3340 were admitted to hospital due to heart and lung problems and 1373 people attended emergency departments due to complications to asthma.
The fire season in parts of eastern Australia has lengthened almost four months since the 1950s,with climate change a prominent driver in the trend,the Bureau of Meteorology says.