# Is the problem with wildfires a lack of trained firefighters, or that they can't stop the fires **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295 "2020-01-12T04:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/41 "2020-02-13T11:42:23Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Sydney water supply is serviced by a network of dams. > > Last week we were about 40% capacity and subject to [Level 2 water restrictions](https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/water-the-environment/what-we-re-doing/water-restrictions/index.htm). > This week the [dams are up by 31.1% to 73.9%](https://www.waternsw.com.au/supply/Greater-Sydney/greater-sydneys-dam-levels)which is over a years usage across the basin without restrictions. Nepean Dam went from half full to overflowing in about 72 hours Off topic but I’m tired of bloody rain. It is unrelenting (UK folk can laugh at this post). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/42 "2020-02-13T21:51:38Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Off topic but I’m tired of bloody rain. It is unrelenting (UK folk can laugh at this post). mrAru is from the San Joachim Valley [Fresno, well actually Kerman] and we have occasion to drive past a ranger station here in Connecticut and they have a Smokey the Bear statue holding a sign that tells what the fire level is. He once commented as he looked around at the verdant green woods and pastures along that road, and the bear holding a ‘high’ sign that the farmers where he was from would love the CT version of a drought. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/43 "2020-02-14T01:24:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I think I read that Australia currently has about 2700 active firefighters fighting the wildfires there. NSW has 6,800 full timers and 5,700 volunteers Victoria has 1,900 full timers and 20,000 volunteers. So the number of 2,700 seems a bit light on I think. On the climate change thing Australia’s alliance of former emergency services chiefs has warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison that a bushfires royal commission will fail unless it focuses on climate change. Bushfires in Australia are literally hell. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/44 "2020-02-14T03:44:02Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > … Smokey the Bear statue holding a sign that tells what the fire level is. With the [Australian fire warning levels](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-13/bushfire-danger-rating-system-trialled-summer/9203446) displayed regularly along the roadsides, High is the second lowest level… After High there is Very High, Severe, Extreme and Catastrophic. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/45 "2020-02-16T01:32:43Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > NSW has 6,800 full timers and 5,700 volunteers > Victoria has 1,900 full timers and 20,000 volunteers. > > So the number of 2,700 seems a bit light on I think. > On the climate change thing Australia’s alliance of former emergency services chiefs has warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison that a bushfires royal commission will fail unless it focuses on climate change. > > Bushfires in Australia are literally hell. Amost none of the full-timers will be active in bush fires: they are trained and reserved for town fires. Around half of the volunteers active seems reasonable to me. They don’t go out-of-area for long periods, when they are out-of-area they get pulled back as fast as possible. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/46 "2020-03-02T21:50:10Z")
NSW Rural Fire Service today reported that for the first time since July 2019, there are no active bush or grass fires burning in NSW. The season is not yet over but general rain and cooling temperatures with the imminent end of summer are causes for optimism. Of course, it only takes 3 days of 40C temps to turn Victoria and South Australia back into tinderboxes ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/47 "2020-03-02T22:07:45Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > NSW Rural Fire Service today reported that for the first time since July 2019, there are no active bush or grass fires burning in NSW. > > The season is not yet over but general rain and cooling temperatures with the imminent end of summer are causes for optimism. Of course, it only takes 3 days of 40C temps to turn Victoria and South Australia back into tinderboxes Do you have a cite for that? I have a friend in Sydney who is traveling internationally I’d like to send to her since she probably isn’t keeping up with the fire news right now. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/48 "2020-03-02T22:21:39Z")
> **[NSW Now: Stores emptied amid coronavirus fears, woman charged over stabbing](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-03/sydney-morning-briefing-tuesday-march-3/12018978)** > > MORNING BRIEFING: The rising fear of coronavirus sees some Sydney stores stripped of essential items, as an expert says it's concerning that health authorities do not know how a Sydney healthcare worker caught the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295/49 "2020-03-02T22:51:29Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > NSW has 6,800 full timers and 5,700 volunteers > Victoria has 1,900 full timers and 20,000 volunteers. > > So the number of 2,700 seems a bit light on I think. > On the climate change thing Australia’s alliance of former emergency services chiefs has warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison that a bushfires royal commission will fail unless it focuses on climate change. > > Bushfires in Australia are literally hell. Late to the party here, but something about those figures looked odd to me - how come Victoria would have four times the volunteer numbers of NSW, when NSW is bigger than us? NSW RFS actually counts [72,000](https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/about-us/fast-facts) volunteers, though I’m sure not all of them are active firefighting vollies. That just re-emphasises your ultimate point, of course [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-problem-with-wildfires-a-lack-of-trained-firefighters-or-that-they-cant-stop-the-fires/846295.md?page=2)