We should be proud of our Aussie bush heritage and as a firefighter, I’m impressed at the way we have dealt with bush fires in the past.
The questions that I pose now are:
1. Are we getting it right in todays modern world?
2. With all of the technology that we now have, why can’t we locate fires and hit them hard before they take hold?
It is a “no brainer” that a fire is best dealt with if we catch it in its early stages. The idea of early detection and early suppression has vastly reduced the frequency and severity of structural fires in Australia but can this principle be applied to the bush?
The idea of using fire towers to provide early detection and to help locate fires in Australia dates back to the early 1900s.
Fire Lookout Trees – Early Detection from the Early 1900s
![Fire Lookout Trees – Early Detection from the Early 1900s Fire Lookout Trees – Early Detection from the Early 1900s](https://volunteerfirefighters.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/fire-lookout-tree-01-750x350.jpg)