No ‘silver bullet’: Another authority talks down controlled burns as Australian fire prevention

Victoria’s fire chief says dry lightning, not arson, is the main cause of the state’s destructive bushfires.

And he has joined Premier Daniel Andrews and NSW authorities in talking down the impact of controlled burns in preventing future fires.

Many, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and locals, have raised fuel reduction practices as a key factor in the East Gippsland blazes.

But experts and the government say controlled burns are increasingly hard to execute and ineffective, and the CFA’s chief fire officer Steve Warrington today joined their chorus.

“We can’t see the fuel reduction burns as a silver bullet,” he told Heidi Murphy on 3AW.

Click PLAY to watch his full comments on controlled burns

Click PLAY to hear the full interview

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