Every year, government workers around Australia start fires in the bush. The idea behind these prescribed burning programs is that removing dry leaves and branches reduces the chance of bigger, more dangerous fires. Over many decades, prescribed burning has settled into a dogma – an unquestionable good.
This line of thinking dates back to the 1939 Stretton Royal Commission, which followed the catastrophic Black Friday fires. To avoid future devastation, Judge Leonard Stretton called for large-scale prescribed burning to reduce fire fuel.
