For Geoff Seccombe, the threat of bushfires this summer is very real.
Since November 2021, his Muttaburra property has received 1,181 millimetres of rain, double its normal annual rainfall total.
Kenya station's once dry and desolate paddocks are now full of lush, green grass.
When the pasture dries off, Mr Seccombe says bushfires are inevitable.
After years of drought, Mr Seccombe says it's been an interesting challenge managing the property after so much rain.
"We have massive volumes of grass just from the sheer amount of rain," Mr Seccombe says.
Fuel load increasing
Queensland's bushfire season typically begins in July and runs through until October, but thanks to a La Niña weather pattern across most of the state, the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) are keeping a close eye on conditions in anticipation of an early start.
Bushfire mitigation executive manager for QFES and the Rural Fire Service, James Haig, says despite forecasts of increased rainfall over summer, the risk of bushfires is still very high.
"There's certainly been plenty of welcome rain for a lot of people," Mr Haig says.
"But the flip side of that is we've got a lot of grass growth ... there's going to be a lot of fuel around."
With La Niña tipped to end after this summer, Mr Haig is worried about what conditions will be like coming into the dry season, which typically begins in May.
"The growth is great for feeding livestock," he says.
"But it builds up a fuel load, which come the next bushfire season is a problem."
With the increased risks in mind, Mr Haig says it's vital that landholders are prepared, even if they don't think there's a great risk of fire.
"The risk you don't see is the one that's going to get you," he says.
"As we go into the next season what we're really concerned about is having fire breaks in place.
"Fire breaks and getting fire control lines in ... is critical."
Tale of two seasons
The last time a bushfire tore through the station was in 2000.
But with the looming threat of dry lightning storms igniting a blaze, the prospect of fire is playing on the minds of graziers right across the state.
In December last year a neighbouring property had a small fire break out, but mitigation work made it easy to bring under control.
Mr Seccombe says landholders are taking their preparations for the possibility of intense bushfires seriously.
"It's sort of been the hot topic the last month," he says.
"Everyone's talking about it and I think everyone's fairly well prepared for it because we all have a fair bit of grass this year.
"That's about all you can do, get your fire gear ready, have your tracks in and be onto it when it happens."
Right across the state, it's been a tale of two seasons — unusually wet for some, but for others like Peter White at Athelstane near Winton, disappointingly dry.
"We haven't had a lot of follow-up rain," Mr White says.
"We've had nothing at all ... our feeds dried right up here."
Mr White volunteers with his rural fire brigade branch, which is run by property owners in his area and has been busy clearing fence lines and putting in fire breaks to make it easier to control any fires that may break out.
He says even after a lacklustre season, the risk of bushfires on his property is still high.
"Spinifex has taken over a lot of the grass country," Mr White says.
"It's mainly spinifex and the dry grass that will carry a fire.
"Grass fires travel a lot faster than spinifex fires ... they're fairly slow moving but you still need to burn breaks and backburn to control them."
