The Tabletop fire 10 months on. Checked out the main part of the burn. It’s a mix of hope and despair. This may be a long wander.
Mt Tabletop is in the Alpine national park, on Gunaikurnai country, between Mt Hotham and Dinner Plain, snow gum country. The forests here have burnt in 2003, 2013 and 2019/20. Some areas have burnt 3 times.
The forest is a mosaic of old open forests, crazy regrowth in burnt areas, and multi aged woodlands.
Lightning strikes across the Alps on DEC 31 ignited dozens of fires, including at Tabletop. There were too many fires for crews to get to them all.
The Tabletop fire grew for a few days, then made a run at Dinner Plain village on the 4th (saved by a wind change), then the 11th (saved by a Large Air Tanker).
As a CFA volunteer, I was at Dinner Plain. Our job was to defend the village. I hadn’t been into the core of the fire since March. It was heartbreaking to see. This is the east edge.
90% of snow gum forest in VIC has burnt in the last 20 years, some multiple times. The forest is changing b/c fire is now too frequent.
This is why we need to keep fire out of burnt forests. Thick regrowth after fire is highly flammable. Older forests are more open, less likely to see crown fire.
themountainjournal.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/fir…
FFMV crews did a great job in the area, but there were too many fires. By the time this one grew it was burning hot.

Thankfully, some of the old, old trees did survive.
With fire seasons getting worse due to climate change, we need more air support to stop small fires before they become monsters.
foe.org.au/fires_and_air_…
We also need more remote area firefighters – career and volunteer. VIC should establish a volunteer remote area team, as TAS & NSW have.
themountainjournal.wordpress.com/2020/04/29/a-r…
Otherwise, this is our future: endless ghost forests where there used to be old growth.

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More from @Cam_Walker

30 Oct
The Royal Commission’s final report gets it:

“Extreme weather has already become more frequent & intense because of climate change; further warming over the next 20-30 years is inevitable.
“As the events of the 2019/20 fire season show, what was unprecedented is now our future"
But will governments listen?

Here's our thinking on fires > melbournefoe.org.au/living_with_fi…
We need additional air power to hit fires before they get going > foe.org.au/fires_and_air_…
Read 4 tweets

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