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Fire Operations Plans
View Proposed Burns | Have Your Say | Stay Informed | Interactive Map

• What is a Fire Operations Plan?
• How do I find out about a District Draft Fire Operations Plan?
• Victorian Overview - Fire Operations Planning
• Quick Guide to Using the Interactive Map
• Why do we carry out Planned Burns?

What is a Fire Operations Plan?
Each Fire District develops a Fire Operations Plan. A Fire Operations Plan sets out the proposed fire prevention activities that will be carried out on public land in each Victorian fire district over the next three years. The fire operation activities include proposed burns, slashing and track works and additions to the permanent network of strategic fuelbreaks.

DSE Fire Operations Plans are developed in consultation with communities, local councils, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water, forest managers, CFA, flora and fauna specialists and any other parties who register their interest.

How do I find out about a District Draft Fire Operations Plan?
You can find out about the Fire Operations Plan for each DSE fire district in Victoria using one of the following methods.

• View the location of proposed burns across your district by downloading the relevant district burn map from the table
• View each proposed burn in the Fire Operations Plans on the interactive map. Follow the quick guide steps below.
• View Draft Fire Operations Plans at community meetings
• Contact your district DSE or Parks Victoria office during business hours to view or request a hardcopy of a Plan, or to find out more about any fire operations activities included in a Plan

Victorian Overview - Fire Operations Planning
Victorian Overview to Fire Operations Planning 2008-2011 (PDF - 1.2 MB)


Quick Guide to Using the Interactive Map
All proposed burns that are included in the Draft Fire Operations Plans can be viewed on the interactive map - find out about each burn; its purpose, size and location.

• Select the region of Victoria in the 'select a location' window below the map.
• Use the 'zoom in' function to navigate to your local area. Or click on the 'find location' tab above the map, select 'place name', type a specific location then click 'Ok'
• The name of each DSE fire district and its border appear in redon each map view. This will help you to know who to contact about burns in a particular fire DSE fire district.
• For further information about using the map, access help.

Why do we carry out Planned Burns?
Conducting planned burns is one of DSE’s most important fire prevention activities. It involves the controlled setting of fires during periods of lower fire risk, to achieve one of three main purposes;

• fuel reduction
• flora and fauna management
• commercial forest regeneration

During an average summer, around six hundred bushfires occur on public land across Victoria. This land includes national parks, state forests, state parks and reserves. An intense bushfire across the landscape can be devastating to the environment, including its plant and animals. These bushfires also have huge impacts on communities across Victoria, both in the areas directly impacted by fire and in other parts of the state including metropolitan Melbourne.

To better manage the risk of bushfire to our environment and communities, the Victorian Government, through the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria, carries out fire prevention activities that help reduce the occurrence and impact of devastating fires such as those experienced in recent summers.

It is important to understand that planned burning operations, particularly fuel reduction burns, do not stop or eliminate the risk of bushfires. However, Victorian research, and similar information from Australia and overseas, clearly shows that firefighters have a much better chance of controlling bushfires in areas where fuel reduction burns have been carried out.


Related links
Prescribed Burning
Fire Protection Plans