How do bushfires start?

Information from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) shows that approximately 600 bushfires occur within Victorian public land each year. There are 26% that are caused by lightning and the rest the result of human activities.

Source – http://www.dse.vic.gov. au/dse/nrenfoe.nsf

Fire Cause
Average number of fires each year
Percentage of total fires
Lightning
149
26%
Deliberate
145
25%
Agricultural
96
16%
Campfires
59
10%
Cigarettes / Matches
41
7%
Miscellaneous
26
5%
Machinery / Exhausts
15
3%
Prescribed Burn Escapes
9
2%
Public Utilities
7
1%
Cause Unknown
37
6%

The Bushfire CRC and Australian Institute of Criminology Research on bushfire arson gives some of the most recent research into bushfire arson –

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/61/06_part2.html

 

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