Climate-Bushfire report

A report was released earlier this week which documented the potential change in bushfire weather over SE Australia associated with global warming in upcoming years, as well as examining the current trends in fire weather over the past 30 years. I am the lead author on this report. I have written a short summary of the research over at my other blog, planet doom?. I encourage you to read it. Also there are links to the main report and a few others.

Some news items not linked to over there: The Age, ABC Online, Sydney Morning Herald

Note: We are not calling for the use of additional fire danger categories by fire agencies, although we did include such in the report to focus on the upper reaches of fire danger.

NT update

Several regions of fire are noted in the NT over the past few days.The overall situation for a large fraction of the NT is shown below in the NAFI hotspot map captured around 11 pm on 29 September. An accompanying MODIS browse image from their Rapid Response site is also show. The image was captured at 0120 UTC on the 29^th. It is a so-called 721 image, highlighting the burn scars (brown splotches) and vegetation.

A pretty sparse news report from ABC News indicating that roads in the Katherine region in the Top End of NT are closed due to bushfires. The Katherine fires are visible in the center of the images. There are several largish individual bushfires which encompass the general area. These individual areas are on the order of 50-100 thousand hectares each. Looking closely at the NAFI image indicates that some of the areas between the individual fire were burnt a few months ago (prescribed burning?), suggesting that these area may not join up into an even larger fire. Few fire scars are noted at this time in the 721 image.

To the east, in south-east Arnhem Land, a large area of active bushfire is seen. It encompasses about 1.2 million ha.

Down at the NT-Q:D border, the area of fire reported previously at Australia Bushfire Monitor, continue to expand and encompass new areas. The largest fire on the NT side

('Robinson River' on ABM) has burnt about 1.3 million ha. On the QLD side of the border, the fires have continued to expand towards the northwest. They have now burnt about 1 million hectares. A news report from the ABC discussed these fires a few days ago. A partoicularly prominent fire scar is seen on the NT side of the border.

Several new regions of relatively to the west of these fires. The largest is near Tanumbirin. It has a 'ring' of hotspots surrounding a prominent fire scar in the MODIS image. It has encompassed about 230 000 ha to date. An even more recent area of hotspots is seen further to the west. These regions are likely to continue to burn more in the upcoming week or so.

Finally, the Tanami desert fires are still going. As seen on the 721 image (and the NAFI map). The affected area is huge. Roughly speaking, this fire has impacted approximately 5 to 5.5 million hectares at this time

Fires in the remainder of the country will be discussed in the regular national update, due in a few days. The 10-day period ended on the 28^th, but it seems to take them a few days to get the new composite up on the website, especially when a weekend is involved...(*_*)

Australian Bushfire Activity: 8-17 Sep 2007

The image below shows the latest 10-day composite hotspot map from the NASA MODIS Rapid Response website. The dates of the composite are 8-17 September 2007.

Large portions of the NT have been alight during this period. Extensive areas of hotspots are seen: Arnhem Land (eastern Top End), the Gulf regions of NT and QLD and the Tanami desert fires are prominent on the map. These fires as viewed on 18 September by the Aqua satellite, are shown in this image from the NASA Earth Observatory Natural Hazards website. A recent news item from ABC Rural also noted the ongoing NT fires.

At this writing, all the separate Tanami desert fire have now merged into one area of about 4.2 million ha. The main thrust of the fire is now towards the north. A few regions into WA in loosely the same region are showing some recent hotspots as well.

In west Kimberley, the large regions of bushfires which had been last noted in this post is also beginning to wind down. What I previously called the Thangoo fire, which was earlier affecting highway traffic, has now extended far to the east, and still has active hotspots. This fire has now burnt roughly 800 000 ha. Many of the others further north are out.

A fairly large area burnt is also apparent in SE WA. Tracing back through recent MODIS browse imagery, these look to have first been detected on 13 September. These look to be mostly out now, but another active area of hotspots was noted in the general area today.

Northwestern Cape York has an area of active fire. Closer examination indicates that there are several moderate sized fires currently burning in the 'greater Weipa' area. These are fairly separate, and appear to have been burned earlier in the season (probably in a controlled or prescribed burn)

Widely scattered hotspots were apparent in SE QLD and NE NSW. Houses in the Brisbane suburbs have been threatened during this period, but the threat has subsided to some degree. These fires were relatively small, but significant in terms of potential economic impact.

Very sparse hotspots are noted in souther NSW and SW WA. A few other isolated hotspots are also apparent in other regions.

Gulf country fires

Large bushfires were noted by the media today in far northwest Queensland, west of Burketown. The reports indicate that the large portions of two cattle properties were burned out.

About 10,000 hectares of grazing property in the southern Gulf region of far north Queensland has been scorched by a massive bushfire.

A number of small fires in a region known as Hell's Gate, near the Northern Territory border, have merged to form a large fire currently burning on several fronts, a Queensland Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said.

These fires were first noted at Australia Bushfire Monitor in their incipient stage back on 12 Sep in the post “NT/QLD border fires”. Comparing the NAFI image from the afternoon of the 18^th (about 3pm, below) with the previous image, the fires have grown quite considerably, especially those on the QLD side of the border. The NAFI image shows two close, but distinct regions with fire scars and/or hotspots in QLD. The westernmost one, the fire being report is roughly 130 000 ha bunt. The eastern fire is on the order of 175 000 ha

While these fires are large and serious, the true 'monster' out there are the fires ongoing across the border in NT. These fires have undergone a massive flare-up today. This fire has also expanded considerably since the previous update and estimates from NAFI now suggest that nearly 500 000 ha has been affected.

A smaller region, about 75 000 ha, near Billengarrah, NT is also active at this time.

The 500-m resolution true color MODIS browse image from the 0425 UTC overpass of the Aqua satellite is shown below. A massive smoke plume is observed in association with the easternmost NT fire. A relatively small (by comparison) smoke plume is seen with the QLD fires.

Why the flare-up? I have to say that I am at a bit of a loss as to the answer to that question. Observations at nearby stations from this afternoon suggests light winds, on the order of 10-20 km/h. Temperatures in the upper-30s. Humidity was a bit low, near 10% in the afternoon, but it doesn't seem particularly unusual compared to previous days. These observations suggest a GFDI on the order of 5, in the moderate category, while FFDI (although it is not forest) of around 30, in the very high category. Still, why today and not, say, yesterday? Is the non-linear response to slightly lower RH that severe?

There were fire bans issued further east in the NT today, in the Alice Springs and Katherine districts.

Tanami update

Originally meant to be posted on 16th, but technical difficulties with Blogger prevented it from happening...

Since the last report of the flare-up of the bushfires in the Tanami Desert a few days ago the area affected by the fires has grown considerably. A NAFI map from the afternoon of the 16^th is shown below. Comparing this chart to the previous one shows the expanded area quite effectively.

Most of the fires in the region have expanded considerably. The large fire nearest to Tennant Creek and the fire east of Lajamanu have joined their burnt areas together. Recent hotspot activity has been indicated on both of these fires. The fire near Tanami Downs has also grown. In all, approximately 2.5 million hectares of the Desert has burnt in the in the last week to 10 days or so.

The so-called 721 image from the MODIS onboard the Aqua satellite is shown below. Resolution is 1 km and the swath was taken at ~0440 UTC. The image below is an extract. The fires were right on the edge of the swath, so the browse image is distorted. The merged burnt areas/fire scars are readily visible. Some pyrocumulus are also apparent in the center of the scar around the eastern Lajamanu fire.

Weather conditions do not seem to have been particularly severe. Relative humidity have been running the the 20-40% range and temperatures have been about normal. Winds have been generally moderate, although there were some strong early morning winds in the area on the 14^th and 15^th. The normal conditions probably produce something like a 'very high' GFDI-based fire danger rating

AS these fires are remote, there may not much suppression going on with them.

These areas should be very apparent in the next 10-day composite.

Tanami Desert flare-up

The fires in the Tanami Desert, some of which were associated with the western-most Tennant Creek fires noted previously have undergone a big flare-up today. Other of these fires were mentioned in the last national summary as likely to become more active and widespread.

The Terra satellite directly overflew the area at approximately 0120 UTC today (13 September 2007). An abundance of new hotspots were detected, as indicated by the purple stars in the NAFI image shown below.

The 250-m resolution 'true color' MODIS image is also shown below. The area of the fires is quite impressive on the image. The fire located about 150 km west of Tennant Creek shows the flare-up on the E and SE side of the rather large burnt area. A thick plume of smoke is seen rising from the area. The fire further to the west also has many active hotspots and a long plume of smoke extending from the fire.

The bright white patches within both smoke plumes are pyrocumulus clouds, that is cumulus clouds driven by the heat of the fire.

Several of the other fires noted on the NAFI map are also visible in the MODIS image. None appear as spectacularly in the image at this time.

A fire weather warning was issued by the Bureau and a fire ban until 5am on the 14th was issued by Bushfires NT was issued earlier in the day for the Alice Springs district. Fire weather conditions were extreme, with temperatures in the mid-30s, relative humidity running at about 20-25% at the time of the fires, with sustained winds of roughly 20-25 kts, with higher gusts.

Note: Image quality of the MODIS image has been degraded to make a manageable size picture.

NT/QLD border fires

As noted in the previous post, a large fire was occurring on the NT side of the QLD/NT border near the Gulf. This fire was in excess of 150 000 ha.

This fire continues, and what was a smaller fire on the QLD side of the border is gaining some momentum, with several new hotspots in the general vicinity this afternoon. The NAFI map is shown below.

Weather conditions are not particularly favourable for fast-moving fire. While afternoon temperatures are high and relative humidities low, the winds are generally light in the vicinity, keeping fire dangers relatively low

The accompanying MODIS imagery is shown below. These images were captures at 0420 UTC on 11 September from the Aqua satellite. The first image is the so-called true-color image with hotspots indicated in red, grabbed from the near real-time browse images. Pixel resolution is 250 m. The smoke plumes from the two fires in question are clearly visible in this image. The second image is the so-called 7-2-1 image at the same time.

From the MODIS FAQ:

Bands

7,2,1 (2,155 nm: 876 nm: 670 nm)

Colors

Vegetation=Green

Water=Black or dark blue

Desert/Naturally bare soil=Sandy pink

Burn scar=Red to reddish-brown, depending on the nature of the pre-fire vegetation and the severity of the burn.

Advantages

Distinguishing burn scars from naturally low vegetation or bare soil. Enhancing floods.

This image has a 500 m pixel resolution. The hotspots are also shown on this image.

The burn scars associated with these fires are readily visible on both images. On the 721 image, the most recent burn scars are a deep red. Older fire scars have a lighter red color. On the true color image, the burn scars are also readily apparent and appear quite dark, looking like burnt spots (which of course they are...)

As something of an aside, the white splotches are small cumulus clouds, associated with the leading edge of the sea breeze. The sea breeze and the QLD fire are interacting at the time of the satellite overpass. The cloud pattern seems distorted at this point, with a band perpendicular to the coast apparently originating at the point of the fire. I am curious to know if this is merely coincidence or if the fire is affecting the atmospheric flow. (Perhaps the island off shore is also playing a role?)

Australian Fire Activity:29 Aug - 7 Sep 2007

Below is the latest 10-day composite hotspot map from Australia from the NASA MODIS Rapid Response website. Dates of the composite are 29 August to 7 September (despite what the label says on the map!).

Most significant fire activity currently remains in the northern reaches of the country over this period.

Over the Top End, activity remains at approximately the same level as the last composite. Fires are particularly prevalent in the northern portions of Arnhem Land. Subjectively, the fires in that region are seemingly a bit more continuous than seen previously.

South of the Gulf of Carpenteria in NT near the QLD border, fire activity has increased since the last update. A large fire encompassing ~156 000 ha (estimated from NAFI) is currently active south of Robinson River. Several other fires are burning in the McArthur river district, but none as large as this eastern most case.

Two fairly significant fires are burning in the Tiwi Islands to the north of Darwin. The fire to the south is quite large. NAFI suggests the size of this fire is about 96 000 ha.

AS noted most recently here, quite significant fire activity continues in the Kimberley. The Thangoo fire and those on the Dampier Peninsula are quite apparent on the composite. Significant tracts of land have burnt in this region since August.

A small area of fires is burning in the Pilbara. These fires are isolated and relatively small at this time.

Several large fires are also noted in the Tanami Desert region of central NT. The fires in the vicinity of Tennant Creek continue to burn. Approximately another 165 000 ha has burnt in the western fire of these two, and about an additional 90 000 ha to the Eastern one. (This is in addition to what was reported earlier...). Large fires are also noted south of Lajamanu in the west (2 fires ~200 000 ha and 70 000 ha), near Tanami Downs (~300 000 ha). Several smaller fires, probably not visible in the composite, are burning to the south of these. This will most likely grow over the next week or two to become large fires.

A few fires are also apparent in the northern portions of the Cape York Peninsul in QLD. These are relatively small and isolated at this time.

Widespread isolated fires are apparent in SE QLD and NE NSW. None of these appear to be particularly large at this time, and may be agricultural fires.

Over the remainder of the country, very isolated hotspots are detected.

Kimberley fires redux

Several new fires, and the continuation of some of the ones noted previously are going in the Kimberley. The story was noted yesterday on ABC News Online. An interesting quote from the news article:

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) believes bushfires are burning through more of the region's vegetation each year which poses increasing threats to wildlife in the process.

Ed Hatherley from the DEC says as more vegetative matter is removed, the landscape is becoming overrun by cane grass, which is highly susceptible to further fires.

He says the fires destroy the habitats of many native fauna species which leaves them vulnerable to predatory cats and foxes.

Mr Hatherley says while there are increasing efforts to coordinate fire management between pastoralists and government authorities, the problem is getting worse.

"Each year they're getting larger and more intense and covering a bigger area because of that simplification of the landscape," he said.

"We're on a downward sliding scale if you like and it's certainly not sustainable."

The map below, taken from NAFI late on the evening of 5 September, shows the extent of the fires which have burned this season. The Dampier Peninsula has been especially hard hit, and the fire near Thangoo, noted in the news item above, has already burnt in excess of 300 000 ha (I estimated 331 500 ha from NAFI...).

Also below is a MODIS image, taken from the real time website. The image has 250 m pixel resolution and is taken out of the 'browse image' posted in near real time on the MODIS website. It was captured around 0215 UTC (1015 WA time...) on 5 September. The smoke plume from the Thangoo fire is massive. Also showing active smoke plumes in the image are the fire on the central Dampier Peninsula and further north, near the coast.

Australian Fire Activity: 19 -28 August 2007

Below is the latest 10-day MODIS hotspot composite for Australia. Dates of the image are from 19-28 August 2007.

Fire activity at this time is still concentrated in northern Australia. Fires in the western Kimberley continue, in about the same amounts as discussed in the previous update. This includes the fires on the Dampier peninsula, as well as those in more northern parts of the region.

Fire activity in the Top End of NT is still widespread, and at about the same level of activity. During this period, the in central NT, near Tennant Creek discussed here are also readily visible.

Fire is the Pilbara are apparently greatly reduced in number.

Also during this time, an 'East Coast Low' formed off the coast of Queensland, bringing a massive amount of rain and floods to portions of SE QLD. (It is very rare for these to form in August at this latitude...the last occurrence was in the late 1800s...). This has effectively dampened many of the fires, at least temporarily. In the hardest hit regions, the fire season is effectively over. Much of the flooding was particularly strong near the coast. Further inland, the potential for fire still exists.

Around the rest of the country, fire activity remains very low at this time.

Early SA fire bans

For tomorrow, 2 days before the beginning of spring...

• South Australia on bushfire alert – The Age

South Australia is bracing for a day of high bushfire danger tomorrow two days before the official start of spring.

...

"It is possible that there will be a number of districts subject to a total fire ban on Thursday, particularly where there is scrub or forested areas across the state," said CFS deputy state coordinator Malim Watts.

"On a day like Thursday there is potential for burn-offs to spread out of control and escalate into larger scale bushfires.

"Fires can also rekindle days or even weeks after burn-offs have occurred so it's important to continue monitoring the burnt area."

Mr Watts said South Australia experienced winds and warm weather on Tuesday and several fires began on the Eyre Peninsula from burn-offs.

From this news item from the ABC, quoted from a BoM forecaster in Adelaide...

"One thing we probably haven't seen in all this before is a fire ban for the Mount Lofty Ranges but we have one for tomorrow," he said.

"The highest temperature recorded in Adelaide is 29 [for August], we're going for 28 tomorrow so we're within one degree of our extremes."

The possibility of fire bans for today was noted in the media (and the forecasters!) a few days ago...

Also from the Bureau...

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT - BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY
SOUTH AUSTRALIA REGIONAL OFFICE

District Fire Danger Ratings for Thursday.
Issued at 5:10 pm on Wednesday, 29 August 2007

FIRE BAN DISTRICT         FIRE DANGER RATING
Northwest Pastoral        Not applicable
Northeast Pastoral        Not applicable
West Coast                Extreme in bushland areas 
Eastern Eyre Peninsula    Extreme in bushland areas 
Lower Eyre Peninsula      Extreme in bushland areas
Flinders                  Very High in bushland areas
Mid North                 Very High in bushland areas 
Mount Lofty Ranges        Extreme in bushland and forest areas 
Adelaide Metropolitan     Very High in bushland areas 
Yorke Peninsula           Very High in bushland areas  
Kangaroo Island           Very High in bushland and forest areas 
Riverland                 Very High in bushland areas 
Murraylands               Very High in bushland areas
Upper South East          Very High in bushland areas 
Lower South East          Very High in bushland and forest areas 

There are similar rumblings about an early fire season being reported for western Victoria, as well.

it's a good thing the climate isn't changing <ha!>, or else we'd really be in trouble!

Central NT wildfires

As briefly noted on last national overview (but not apparent on that map), some large fires are currently affects central NT around Tennant Creek. The map below is taken from NAFI.

In the image, purple are the most recent image, red in the last 2 days and blue in the last week.

There are three main areas of fire (in the last week). Several recent fire scars are also noted (green and yellow shading), suggesting this has been an active area for wildfire the last few months.

The largest fire appears to have impacted roughly 200 000 ha. I would hypothesize that the little 'pseudopod' of most recent fires extending southward represents an attempt to 'back burn' – a deliberately lit fire to reduce the fuel ahead of the fire front – using the two highways as natural fire breaks...

The western fire is also large. A crude estimate of 77 000 ha. On the (blurry) MODIS browse image you get over at the Sentinel site, quite a bit of dense smoke is apparent with this fire.

The northernmost fire looks to be largely inactive, although there are a few hotspots on the NE edge of the cluster.

No news items that I have regarding these fires at this time (that I have found...). This would suggest that the fire is burning in open bush and not particularly threatening any human 'values' at this time.

Australian Fire Activity: 9 -18 August 2007

Below is the 10-day composite hotspot information from the MODIS instruments on board NASA satellite. Dates of the composite are 9-18 August 2007. Discussion after the image.

My subjective interpretation -- significant regions of fire

• Kimberley region – fires noted in last discussion have really blown up during this period. See image below. This is from a few days after the composite. Those fires have grown considerably over the last 10 days or so...They appear to be moving generally northward, which suggests they may go out soon, as they are running into the sea...News reports suggest these fires were deliberately lit.

• Dampier Peninsula – north of Broome. These fires have also expanded quite a bit. News reports have also suggested these fires were deliberately lit. Also visible on image below.

• Pilbara – few fires inland from Port Hedland.

• Cape York Peninsula – I believe these fires are mainly the result of aerial fuel reduction burns

• Arnhem Land – these are mostly out now...

• NE NSW – some moderate fires there. The really bad ones noted earlier have been brought under control.. The whole area has received up to 2-3 inches of rain. This will probably damp any fire activity...I suspect most of the individual spots are due to agricultural burnings.

Fires seem to have definitely passed a peak in the Top End of NT. Recent NAFI hotspots are much reduced in number and more 'spotty' than previous.

There are a few large fires flaring up near Tennant Creek. These look fairly large on hotspot imagery, and are near where previous fires have burnt this season.

Kimberley fires

From ABC News

• Close eye kept on Kimberley bushfires
  

Authorities are monitoring a total of seven bushfires burning across national parks and reserves in the Kimberley in northern Western Australia.

The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) says the outbreaks are in inaccessible terrain and likely to burn for several weeks, until they reach low-fuel areas.

It is understood all of the fires have been deliberately lit.

Heavy smoke from one of the outbreaks, in the Yampi Field Training Area, led to the cancellation of tours to the popular Horizontal Waterfalls on the weekend.

Ed Hatherley from the DEC says the fires do not pose a threat to private property, but may damage the environment.

"What we're concerned about is the impact on the biodiversity of the region. The late, hot dry season fires are more extensive and they consume a lot more of the vegetative matter and habitat," he said.

This area has been quite active as of late and fires have been burning in the area for some time. Some of them have been quite large (see discussions here and image here).

Current (at time of this post!) NAFI hotspot image from the Kimberley shown below. At noted earlier many of these fires have been previously identified.

Northern NSW fires continue

From ABC News

Dozens of fires continue to burn throughout the New South Wales north coast region, but cooler overnight conditions allowed many volunteers to get some rest.

Fifteen blazes are still burning in the Clarence Valley, while other areas of concern include Tenterfield and Kyogle.

Incident controller Peter McKechnie, from the Rural Fire Service, says one blaze at Helmet Mountain, 10 kilometres north of Kyogle, is being allowed to burn at this stage.

Oddly enough, I still haven't seen any hotspots associated with these fires...Perhaps there is something with the terrain...or they are just small-ish fires?

Some of the fires near Tenterfield were large, with two reported around 3000 ha burnt each, and another near 2000 ha. Use of water-bombing helicopters in some instances.

Some health impacts reported from the smoke

• Bushfire smoke impacting on residents' health -- ABC News

Health authorities say smoke from bushfires is causing air pollution levels to rise on the New South Wales north coast, which is a problem for residents with respiratory problems.

Australian Fire Activity: 30 Jul - 8 Aug 2007

The image below is the latest 10-day composite from of hotspot from NASA. Dates of the composite are 30July to 8 August 2007. A more detailed discussion follws the image

General Subjective Impressions & comparison to STLY (same time last year)

More active this year

• cape york esp western

• SE QLD esp on plains

• N NSW

• broome area

• Pilbara

• Kimberley (a little...)

Less active this year

• cooktown to townsville

• top end

• NE VIC

other regions are the same and/or currently non-active

Large and/or Significant Fires – subjective...based on rough estimate of size in NAFI and/or media reports

Lajamanu

77800 ha

Still active

FR burn?

ESE of Tennant Creek

41000 ha (?)

no recent hotspots

ENE of Tennant Creek

61200 ha

no recent hotspots

Dampier (?) Peninsula (Broome)

158 000 ha

going, going...

midway between Broome-Fitzroy Crossing

87300 ha

few new hotspots

West Kimberly

4 large fires, prob all related to the large fire noted last time

largest: ~90 000ha

some are active, largest one is most active.

NSW-QLD bushfires reported

Below is image captured from the Sentinel website of the hotspots in the northern NSW/ southern QLD region. Purple dots are the most recent hotspots (as of this afternoon) and yellow ones are 0-12 hours old.

Several media reports regarding bushfires in northern NSW today. All are from ABC News.

• Outside help to aid in bushfires fight

Bushfires burning in the Lismore, Kyogle and Richmond Valley areas of northern New South Wales are now beyond the control of local firefighting resources.

As of this evening, these fires are listed on the NSW RFS site as 'Being Controlled' or 'Contained'. Five separate incidents have burnt on the order of 700 ha. They are not visible on the hotspot image below (?)

• Busy start to northern tablelands' fire season

It has been a busy start to the firefighting season on the New South Wales northern tablelands, with four blazes burning east of Armidale and Glen Innes.

These are listed NSW RFS site as 'Being Controlled'. A couple of them have burnt in excess of 1000 ha each. There are visible in the image, near the region marked with the blue '1'.

A second large area of fire is visible in the image in southern QLD by the blue '2'. The fire is burning in Barakula State Forest. A very dense smoke plume is also apparent with this fire. From NAFI, I roughly estimated the size of this fire at ~8000 ha. I have found no mention of it. Prescribed burn or wildfire is unclear, though the latter suspected.

Northeast NSW fires reported

Some reports of some significant fire activity on the QLD/NSW border tonight.

• Dry conditions bring fires to Kyogle, Lismore -- ABC News

The firefighters are concentrating their efforts on two fires in Kyogle and a third fire in Lismore.

• Reinforcements in for NSW bushfires -- Sydney Morning Herald

NSW Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees says more than a dozen fires are burning in the north, including blazes in the Mooball National Park, Ferndale and Rowlands Creek areas of the Tweed and in the Kyogle area.

There are also fires west of Casino and in the New England region around Armidale and Glen Innes, he said.

"To help out, 10 heavy bushfire tankers and additional volunteer crews will be deployed to the areas tomorrow," Mr Rees said in a statement.

As this is being prepared, there are not too many hotspots apparent on the NAFI website in the region, but there doesn't seem to have been a recent satellite pass over the region. Will check again later and post any relevant image.

There are also several recent hotspots in southern QLD, but nothing reported in the media at this time

NW WA fire picture

The image above is a real-time AQUA satellite image, captured on 19 July 2007. It shows the area in the West Kimberley that was to become the large fire noted in the last post. A pretty long smoke plume is seen coming from that region. The fires north of Broome and those south of Derby have quite thick smoke plumes.

In Arenhem Land, the western portion of the Top End also has a few visible plumes, streaming off to the northwest.

Higher resolution images are available: Link

Australian Fire Activity: 20-29 July 2007

Here is the latest 10-day hotspot composite from thee MODIS satellite. The dates of the composite are 20-29 July 2007.

Compared to the last period, fires continue to be widespread across the Top End. There are perhaps less dense, more widely scattered patches of hotspots, suggesting a general 'lull' or decline in activity in the area. There are still large areas of fire, though.

There is an apparent increase in fire activity over the Cape York Peninsula, particularly in the western portions. The NAFI website suggests some large (~300 km2) regions of active fire.

The fire near Mt. Elizabeth in NW WA noted in the last report is quite visible on the composite map. Consulting NAFI, this fire looks to have burnt ~3800 km2. It is still producing a significant number of active hotspots at this time. See the accompanying image, from NAFI.

Also in WA, inland from Port Hedland in the Pilbara, there are some significant areas of fire. A couple of these were on the order of 1000 km2 burnt each.

SE QLD and N NSW continue to see widespread, isolated fires. These are likely fuel reduction burns or agricultural fires, although the fire incident noted a few days ago was the largest of the lot. It is apparently out now. Rough estimate:44 km²