Both the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and the NSW Rural Fire Service have put large parts of Australia on high alert for the coming weeks and months, citing unusually warm, dry conditions.

Firefighting and disaster relief organisations have called for fresh volunteers amid a membership shortage.

NSW firefighters responded to five times as many fires in August this year as they did in 2022.

Due to more “protracted and frequent” disasters, he added, the DRA has forecast that volunteers will be spending three times as long on the ground in communities over the next two years.

Fire activity in recent weeks has increased as the landscape dries, forests and grasslands become more susceptible to fires." Victoria’s CFA, which has about 52,000 volunteer members – more than 28,700 of whom are operational firefighters – has launched a recruitment campaign in an attempt to bolster its numbers, emphasising the need for daytime responders and young members in regional communities.

We need to be providing more training online, we need flexibility in the delivery and training, and that might mean that we don’t necessarily do all our training at the local level.”