Firefighters Conduct Hazard Reduction Burning Months After Record Bushfires Ravaged Australia

Firefighters began hazard reduction burning in New South Wales to reduce fuel loads on April 25, just months after record bushfires devastated vast swathes of the country.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service warned that smoke may be observed in the Illawarra and Greater Sydney region from the burning at Stanwell Tops north of Wollongong.

Record bushfires gripped much of New South Wales in late 2019 and early 2020, with over 11,400 bush and grass fires burning 5.5 million hectares, the equivalent of 6.2 percent of the state of New South Wales. Fires burned across the state for 240 consecutive days between July 2019 and March 2020. Credit: Helensburgh Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade via Storyful