NSW fears repeat of fire horror

THE fire-ravaged NSW south coast could burn again this year if rain doesn’t fall in coming months, a new report has warned.

The latest quarterly bushfire outlook report rated most of Australia as having normal fire potential between July and September.

But areas of the NSW south coast that didn’t burn last season had above normal fire potential, unless an east coast low provided a drenching.

Associate Professor Owen Price, from the University of Wollongong’s Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, said the “chances of a disaster are very small”.

“Most of the country has had a good rain season,” he said. “This time last year (the outlook) was completely doom and gloom. It’s fairly reasonable to assume that we’ve got a good two years of protection. After that it’s questionable.”

Prof Price said it was uncommon for regions to burn in consecutive fire seasons, but not unprecedented.

The report said blazes were also possible in Victoria’s East Gippsland region.