Rainfall during the La Nina years and upgrades in equipment have given rural fire services a head start against the bushfire season.
Queanbeyan City Rural Fire Service deputy captain Nick Hornbuckle said the bushfire season would be a challenge, but it wouldn't as bad as the 2019/20 season.
It's definitely looking like fire is more of a threat than it has been for the last couple of years. But the experts say the environment isn't as dry.
With a warmer-than-average spring, and experts warning the nation needs to prepare for the fire season, Mr Hornbuckle said the Queanbeyan Rural Fire Service had made major improvements to its brigade since the 2019/20 season.
"We're really well kitted out. The two biggest areas of improvement are in communication and masks.
"We get that extra layer of protection when we go into the fire with the full-face P3 respirators, that all came about after the 2019/20 season," Mr Hornbuckle said.
This year's focus has been on grass fires and Mr Hornbuckle said it's the main type of bushfires they're expecting to see.
"There's been a number of grass fires across the Queanbeyan-Palerang area, which have been started mainly by landowners doing burns."
Record rainfall during the La Nina years has made it difficult for firefighters to organise hazard-reduction burns.
"Unfortunately, it's been a hard year to try and do hazard reduction burns because either it's been too cold or too wet," Mr Hornbuckle said.
Hot tips for bushfire season
With temperatures set to climb, there are some general tips firefighters have for people during the bushfire season.
"There's a few things around properties that make our lives a lot easier if you're in trouble.
"Make sure that your properties are numbered properly, when we're driving on the road we can clearly identify the house number.
"The second thing is making sure that a fire truck can access your property because trucks can be quite large," Mr Hornbuckle said.
States and territories funding big burns would be better off directing resources to burn off closer to homes, Professor David Lindenmayer, a world-leading expert in forest ecology and resource management said.
"The data shows that hazard reduction burning does have an effect but it has to be done closer to people's properties.
According to Climate Council, one in 25 Australian properties will be uninsurable by 2030. Professor Lindenmayer said we needed to think carefully about where people are living.
"People are living in environments that are highly inflammable," he said.
High temperatures ahead
Temperatures in Canberra are once again set to soar past the September average of 17 degrees with a top of 29 forecast for Sunday.
Monday will be a mostly sunny day with a top of 28, and on Tuesday temperatures are forecast to reach 31 degrees.
Professor Lindenmayer said this was a direct result of climate change and the government needed to get serious if it wanted to improve the climate.
"We've got to be serious about fighting climate change and it's just daft to be opening up new coal and gas mines," he said.
"Climate change isn't something of the future, we're living it now and we've got to do something about it now."
