Less than average district rainfall, and conditions which are hotter and drier than previous years are raising concern ahead of the official start to the bushfire season on October 1.
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Less than average rainfall has fallen in the territory for the past two years and experts say that bushfire seasons are expected to become longer and more dangerous as the effects of climate change are felt across the country.
Some surrounding areas in NSW, including the Far South regions of Eurobodalla and Bega, began their bushfire season two months ago after an exceptionally dry July.
Below average rainfall is predicted for the ACT region for the remainder of the year.
The declaration of the bushfire season means that any burning off or pile burns will require a permit from your local fire control centre or issuing officer, and heavy penalties apply to those who fail to do so.
The permit has to be carried by the permit holder, on site and while the fire is alight. The fire also must be supervised at all times.
Notifications are required to be given to the Rural Fire Service and adjoining neighbours 24 hours before a fire is lit.
The fourth version of the territory's Strategic Bushfire Management Plan, a legislative requirement under the Emergencies Act 2004, was released by the ACT Emergency Services Agency on Friday.
It's the overarching planning and management "road map" for the ACT and a direct outcome from the catastrophic 2003 bushfires which swept into the territory from the south and west, and in which four people lost their lives and 470 homes were destroyed.
Rural Fire Service chief Joe Murphy said the 10mm of rain which the ACT received a few weeks ago "didn't really count; it just pushed away the elevated fire dangers for a couple of weeks and now we're back to very dry conditions again."
"We can expect to see the landscape continue to dry out and the local dam levels drop," he said.
"I think we should look to northern NSW and Queensland and see that fire season is well and truly upon them there; it will come down south and be upon us before we know it."
He said that the local region had been fortunate last year in not experiencing multiple significant fires.
"At the start of last season we had the Pierce's Creek fire and I think that's helped to alert and inform the community," he said.
The Pierce's Creek fire near the Cotter Dam was started when a stolen ute was driven into the forest, dumped and burned among the volatile pines. The resulting blaze burned 204 hectares before being brought under control.
Solar-powered CCTV cameras are now being placed in bushland access areas to prevent cars being torched in Canberra's bushland.