Queensland

Large areas of Queensland’s landscape burn every year. The location and timing of fires have long-term effects on:

• vegetation structure
• biodiversity conservation
• land condition
• water and air quality
• greenhouse gas emissions.

We can improve future fire planning and management by understanding where and when fires occur.

Remote sensing scientists map fire history by detecting burned areas—the visibly blackened land surface left after a fire. Fire occurrence across the state varies seasonally and yearly, influenced by the climate, fuel loads, and land management practices.

Data for this indicator is limited to information from 2017 onwards. It is based on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, which only became available in 2016. Consequently, longer-term trends and variability in fire across the state may not be adequately represented in more recent datasets. While fire history data is available from before 2017, it was produced using other satellite sources with lower spatial resolution and different temporal frequencies, making comparison with the more recent Sentinel 2 data challenging.

Fire activity varied across Queensland’s bioregions from 2017 to 2023. Some regions, such as the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf Plains, consistently experienced high fire extents relative to their area. Other regions, such as the Central Queensland Coast and Channel Country, had relatively low extents. Some regions, including the Desert Uplands and Brigalow Belt, displayed notable year-on-year variability.

Seasonal variability within a year is prominent at the statewide scale, with a consistent trend of increasing fire events and burned areas beginning during the dry winter months and increasing into spring and summer. Fire events decrease significantly in January with the onset of the wet season in northern Australia.

The 2023 calendar year had the highest overall burned area at 10.37 million hectares, with an early onset and sustained fire season during this year. The burned area was 23% above the average of 8.42 million hectares for the seven years.

• Minimum total annual burned area: 6.44 million ha (2020)
• Maximum total annual burned area: 10.37 million ha (2023)
• Average burned area (2017–2023): 8.42 million ha/year
• The average burned area was 4.9% of the total state area.

The AFAC 2023 Seasonal Outlook Report (AFAC, 2023) reported that a combination of elevated biomass, below average rainfall and above average temperatures contributed to Queensland’s fire activity during 2023:

Elevated biomass: Above-average rainfall during 2021 and 2022, driven by two La Niña events, led to a prolonged growing season, increasing vegetation biomass (fuel load). Once dried, this additional fuel resulted in heightened fire risk.

Below average rainfall: Low rainfall, particularly in winter and spring of 2023, created very dry conditions that accelerated the drying of vegetation. This drop in moisture increased flammability and fire risk, especially in southern and inland Queensland.

Above average temperature: Temperatures were above average during late winter and spring of 2023, resulting in higher evaporative conditions. These conditions intensified vegetation drying, making it more susceptible to ignition and allowing fires to spread more readily.