Bush Fire ....... whether covered under Fire Insurance Policy

Insurance policies have evolved over the years ~ so much of thought has gone into wording them properly…..yet they remain complicated. In India, we have the Standard Fire & Special Perils Policy, which covers loss or damage by Fire…… and does not end there.. it is a named peril policy [specifies the perils covered] ~ this standard Fire Policy extends to cover besides Fire, Lightning, Impact damage, Aircraft damage, Storm, Tempest [wind action]; Flood & Inundation [water action] and a few more…….

Humans have changed the habitats ~ as also the major trait attached to places.  The natural fire regime in Australia was altered by the arrival of humans. Fires became more frequent, and fire-loving species—notably eucalyptus—greatly expanded their range.  It is assumed that a good deal of this change came about as the result of deliberate action by early humans, setting fires to clear undergrowth or drive game. Plants have evolved a variety of strategies to survive.

There is the phenomenon of ‘Bush fire’ which does not occur here in India  but commonly occurs in Australia. A bushfire is a fire that burns in grass, bush or woodland and can threaten life, property and the environment. A bushfire is a wildfire that happens in the Australian bush. Bush is the word for scrub, woodland or grassland of Australia and New Zealand. In south east and south west of Australia, bushfires are most common in the summer and early autumn. In the north of Australia, bushfires usually happen during winter which is the dry season. Many Australian plants burn easily. Eucalyptus trees have a high oil content which makes them burn.    Bushfires apart from causing damage and sometimes loss of human lives, also kills wildlife including rare koalas.  Our Standard Fire Policy covers ‘bush fire’…

Bushfires in Australia are frequently occurring events during the hotter months of the year due to Australia's mostly hot, dry climate. Large areas of land are ravaged every year by bushfires, which also cause property damage and loss of life. Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 people lost their lives.

Bushfires in Australia, are generally defined as any uncontrolled, non-structural fire burning in a grass, scrub, bush, or forested area. Australia, being a geographically and meteorogically diverse continent, experiences many types of bushfires. Fires can be divided into two main categories, depending on topography of the area.

•        Hilly/mountainous fires - Burn in hilly, mountainous or alpine areas which are usually densely forested.

•        Flat/grassland fires - Burn along flat plains or areas of small undulation, predominantly covered in grasses or scrubland. These fires can move quickly, fanned by high winds in flat topography, they quickly consume the small amounts of fuel/vegetation available.

Common causes of bushfires include lightning, arcing from overhead power lines, arson, accidental ignition from agricultural clearing, grinding and welding, campfires, cigarettes and dropped matches, machinery, and controlled burn escapes. There are some extraneous aspects that affect a bush fire and they are :

Fuel : Anything that burns is fuel for a fire, in particular leaf litter (which is the accumulation of leaves, twigs, bark and rubbish on the ground), undergrowth (shrubs, grass, seedlings), trees and other vegetation. The  vegetation provides a path, or ladder, for a fire to travel up, taking the flames from the ground right up into the tree tops.

Weather :  plays a major role in the severity of bushfires. The hotter and dryer the weather is, the more likely it is for a bushfire to start and spread quickly. Most bushfires start in the afternoon, when it is driest and hottest.

Wind speed and humidity : wind speed can influence a bushfire by pushing the fire forward, the stronger the wind the faster the bushfire can spread. Wind can also dry out the air by reduce the moisture.

Topography : is the slope of the land and it plays a major factor in bushfire behaviour. Very simply, a bushfire will move up much faster up a slope and slow down as it goes down a slope.

In Jan 2013, it was reported that a major bushfire destroyed at least 33 homes in New South Wales and damaged an observatory; the fire forced staff to evacuate from the Siding Spring Observatory, in the state's north-east. But while several buildings were affected, key telescopes  reportedly were not to have suffered "major damage". According to press reports, more than 170 fires were burning in New South Wales, and the cause was reportedly lightning strikes causing more blazes amid hot and windy weather. Such fires were reported in Victoria and Tasmania too….- the fires had been caused by days of searing heat across much of the country - so much so that Australia's Bureau of Meteorology was forced to add a new shade to its colour-coded temperature chart, for heat above 50C.

Punchline :  In case you developed a feeling that – Insurance Policies are easy to be interpret…….. and that loss or damage occasioned by Bush fire is indemnifiable, as ‘bush fire’ is a named peril…… the policy reads : “Bush Fire excluding loss damage or destruction caused by Forest fire”……..so that is Forest Fire and what is the difference between – “Bush Fire” and “Forest Fire”… ???? Can someone explain ???????????????

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

18th May 2013.     

With inputs from : https://esa.act.gov.au  and various sources in the web.