It can't be helped. Some parts of the Australian landscape have always burned in summer. Some trees evolved to produce seed pods that only open in a bushfire. The land is very dry in places and very wet in others.
The CFS do a great job of controlled burning through the cooler months and there's a big focus on cutting trees back from power lines. The CFS are also great at defending homes and townships but sometimes fires move too quickly.
Theres a lot of smoke settled over Adelaide again this morning from the Cudlee Creek fire - started by a tree falling on power lines.
There will be more fires before summer is over. Some say all the power lines should be underground but the cost is prohibitive. In new real estate developments, all the powerlines are underground. And the sections of the existing above-ground network that age are being gradually replaced with underground. This isn't really necessary in the suburbs, but along the country roads its important.
Of course, we'll still have some fires from lightening strikes and from careless people. Careless people pay heavy fines when caught and folks inform police if they see something risky on catastrophic fire danger days - one farmer copped a $1500 fine when his neighbours told the police he was using an angle grinder. But there's nothing to be done about storms.
Awful time of year to suddenly find yourself homeless.
