Bushfire season is starting early in Australia, as an expert warns “our luck will run out” without increased investment in disaster preparedness. “We’ve been amazingly lucky, but our luck will run out.”

Climate change CSIRO research has confirmed the link between climate change and escalating fires in Australia, and three wet years have created plenty of fuel as Australia enters the drier and warmer El Nino weather pattern.

“It staggers me the amount of work we’ve got to do and it’s not really starting.

Nick Wilson, a researcher with the ANU-Optus Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, said by using a combination of technologies, researchers hope to explore new methods for identifying fires before they become uncontrollable.

“The problem you come back to is an organisation needs to interpret, package and disseminate information, and that is a huge investment,” he said.