Warnings, refuges and possible tagging of arsonists
Australia is setting up more than 1,000 fire refuges and a national alert system predicting the next fire season will be worse than this year’s, Reuters reports.
New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees has warned December-February could be "the highest risk summer that we have ever faced". Drought, climate change and dry forest undergrowth increase the risk.
The last fire season killed 173 people.
High risk days in every state
On high risk days people in bushfire-prone areas will be told to leave their homes. It is expected there will be at least one day of the highest possible fire risk in most states this summer.
There have also been calls for electronic tagging of known arsonists, banning them from fire-prone areas.
