Historical Bushfire Extents 2020–25

[View Map in ArcGIS] ##### ##### Abstract The Historical Bushfire Extents dataset represents the aggregation of jurisdictional supplied burnt extent areas that date from 1 July 2020 through to 30 June 2025. The burnt extents represent curated jurisdictional owned areas of both bushfires and prescribed (planned) burns. This data was developed through collaboration between [Geoscience Australia] and the [National Bushfire Intelligence Capability] (NBIC). NBIC Stage 3 is led by [CSIRO] and funded by the Australian Government through the [National Emergency Management Agency] (NEMA). This is a scientific product and should not be used for safety of life decisions. Please refer to jurisdictional emergency response agencies for incident warnings and information. ##### Currency Date created: 14 November 2025 Modification frequency: As needed ##### Data extent Spatial extent North: -9° South: -44° East: 154° West: 112° Coordinate reference: Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94) Temporal extent: From July 2020 to June 2025 ##### Source information * Australian Capital Territory Parks and Conservation * New South Wales Rural Fire Service * Northern Territory Bushfires NT * Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service * South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources * Tasmania Department of Natural Resources and Environment * Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action * Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Please note that some of the above agencies are responsible for the collection and distribution of multiple agencies data. These agencies are identified at the attribute level. ##### ##### Lineage statement Version 1 (2025): This web service aggregates and harmonises historical bushfire data from every jurisdiction for the last five (5) financial years (1 July 2020 to 30 June 2025). The underlying data for this webservice is directly referenced from the National Historical Bushfire Extents – Geodatabase - Version 4. The Northern Territory data has been included in this release. It is contained as a separate layer within the web service. The reason for this separation is discussed below in known limitations. Known limitations 1. The ‘as supplied’ data from the NT is currently represented as a separate feature. Further work will be required with NT government to ensure alignment of their data to the current National Fire History schema. 2. Geoscience Australia is aware that duplicate data (features) may appear within this dataset. This duplicate data is commonly represented in the regions around state borders where it is operationally necessary for one jurisdiction to understand cross border situations. Care must be taken when summing the values to obtain a total area burnt. 3. The data within this aggregated national product is a spatial representation of the input data received from the custodian agencies. Therefore, data quality and data completion will vary. If you wish to assess more information about specific jurisdictional data and/or data feature(s) it is strongly recommended that you contact the appropriate custodian. Data completeness The completeness of the data in this webservice is reliant on each jurisdictional source and the information they elect to publish into their historical bushfire boundary datasets. Note: Geoscience Australia has, where possible, attempted to align the data to the National Fire History Data Dictionary. However, this has not been possible in all cases. Geoscience Australia has not included attributes added automatically by spatial software processes in the table below. ##### ##### Data dictionary All layers ───────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Attribute name │Description ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── fire_id │ID attached to fire (e.g. incident ID, Event ID, Burn ID). ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── fire_name │Incident name (if available). ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ignition_date │The date of the ignition of a fire event. Date and time are captured in jurisdiction local time and converted to UTC. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── capture_date │The date of the incident boundary was captured or updated. Date and time are captured in jurisdiction local time and converted to UTC. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── extinguish_date│The date a fire is declared safe (contained and under control). If available. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── fire_type │Binary variable to describe whether a fire was a bushfire or prescribed burn. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ignition_cause │Cause of fire. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── capt_method │Categorical variable to describe the source of data used for defining the spatial extent of the fire. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── area_ha │Burnt area in hectares. Calculated field so that all area calculations are done in the same map projection. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── perim_km │Burnt perimeter in kilometres. Calculated field so that all area calculations are done in the same map projection. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── state │State custodian of the data. │NOTE: Currently some states use and have in their feeds cross border data. ───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── agency │Agency that is responsible for the incident. ───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Fire type definitions ───────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Category │Description ───────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Bushfire │Unplanned vegetation fire. A generic term which includes grass fires, forest fires and scrub fires both with and without a suppression objective. │Also known as wildfire, accident, arson, lightning. ───────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Prescribed burn│The controlled application of fire under specified environmental conditions to a predetermined area and at the time, intensity, and rate of spread required to attain planned resource management objectives. │Also known as planned burning, fuel reduction, traditional owner, ecological, hazard reduction. ───────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Unknown │Fire type is undetermined. ───────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Ignition cause definitions ────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Category │Description ────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Accidental │Fires that are not the result of a deliberate (intentional) act. ────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Natural │Fires that ignite without human intervention. ────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Incendiary │Fires result from deliberate acts, intentional actions, or circumstances for the fire to occur in areas where it should not have occurred. ────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Undetermined│Fires that have not yet been investigated, under investigation or fires that have been investigated and the cause is not proven to an acceptable level of certainty. ────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Capture methods definitions ───────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Category │Description ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Aerial Photography │Derived from aerial photography including manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Linescanner │Mapped against airborne sensor systems. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Ground intelligence │Mud map from ground observation. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Ground intelligence GPS│Fire boundary derived from ground (e.g. GPS tracker, Avenza). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Air intelligence │Mud map from air observation. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Air intelligence GPS │Fire boundary derived from air (e.g. helicopter, spotter). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Himawari │Derived from geostationary satellite Himawari and includes manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 2 km). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── NOAA AVHRR │Derived from Low resolution - NOAA AVHRR satellite including manual interpretation, partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 1 km). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MODIS │Derived from Low resolution - MODIS satellite imagery including manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 250 km). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── VIIRS │Derived from Low resolution - VIIRS satellite imagery including manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 375 km). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Landsat │Derived from Medium resolution - Landsat satellite imagery including manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 30 m). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Sentinel │Derived from Medium resolution - Sentinel satellite imagery including manual interpretation as well as partially automated and fully automated methods (spatial accuracy ± 10 - │20 m). ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Multiple │Derived from multiple sources e.g. combination of ground intel and linescanner. For detailed information contact agency or state responsible. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Unknown │Data source is unknown. ───────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ##### Contact Geoscience Australia, [clientservices@ga.gov.au]