Bush fires are unplanned vegetation fires including forest fires, grass fires and scrub fires. They are a natural, essential and complex part of the Australian environment with ecosystems having evolved to be fire dependent.

Recent event: Black Summer bush fires 2019-20

• Burnt over 15.5 million hectares across NSW.
• 26 lives lost and 2,476 homes destroyed.
• Estimated damage of $2.3 billion*
• In the Northern Rivers, the Mount Nardi Fire burnt over 2,600 hectares and the Rappville Fire burnt over 8,000 hectares destroying homes, pine plantations and infrastructure.

*Insurance Council of Australia

Current risk

Current bush fire risk to buildings in the Northern Rivers

The map below indicates the current level of bush fire risk to buildings across the Northern Rivers.

The blue and purple show low risk areas, yellow shows moderate risk areas, and orange and red show high risk areas.

Buildings at highest risk from bush fires tend to be near bushland with a higher concentration of buildings. This includes homes and special fire protection purpose developments (i.e. buildings where people are likely to assemble including schools, hospitals, childcare centres, universities, retirement villages) as shown on the map above.

Current bush fire risk to the environment in the Northern Rivers

The map below indicates the current level of bush fire risk to the environment across the Northern Rivers.

The blue and purple show low risk areas, yellow shows moderate risk areas, and orange and red show high risk areas.

Areas where the environment is considered at higher risk are locations with threatened species, sensitive vegetation (e.g. rainforests) or land managed for conservation or environmental outcomes. Areas of highest risk include the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area and areas with threatened species or ecological communities.

Future risk

• It is projected that by 2050 there will be an average increase of 0.2 severe fire weather days per annum, which would further rise to 0.8 days by 2090.
• Bushfires are likely to be affected by changes to rainfall, increasing average temperature and increasing number of hot days. This is expected to reduce the interval between fires, lengthen the bushfire season, increase fire intensity and shorten the window for safe fire management.
• The greatest increases in severe fire weather days are projected to occur in inland areas north of Grafton. Bushfire risk is also expected to increase due continued population growth.

	Built Damage or destruction of buildings, essential infrastructure, public amenities and culturally significant sites
	Social Loss of life and injuries Health impacts from smoke and stress Displacement and disruption to essential community services and wellbeing
	Economic Damage to crops, livestock and industry assets Business disruption and higher costs Reduced local economic activity and productivity losses
	Natural Death or injury of native wildlife Habitat loss and ecosystem decline Increased erosion Pollution from smoke, soil salinity and run off Regrowth of weeds

Next steps

• Coastal hazard regional risk insights
• Share your feedback on natural hazard risk
• Reducing hazard risk

Note: The information contained on these Have Your Say website pages is general information only, based on knowledge and understanding at the time of publication (June 2026) or otherwise based on data which pre-dates its publication, and may be subject to change at any time without notice. The State of NSW and its agencies (including the NSW Reconstruction Authority) do not give any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information. Read our full legal notice at bottom of the Have Your Say landing page.