 In a bushfire, it's a really hot, violent environment. The conditions are very, very hostile. Flame temperatures are 1,100 degrees or more. A lot of the smoke actually blocks out a lot of the sun, so it makes visibility extremely difficult. Your ability to actually think rationally under those conditions is drastically reduced. If you're exposed to that sort of environment without any level of protection, chances of it surviving long are not great. It's a literal hell on Earth. Being able to predict precisely when and where a spotfire will occur is almost impossible. What we can do, though, is determine what the likely maximum distance of a spotfire is in bushfires. Ignition. You might not even be aware that there's a big bushfire heading toward you, but you then see lots of embers landing around you starting spotfires. Most of the embers get blown ahead of the fire and in a very intense fire that may be 40 kilometres or so from where the main fire actually is. There is great potential for those spotfires to actually coalesce and form brand new fire fronts and suddenly you could actually be surrounded by fire and have no clear path out because the fire is essentially everywhere. The fact of Australia's topography is that there's not much of it that's actually very flat. The speed of a fire on the slope can be very, very quick and can catch people unaware. With this fire here, it's starting from a spotfire, as you can see. The combination of that very strong wind on that very steep slope results in a horrendous rate of spread as the fire reaches the top of the ridge. The potential for getting caught in a fast-moving grass fire is extremely high. They are as dangerous as any other bushfire because you could not run through the flames and hope to survive. If your core temperature rises by two degrees or more, you run the risk of losing consciousness. You need to understand that it's not a matter of making plans on a nice, cool spring day but understanding exactly what the conditions are going to be when a bushfire arrives, you still need to be able to make rational decisions in order to ensure the safety of yourself and your family. There's no questioning the facts. Learn more at emergency.vic.gov.au Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne.