Bushfire Season 2026-27 Preparation Guide

Bushfire season in Australia runs roughly October to March. Fires can start earlier in the north and run later in the south. This guide covers how fires are detected, how warnings reach you, and what has changed for the 2026-27 season.

How a Fire Goes from Detection to Your Phone

Most people see a warning on their phone. Behind that notification is a chain of systems working together. Understanding the chain helps you know what to trust and how quickly information travels.

1. Detection
Satellites scan for heat (DEA Hotspots, every 10 min)
Triple-zero calls from the public
Fire towers, aircraft patrols, ground spotters

2. Assessment
Fire agency confirms the fire
Assigns a warning level (Advice, Watch and Act, or Emergency Warning)

3. Distribution
AusAlert cell broadcast (new, Oct 2026)
State emergency app push notification
ABC Emergency broadcast on TV and radio
SEWS warning siren played before broadcasts
Social media posts from agency accounts

4. You act
Follow your bushfire survival plan based on the warning level

Satellite detections can arrive before ground reports. State agencies then verify the fire and decide on a warning level. From there, warnings go out through multiple channels at once.

Fire Danger Ratings (AFDRS)

The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) replaced the old system in September 2022. Fire danger ratings are set daily by the Bureau of Meteorology based on weather forecasts, fuel conditions, and terrain. They tell you how dangerous a fire would be if one started today.

Rating	What It Means	What to Do
Moderate	Most fires can be controlled.	Stay informed. Know your plan.
High	Fires can be difficult to control.	Be ready to act. Check conditions regularly.
Extreme	Fires will spread quickly and be hard to control.	Take action now to protect life and property.
Catastrophic	Fires will be uncontrollable, unpredictable, and fast-moving.	For your survival, leave bushfire-prone areas early.

On Catastrophic days, no amount of preparation guarantees safety. The safest option is to leave early. This is not a recommendation. It is the official advice from every state fire agency in Australia.

Check today's fire danger rating at bom.gov.au.

Warning Levels: What Each One Means

Australia uses a three-tier warning system. These levels tell you what is happening and what you should do right now.

Level	What Is Happening	What You Should Do
Advice	A fire has started. There is no immediate threat to lives or homes.	Stay informed. Monitor your state's app and local ABC radio.
Watch and Act	Conditions are changing. The fire may threaten you.	Decide now: leave or stay and defend. Do not wait for the next level.
Emergency Warning	You are in danger. The fire is threatening lives and homes now.	Take immediate action to survive. It may be too late to leave safely.

For technical details on how these levels map to data fields, see the warning systems guide.

Every Way You Get Notified

There is no single channel that covers everything. Use multiple sources. Here is every way bushfire warnings can reach you.

Channel	How It Reaches You	Coverage	Notes
AusAlert	Cell broadcast direct to your phone	National	Launches Oct 2026. No app needed. Cannot be blocked.
State emergency apps	Push notification and live map	Per state	Download your state's app now (see table below).
ABC Emergency	TV, radio, website, app	National	Australia's designated emergency broadcaster.
SEWS siren	Distinctive siren on TV and radio	National	Played before emergency broadcasts. Battery radio recommended.
Social media	Agency Facebook/X pages	Per state	Not guaranteed delivery. Do not rely on this alone.
Triple Zero (000)	You call them	National	For life-threatening emergencies only.

AusAlert is the only channel that reaches your phone without an app, without a phone number on file, and without an internet connection. It uses cell broadcast technology, the same system used for emergency alerts in the US, EU, and Japan. Read more about how AusAlert works.

State-by-State Guide

Each state has its own emergency app and website. Download the app for every state you live in or travel through. If you are visiting another state during bushfire season, get their app before you arrive.

State	Emergency App	Website	Bushfire Info Line
NSW	Hazards Near Me NSW	rfs.nsw.gov.au	1800 679 737
VIC	VicEmergency	emergency.vic.gov.au	1800 240 667
QLD	QLD Fires	qfes.qld.gov.au	13 QGOV (13 74 68)
SA	Alert SA	alert.sa.gov.au	1800 362 361
WA	Emergency WA	emergency.wa.gov.au	13 DFES (13 33 37)
TAS	TasALERT	alert.tas.gov.au	1800 000 699
ACT	ESA ACT	esa.act.gov.au	1300 729 900
NT	Secure NT	pfes.nt.gov.au	1800 246 246

For detailed information about each state's emergency data feeds and agencies, see our state guides.

Satellite Hotspots and Early Detection

Before a fire is reported by a person on the ground, it can be detected from space. Geoscience Australia runs Digital Earth Australia (DEA) Hotspots, a satellite-based fire detection system. Sensors on multiple satellites (MODIS, VIIRS, Himawari-8) scan Australia for thermal anomalies every 10 to 90 minutes depending on the satellite pass.

A hotspot does not mean there is a confirmed fire. It means a satellite detected something unusually hot at that location. Hotspots can be bushfires, but they can also be planned burn-offs, industrial sites, or sun reflecting off a roof. Fire agencies use hotspot data alongside ground reports to build the full picture.

You can view the live DEA Hotspots map at hotspots.dea.ga.gov.au.

EmergencyAPI includes DEA satellite hotspot data alongside state incident feeds, so you can see both confirmed incidents and satellite detections in one place.

What’s New for 2026-27

The biggest change this season is AusAlert, Australia's new national emergency warning system. It replaces Emergency Alert, which has been in use since 2009.

AusAlert launches October 2026. It uses cell broadcast technology to send warnings directly to every phone in an affected area. No app download required. No phone number on file required.
National test on 27 July 2026. Every compatible phone in Australia will receive a test alert. Read more about what to expect.
Emergency Alert decommissioned July 2027. The old SMS and landline system will be retired. See AusAlert vs Emergency Alert for a comparison.
Cell broadcast works without internet. But it does not work if your phone is off or in a dead zone. Keep a battery-powered radio as backup.

Read the full AusAlert overview for more detail on the new system.

Prepare Your Property

This guide focuses on how warnings reach you. For physical preparation (clearing gutters, creating defendable space, packing an emergency kit, writing a bushfire survival plan), your state fire agency publishes detailed checklists. Here are the direct links:

Start preparing before the season, not during it. If you are in a bushfire-prone area, have a written plan and make sure everyone in your household knows what to do.

What EmergencyAPI Adds

All the systems above are designed to inform you as an individual. If you need to build something with this data (an app, a dashboard, automated alerts, risk monitoring), EmergencyAPI unifies 30 government feeds from all 8 states and territories into a single standardised API.

Real-time incidents from every state fire and emergency service
DEA satellite hotspot detections
Standardised fields across all sources (severity, urgency, certainty, geometry)
Free tier with no credit card required

Learn more about how EmergencyAPI works.

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