1.    Introduction

Last year the National Rural Fire Authority decided to find out more about how much we spend on preventing and fighting wildfires, the cost of those fires when they occur and the long term trends in the sector.

The report we commissioned from the economic consultants, BERL Ltd, shows that the economic cost in the six years between 2002 and 2007 for wildfires cost NZ a total of $586.2m.

That cost was made up of the following:

2.     Long-Term Economic Cost of Wildfires

The report also looked in more detail at the single largest component of after fire costs, the long-term economic cost of the damage caused by wildfires. This is largely made up of the loss of timber through forest wildfires and the impact of this loss on related industries.

3.     Key Trends in Wildfires

The report also attempted to compare the costs of wildfires between a similar study undertaken in the 1980s and the recent 2002-2007 period.

This comparison detected the following key trends:

                 i.       Total spending on fire prevention increased approximately 30% between the 1980s and 2002-2007.

                   ii.    The average annual area burnt by wildfires per year in the period 2002-2007 was less than half the comparable figure for the 1980s – 6,050 ha compared with 13,300ha.

                  iii.    The cost per hectare of fire fighting and fire prevention in plantation forest fell by more than 30% per hectare over the two periods.

4.     Context for Trends

When reading the report two additional key trends need to be considered. Between the 1980s and the later comparison period of 2002-2007:

                 i.   Total plantation forest increased in size by 40%, from 1.31m ha to 1.82m ha; and

                ii.   Significant areas of high country land were returned to direct (and less intense) fuel management by the Crown.

These changes increased the fire risk and potential fire intensity over the comparison period.

5.     Conclusions

The Report has provided NRFA and the rural fire sector with valuable information. It has also identified areas in which data collection could be improved and greater clarity about costs in the sector achieved.

The study undertaken in 1987 for cost comparisons purposes did not include  costs associated with the contribution made by some individual members of the sector – territorial local authorities, small forest owners.

In addition the costs associated with the contribution made NZ Fire Service for attendance at rural fire incidents outside the urban fire districts was not included in either the 1987 and 2009 study. Some work is currently underway to quantify what these associated costs are.