Australia's Fire Danger Ratings Explained: Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic

As the southern summer approaches, the fire danger signs along Australian roads start moving off "Moderate". The ratings follow the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS), introduced nationally in September 2022 to replace a six-level scale that many people found confusing. It's simpler now: four levels, each tied to a clear action.

The four ratings

• Moderate — Plan and prepare. Most fires can be controlled. Stay up to date and be ready to act if there is a fire.
• High — Be ready to act. Fires can be dangerous. Know where to get information and check your bushfire plan.
• Extreme — Take action now to protect your life and property. Fires will spread quickly and be extremely dangerous. Be ready to leave, or to defend only if your property is prepared and you are.
• Catastrophic — For your survival, leave bushfire risk areas. If a fire starts and takes hold, lives are likely to be lost. Homes are not designed to withstand fires in these conditions.

On days when the risk is very low, there's no rating at all. That doesn't mean a fire can't start, just that it's unlikely to be hard to control.

How ratings are worked out

The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts ratings for each fire weather district, usually up to four days ahead, working with state fire agencies. The new system models how fire would behave in different vegetation — grassland, forest, spinifex, mallee and others — so a windy, hot day can carry a different rating in a grassland district than in a forested one next door.

Ratings, Total Fire Bans and warnings are different things

• A fire danger rating tells you how dangerous a fire would be if one started. It's a forecast.
• A Total Fire Ban is a legal order, declared by the state fire agency, that bans lighting fires in the open and restricts activities such as welding, grinding and some barbecues. Bans are often declared on Extreme and Catastrophic days, but they're a separate decision with their own rules in each state.
• A bushfire warning is about an actual fire. Under the Australian Warning System it goes from Advice to Watch and Act to Emergency Warning. See our guide to evacuation levels for how these compare with other countries.

So you might see an Extreme rating and a Total Fire Ban with no fire anywhere near you. That's the system working: it's telling you to be ready before anything happens.

When fire season peaks depends on where you are

Australia doesn't have a single fire season. Fire activity in FireRadar's Australian feeds this year shows the split clearly:

• Queensland: vegetation fires held at around 420–460 a month from April to June, then climbed steadily as the dry season set in, to a peak of 1,875 in September, before easing to 1,016 in October. Permitted burns peaked earlier, at 627 in August, and dropped away as the danger rose — crews burn ahead of the risky part of the season, not during it. More on that in our post about prescribed burns on fire maps.
• Victoria and Tasmania: bushfire incidents were high in autumn (405 in Victoria in April), fell to a winter low (118 in June), and were back above 400 by October as spring warmed up. The main bushfire danger in the south comes in summer, from December to March.
• Western Australia: bushfires were highest in May (489) and climbing again by October (438). The south-west's main bushfire season runs through summer, while the north burns in the dry season.
• Northern Australia: the Top End and Kimberley burn mostly in the dry season, from roughly April to November.

These counts come from the incident feeds published by each state's fire service, from April to October 2026, and exclude structure fires and other non-bushfire incidents. Because our data starts in April, it doesn't include last summer's peak in the south.

What to do as ratings rise

1. Check the rating for your district each day during fire season, on your state fire agency's website or app.
2. Write or update your bushfire plan, including what rating will make you leave and where you'll go.
3. Prepare your property: clear gutters, move flammable items away from the house and keep vegetation low. Our defensible space guide covers the details.
4. Pack a go bag, and plan for pets and livestock early.
5. On Extreme days, be ready to go at short notice. On Catastrophic days in a bushfire risk area, leave early.

FireRadar shows fire incidents from Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania alongside satellite hotspots, with wind and air quality layers. Always follow your state fire agency's warnings for official advice.