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Contrary to popular opinion, most fires start outside parks and burn in. The 1983 Ash Wednesday and 1939 Black Friday fires were mostly in regrowth forests recovering from logging - while in national parks and wildlife reserves of NSW between 1974 and 1984, 65 fires began outside reserves and burnt into them, compared with 14 fires that began in reserves and burnt out into other land.
If NAFI really cared about public safety, they would be calling for a moratorium on logging during this crisis, because logging makes forests more fire-prone. Huge amounts of debris are left on the forest floor after logging, and logged areas cause a drying out of the surrounding forest, adding to the fire hazard.
Moreover, as Michael Fendley pointed out, 75 per cent of fires are started by humans, either through arson or by accident - and logging roads increase public access into forest areas.
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