A study into the 2009 Victorian bushfires has shown that current bushfire strategy does little to reduce the risk of house destruction in catastrophic weather conditions.
Using a sample of 3500 houses affected by the 7 February 2009 bushfires, researchers found that those houses closer than 1km to a large patch of forest were at risk, even if trees were not near the house during crown fires.
Crown fires occur when fire jumps from one tree top to the next with intense speed.
Zoning by Australian authorities requires properties to remain distances from forest that vary from 25 metres to 500 metres.
Read more at University of Wollongong