Growing up in what was then the peri-urban fringe of Greater Sydney near the boundary of the Ku-ring-gai National Park, I was no stranger to the imminent threat of bushfire consuming my local neighbourhood. I recall in the long dry, hot summer of 1979 /80 after prolonged drought running around the backyards of neighbours’ houses, with a ragtag militia of willing local inhabitants beating down spot fires with wet blankets provided by the local volunteer fire brigade.