the following video - and from about the 11 minute mark - comments on the fires - and they include some information from a csiro fire expert - ie david Packham...
apparently they can measure the amount of heat energy in a fire front - and anything over 3 or 4 megawatts /meter of fire front - and water cannot put the fire out.. it seems that some of the fire fronts have up to 70 megawatts/meter.. and it has very much to do with the build up of fuel.
apparently in the good old days there were a few timber mills which took out some timber - but there were plenty of tracks etc etc - and with controlled burns everything was kept under control .
