Pity for a moment the first time visitor to the Territory who arrives in the dry season and is confronted by blackened landscapes, fires casually burning by the side of the road and days of continuous smoke haze. For people who associate fire with the terror of southern bushfires a bus trip to Kakadu can become an alarming adventure, for others the blackened landscape is a major disappointment.

Pity also the local pastoralist who is burning off some country only to have some energetic tourists pull up to the homestead and announce that they'd seen his fire and bravely put it out.

These are just a few of the problems caused by some basic misconceptions about fire in the Territory. To better inform visitors to the Territory about fire in this part of the world, the Bushfires Council of the NT together with the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will be releasing a brochure on northern bushfires aimed at tourists this coming dry season.

"The brochure describes why fires in the north are often quite different from southern bushfires and how the nature and management of northern fires varies through the year. It also offers a guide as to how visitors should report fires and where they can get more information on fires" said the Director of the Tropical Savannas CRC, Mr John Childs.

10,000 brochures are now being distributed through the Bushfires Council, tourist outlets, national parks and other outlets in the NT.

This awareness campaign is also being carried out in WA and Qld in collaboration with the Bushfire Agencies in those states and the Tropical Savannas CRC.