Who's competing, Bushfires, sadly, are somewhat regular thing in Outback Australia during the hot summers but these Bushfires are burning literally out of control in N.E. New South Wales S.E. Queensland, Sth. Australia and Tasmania, ripping their way through everything and anything in their path.At least 80% of Australia has been in a very prolonged drought since around 2003, everything that was once green is now either browned off and dead, just right for feeding the fires, or dying very slowly and will be fire fodder before much longer.
Out here where I live, the Gateway to the Outback, the paddocks are little more than dust bowls covered with the remains of dead plants and grasses mixed in with the bleached white skeletons of animals, native and domestic, that have persished from thirst and starvation.
Out here, our average anuual rainfall is about 10 inches, since around 2003 we have only received approx. 1 and 1 thirds years TOTAL rainfall since 2003, I suppose it could be said that, luckily, so far, there isn't enough heavy tree and scrub material around to allow Bushfires like those elsewhere to start and spread because IF one were to get started then there is NOT enough water available anywhere out here to put one out.

@Grahame, Triphid

Thanks for the clarification.

It loooks to me like AU is a copy of CA conditions, long droughts, rare heavy rain or snow, and prolonged heat and wind events, year after year after year.

We use the ocean and lakes to put them out, but there is no such thing. Here we speak in turns of containment.

You take care of you and yours fellas, I hope the best for you.
Sadly, you are not alone in this threat.