Bushfire warning levels and fire status, explained
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A fire in Australia carries two separate labels, and they answer different questions. The warning level says how much danger the fire poses to people. The fire status says how far firefighters have got with containing it. A remote fire can be out of control with no warning at all; a fire near homes can be under control and still carry an Advice. Read both.
See current fires and their warnings →Warning levels: the Australian Warning System
Every state and territory uses the same three levels for bushfire warnings.
| Level | What it means |
|---|---|
| Advice | A fire has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes. |
| Watch and Act | There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family. |
| Emergency Warning | The highest level. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay puts your life at risk. |
Each warning comes with an action, such as Prepare to leave, Leave now or Shelter indoors now. The action matters more than the level: follow it. Official source: the Australian Warning System.
Fire status: how contained the fire is
The stages run from burning freely to essentially out. Agencies use different words for them, so here is the scale with every word that means each stage:
| Stage | Agency words | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Out of control | Going · Not yet controlled · Not yet under control · Out of control | The fire is spreading and its edge is not held. |
| Being controlled | Being controlled · Contained | A containment line is in, or nearly in, but the fire is still actively burning and more work is needed. |
| Under control | Under control · Safe | The line is established and consolidated. The fire is unlikely to escape, though it may still burn inside it. |
| Patrolled | Patrolled · Patrol | Fire activity is essentially nil, with occasional smoke. Crews are checking for flare-ups. |
"Contained" is not "out". A contained fire has a line around it and is still burning. Queensland and Victoria use both Contained and Patrolled, and they mean different things: contained is two stages earlier. NSW and the Northern Territory say "Being controlled" for the stage Queensland and Victoria call Contained; no agency uses both words.
Words that are not a containment stage
Responding, Mobilised, On scene, Advised and Investigating mean crews have been sent or have arrived. They say nothing about containment yet, and a newly reported fire is usually shown this way first. It is not a sign the fire is out of control, or that it is under control.
Active (NT, WA) means the fire is being attended and the agency has not published a containment stage. Monitoring (WA) means crews are keeping watch: WA DFES reports its crews' response rather than containment. Tasmania's Stop is read here as spread halted, and shown with Patrolled.
The words each state uses
What each agency's feed actually publishes, as seen in September 2026:
| State or territory | Status words |
|---|---|
| New South Wales (NSW RFS) | Not yet controlled · Being controlled · Under control · Responding |
| Victoria (VicEmergency) | Not yet under control · Contained · Under control · Safe · Patrolled · Responding · On scene |
| Queensland (Queensland Fire Department) | Going · Contained · Patrolled |
| South Australia (CFS) | Going |
| Western Australia (DFES) | Responding · On scene · Active · Monitoring (crew response, not containment) |
| Tasmania (TFS) | Going · Patrol · Stop · Mobilised · Investigating · Advised |
| Northern Territory (Bushfires NT) | Going · Being controlled · Active |
| ACT (ESA) | Written into the warning text rather than a separate field |
Hipponics Firewatch maps every one of these onto the single scale above, so a fire reads the same way whichever side of a border it is on, and shows the agency's own word beside it.
Fire Danger Ratings are something else again
A Fire Danger Rating is a forecast of how dangerous a fire would be if one started, not a report of a fire. The four levels are Moderate (plan and prepare), High (be ready to act), Extreme (take action now to protect life and property) and Catastrophic (for your survival, leave bushfire risk areas). See today's Fire Danger Ratings or the Australian Fire Danger Rating System.
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