Controlled burn by mine operator in Kakadu sparks out-of-control bushfire

A weed-control burn by a uranium mine operator has sparked an out-of-control bushfire in Kakadu national park.

The fire has forced the closure of Nourlangie Rock, one of the region’s largest and most important Indigenous art sites, containing rock art which dates back 50,000 years, as well as depictions of first contact with Europeans.

Traditional owners have blamed Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), operator of the Ranger uranium mine, for the fire which began on Tuesday after ERA employees began a controlled burn for weed management.

On Wednesday afternoon two ground crews of firefighters as well as water-bombing helicopter were battling it on multiple fronts, Parks Australia said. The front heading into the stone country had been controlled and back burning operations were being undertaken in and around Nourlangie Rock.

“Despite ground and aerial fire management, the fire is continuing to burn in culturally and environmentally sensitive areas within Kakadu’s floodplain and stone country,” a spokeswoman told Guardian Australia.

It had burned an estimated 200 square kilometres.

It was far too late in the dry season to safely start a fire, said Gunjeihmi Corporation, which represents the Mirrar people.

“Once again the stone country is aflame late in the dry season. This country has taken an absolute hammering over recent years from very hot, late dry-season fires,” a spokesman for Gunjeihmi Corporation told Guardian Australia.

“Hot, late dry-season fire does enormous damage. It kills habitat trees and endangered species and it destroys sites of cultural significance.

“Important cultural sites are under threat as we speak. Mirarr traditional owners are angry that this has been allowed to happen on their lands.”

It was the second year in a row ERA weed management had sparked a fire late in the dry season.

“ERA’s failure to contain this fire demonstrates that nature does not discriminate between a uranium mining lease and a world heritage-listed national park,” the spokesman said. “This is one continuous landscape and this situation has huge implications for the future rehabilitation of the mine site.”

ERA’s Ranger mine is on land near the township of Jabiru, and is surrounded by Kakadu. The fire spread to the national park and the spokesman said it was dangerously close to impenetrable bushland where it would be impossible to fight.

A spokeswoman for ERA said the company followed correct protocols and notified Parks Australia before the burn. There was no fire ban in place.

The burn began in normal weather conditions but an hour after it ended a sudden change in winds reignited embers and carried them across containment lines, she said.

ERA has committed to funding aerial water bombing operations and is carrying out an internal investigation.

Dave Sweeney, a campaigner with the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the fire was “further evidence of the systemic failure of management and systems at Energy Resources of Australia’s Ranger uranium mine”.

“ERA did a comparable ‘too late, too hot’ burn last year. It appears the company has learned nothing from that experience,” he said.

“The fire is the latest in a litany of incidents and failures at the embattled uranium operation which has experienced more than 200 spills and breaches.”

ERA must end its mining and processing at Ranger by 2021, and recently lost the support of parent company Rio Tinto to push for a second uranium mine.

“This current fire highlights again the need for ERA to accelerate the closure and full rehabilitation of Ranger,” said Sweeney.