It is common to observe that where bushfires have spread into a community, green turf appearing on natural lawns across the country will stop the spread of surface fire from bushfire-prone vegetation to fire-vulnerable assets. Living turf does not sustain surface fire spread. Even where turf is dead and very dry, the low biomass of mown turf means that to the extent any fire spread is sustained, fire can only burn at very low intensity and is readily controlled and extinguished.
Turf has the further benefit of providing a defendable space from which firefighters can seek to protect properties. In the Australian Standard 3959 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas, managed turf is not considered a bushfire hazard. Land areas across which the principal vegetation cover is living turf, such as sports fields, maintained lawns, golf courses and other managed grasslands are termed low threat vegetation.
