Across the Northern Territory, thousands of square kilometres of parched savanna and grazing land have been reduced to ashes as bushfires spread rapidly amid another heatwave and weeks of ongoing lightning strikes.
Flying high above Gorrie Station in his chopper, Mike Harding estimated about a quarter of his 700-square-kilometre cattle property, a five-hour drive south of Darwin, had been burnt.
"There have been so many of these little wildcat electrical storms over the past fortnight," Mr Harding said.
"It's made it pretty difficult to beat this year … it's just been one after the other."
The Bureau of Meteorology had declared a low-intensity to severe heatwave across the Top End over the weekend and Monday after weeks of persistently high temperatures.
Fires that tear through the dry land at this time of year are not uncommon, after months of no rain.
But Mr Harding said a succession of dry wet seasons had made 2022 particularly challenging.
"Fires are nothing new, but [this year] it seems to be widespread and long-winded," he said.
Two hours' drive north, at Scott Creek Station, fires had gutted more than half of the expansive cattle property on the outskirts of Katherine, according to Doug Miller from AAM Investment Group, which managed the station.
At the neighbouring station, Manbulloo, managed by Mr Miller, almost 40 per cent had been engulfed in flames sparked by electrical storms that were having far-reaching implications.
"It's pulling all the staff out from doing other jobs to go and concentrate on getting these fires out," Mr Miller said.
"We've lost quite a bit of country."
For the past three weeks, lightning strikes over Sturt Plateau Lakefield cattle station caused fires that came dangerously close to the homestead, according to its owner Garry Riggs.
Earlier this year, the station, 150 kilometres south-east of Katherine, experienced its driest wet season since rainfall recordings began in 1999.
Bushfires NT, the Northern Territory's agency for rural fire management, had responded to more than 47 wildfires since the start of the fire season, director of operations Andrew Turner said in a statement on Tuesday.
But that did not take into account the fires managed by landowners themselves, such as Mike Harding.
"Everyone in the area is aware and getting on board with giving a hand … I've been out in the chopper [almost every day] where it's easier to see, to let people know where there are fires and if they can be beaten," Mr Harding said.
Mr Turner said while there had been no "notable rise" in fire activity this season the ramifications were still colossal.
"While there have not been any reported losses from the current bushfires near Katherine and Mataranka, the cost to landholders in lost pasture, fence repairs, and lost productivity is considerable," he said.
Additionally, the cost to the Northern Territory government to support and coordinate a widespread response team that spanned almost 99 per cent of the NT, was tens of thousands of dollars annually, Mr Turner said.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the next month could spell more trouble for kilometres of bushland and pastures.
"On the prognostics from December to February, the rainfall outlook looks like it could actually be below average," meteorologist Mosese Raico said.
Ongoing scorching temperatures and not enough rain, "potentially could make those fire danger ratings a little bit higher than what we would like", over the next few weeks, he said.
