TASMANIAN homeowners are not fire-ready despite warnings that summer 2009-2010 could be a dire season.

Research by insurer AAMI shows that while Tasmania topped the national table when it came to overall bushfire preparedness, only two in five households have enough equipment to deal with a threat, the Hobart Mercury reports.

Tasmanians living on the fringe of major population centres are the most complacent about the threat bushfire poses to their property.

Tasmania's fire chief Mike Brown said while a water pump in a swimming pool could be handy in the face of fire, having your property fire-ready in terms of fuel loads and other preventative measures was more important.

Mr Brown said claims Tasmania was in line for a hellish bushfire season were a tad dramatic, but there was potential for things to flare up in the bush.

"The Bureau of Meteorology's three-month outlook shows no particular trend in terms of rainfall and temperature," Mr Brown said.

"But there is an abundance of fuel and we could get a couple of extreme days when all the conditions such as high winds and high temperatures combine to increase the risk of wildfires."

AAMI Tasmania's Steve Wilson said the research, which examined general fire preparedness, preventative measures and risk behaviours, provided a worrying insight into what might lay ahead for Tasmanians this bushfire season. The 2009 Bushfire Preparedness Index showed that three-quarters of Tasmanians know how to respond to a fire threat.

"The sad irony here is that they would be unable to act on that knowledge because they do not have the basic equipment," Mr Wilson said.

Only two in five Tasmanian homes have a fire extinguisher and only 31 per cent own a fire blanket.

Read more at the Hobart Mercury online