@conference {bnh-6507, title = {Safety awareness of firefighters and their perception of fire risks in cladding fires }, booktitle = {AFAC19 powered by INTERSCHUTZ - Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forum}, year = {2019}, month = {12/2019}, publisher = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, organization = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

Owing to the extensive use of polymers in building products, there is the urgent need to resolve the present fire risks of highly combustible cladding products. Apart from understanding the risks associated with cladding materials on buildings, it is also essential to evaluate the underlying risks of existing noncompliant materials on buildings for residents, owners, and the public, and for firefighters during the management of such fire events. In this article, a fire risk perception survey was constructed by a collaborative effort from Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) and University of New South Wales. The survey can be subdivided into four major parts, i) demographics, ii) risk awareness and identification associated with cladding material, iii) the firefighter{\textquoteright}s own perceived risk associated with cladding fires and iv) risk mitigating behaviours. The majority of the questions are designed with five distinctive levels (i.e. ranging from rare to almost certain, or negligible to very high), and it will be distributed to firefighters from major states and rural fire agencies around Australia. The results will formulate a large and comprehensive database to increase our understanding of the firefighter{\textquoteright}s risk perception associated with combustible cladding materials.

Download the full peer reviewed research proceedings\ from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forumhere.

}, keywords = {cladding, Emergency management, fire management, Fire risk, firefighter, risk awareness}, url = {https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/australian-journal-of-emergency-management-monograph-series/}, author = {Timothy Bo Yuan Chen and Anthony Chun Yin Yuen and Qing Nian Chan and Guan Heng Yeoh} } @conference {bnh-6523, title = {Utilisation of fire spread simulators to assess power network fire risk }, booktitle = {AFAC19 powered by INTERSCHUTZ - Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forum}, year = {2019}, month = {12/2019}, publisher = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, organization = {Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

Western Power is a Western Australian State Government owned power network and energy corporation. In 2013, an external review commissioned by Western Power, recommended the development of an improved bushfire risk map for the network based on the consequences of potential network bushfire ignitions. In response to the review Western Power entered into a joint collaboration with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and Landgate to develop a multiple ignition point based bushfire risk analysis product suitable for use on the power network across the south west of Western Australia.

The objective of this project is to assist Western Power in prioritising their asset renewal and maintenance budget to ensure they{\textquoteright}ve addressed sites with the highest potential consequences, realising better public safety out-comes. The utilisation of the fire spread simulator system Aurora, to model the consequences of a bushfire ignition from power poles and wires has been investigated to provide this intelligence. Western Power maintains approximately 800,000 power poles within the south west of Western Australia. The development of an appropriate methodology to provide the required intelligence for the prioritisation of appropriate asset renewal and maintenance implementation programs in response to the risk of bushfire ignition, has proven to be challenging.

Aurora is a web-based bushfire spread prediction system that simulates the probable direction, intensity and rate of bushfire spread. The simulator considers ignition location, vegetation, time of last burn, fuel accumulation models, forecasted weather, drought factor, grassland curing and slope to calculate fire behaviour and spread. For this project, the simulator architecture uses 99.5th percentile Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) weather conditions for each of the 8 cardinal wind directions to produce 6 million fire spread
simulations. These simulations together with a building location dataset are used to estimate asset numbers that could potentially be impacted by a fire running for one hour, from each power pole. Using this methodology maintenance can be prioritised for individual power poles based on the potential impact of a bushfire caused by a fault.

The successful completion of this project will result in a welldeveloped methodology, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) system infrastructure and potential consequence datasets with the potential to utilise multiple activities and assets as potential ignition sources, therefore providing DFES with enhanced evidence-based datasets to support strategic decision making for early community warning and preparedness.

Download the full non-peer reviewed research proceedings\ from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forumhere.

}, keywords = {Fire risk, prediction system, risk management, simulator, weather conditions}, url = {https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/australian-journal-of-emergency-management-monograph-series/}, author = {Parker, Jackson and Allen, Adrian} } @article {bnh-4586, title = {A fuel moisture content and flammability monitoring methodology for continental Australia based on optical remote sensing}, journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment}, volume = {212}, year = {2018}, month = {06/2018}, pages = {12}, chapter = {260}, abstract = {

Fuel Moisture Content (FMC) is one of the primary drivers affecting fuel flammability that lead to fires. Satellite observations well-grounded with field data over the highly climatologically and ecologically diverse Australian region served to estimate FMC and flammability for the first time at a continental-scale. The methodology includes a physically-based retrieval model to estimate FMC from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) reflectance data using radiative transfer model inversion. The algorithm was evaluated using 360 observations at 32 locations around Australia with mean accuracy for the studied land cover classes (grassland, shrubland, and forest) close to those obtained elsewhere (r2 = 0.58, RMSE = 40\%) but without site-specific calibration. Logistic regression models were developed to generate a flammability index, trained on fire events mapped in the MODIS burned area product and four predictor variables calculated from the FMC estimates. The selected predictor variables were actual FMC corresponding to the 8-day and 16-day period before burning; the same but expressed as an anomaly from the long-term mean for that date; and the FMC change between the two successive 8-day periods before burning. Separate logistic regression models were developed for grassland, shrubland and forest. The models obtained an {\textquotedblleft}Area Under the Curve{\textquotedblright} calculated from the Receiver Operating Characteristic plot method of 0.70, 0.78 and 0.71, respectively, indicating reasonable skill in fire risk prediction.

}, keywords = {Fire occurrence, Fire risk, Forests., GEOPROSAIL inversion, Grasslands, MODIS, PROSAIL inversion, Shrubs}, doi = {10.1016}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425718302116$\#$.WvZrg57h8og.twitter}, author = {Marta Yebra and Xingwen Quan and David Ria{\~n}o and Pablo Rozas Larraondo and Albert van Dijk and Geoffrey J. Cary} } @mastersthesis {bnh-6619, title = {Investigating the effects of soil moisture, temperature and preciptiation extremes on fire risk and intensity in Australia}, year = {2018}, month = {09/2018}, school = {Monash University}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The likelihood of extreme events such as forest fires is expected to increase due to climate change. However, the mechanisms promoting the conditions leading to fires, their risk, and likely intensity are not well studied. This thesis identifies the relationship between soil moisture, fire danger, extreme temperature and fire intensity in Australia.

}, keywords = {fire intensity, Fire risk, precipitation, Soil moisture}, url = {https://monash.figshare.com/articles/Investigating_the_effect_of_Soil_Moisture_Temperature_and_Precipitation_Extremes_on_Fire_Risk_and_Intensity_in_Australia/7133438}, author = {Alexander Holmes} }