Victorian Fires 2009

A group of researchers from various state fire agencies and research organisations has been assembled by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre to look at key issues arising out of the February 2009 Victorian bushfires. 

The purpose of the research is to provide the Australian fire and land management agencies with an independent analysis of the factors surrounding these series of fires. This knowledge will be shared across Australia and internationally and will assist with the Royal Commission and other investigations and inquiries.

An interim report on the data was presented to the Victorian fire and land management agencies and to the Royal Commission in June.

The research is considering which fires were ordinary or extreme and which were extraordinary; that is, exhibiting fire behaviour outside known experience. Three research teams are looking at the impacts of a selected sample of fires in order to gain a broader understanding of all the fires.

The Taskforce has assessed more than 1300 homes, interviewed more than 600 residents and taken more than 21,000 photographs. The Taskforce has assembled researchers from state fire agencies and research organisations to look at the key issues in the bushfires. Teams of researchers have now completed their work in the field including at Strathewen, pictured, and are now collating the data.

The research teams are made up of people with a mix of expertise in building analysis, human behaviour, community education, bushfire behaviour, fire weather, and fire investigation.

The Bushfire CRC has conducted similar research on behalf of fire and land management agencies after tragic fires in Canberra in 2003 and on the Eyre Peninsula in 2005.

Research teams are looking at the following areas
1.       Fire Behaviour
The focus is on strategic fire behaviour – how the fires moved across different landscapes, different vegetation, and under variable weather conditions.

2. Human Behaviour and Community Safety Issues
This area will look into:

• Behaviour and decision making by residents
• Community responses to bushfire warnings messages
• The implications of these events on policy.

3. Building (Infrastructure) and Planning Issues
Researchers are looking at:

• Patterns of loss and patterns of survival of buildings and structures
• The notion of defendable space
• Planning and building controls and their impact on patterns of building losses.

As this material is available for use in the Royal Commission the Bushfire CRC will not be providing detailed comment on the type of work being done, where the work is being done or reporting any findings until they are complete.

There are also a number of ongoing police investigations to which this work may be pertinent and as such it would be inappropriate to provide comment.