27 March 2009
Research Taskforce moves to next phase
The Bushfire CRC multi-agency research taskforce has completed
an intensive five weeks of gathering information about the fires of
February 2009 in Victoria.
After eight tours with staff from six Bushfire CRC partner
agencies and eight research and service organisations totalling up
to 1800 person days in the field, the main focus now is on data
consolidation and analysis and finally, report writing. More than
600 interviews have been conducted and researchers have taken more
than 21,000 photographs.
There may be some opportunities to collect more data at
strategic locations to support analysis that integrates all the
research streams – fire behaviour, human behaviour and
community safety, and, building and planning issues.
The final tour last week was able to visit areas previously not
assessed by the teams including Marysville, Toolangi, Humevale and
Narbethong.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Bushfire CRC, Gary Morgan,
has written to all agencies involved in the Taskforce to thank them
for their participation and to invite them to continue to provide
their support into the next phase.
Property assessments
As of the beginning of this week, 1074 properties have been
assessed, which is around one in five houses in the bushfire
affected area.
Some interesting observations from those surveyed so far
include:
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Some houses were damaged by wind, not fire
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Some houses were damaged by both wind and fire
-
Half of all houses surveyed were classed as destroyed
-
Many houses may have been subjected to multiple fire fronts
from different directions
-
Some houses appear to have been lost long after the fire front
had passed.
Human Behaviour and Social Issues
Interviews with residents in fire affected areas have provided a
wealth of data for the research teams - with more than 600
individual interviews recorded. Overwhelmingly, the residents
approached have been willing share their experiences and complete
the structured questionnaire. The interviews have been recorded and
have started to be transcribed so analysis can begin.
Issues that have emerged from the interviews relate to
preparations around the home, information and warnings on the
fires, how they understood the task of actively defending a
property, the factors that influenced them to leave early or late,
and their understanding of how the fires moved across the region
and into their area.
Fire behaviour
The effort has moved from data collection in the field to
consolidation and initial analysis. A range of fire behaviour
indicators, such as leaf freeze, has been collected and is
currently being mapped. A significant amount of work now needs to
be undertaken to assess and analyse the complex patterns of fire
spread from multiple influences such as spotting and variations in
topography.
Participants
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Bureau of Meteorology
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CSIRO
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Department of Environment and
Conservation, WA
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GeoScience Australia
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Latrobe University
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NZ Scion
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Office Emergency Services
Commissioner
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RMIT University
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USDA Forest Service
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US Department of Commerce - National
Institute of Standards and Technology
-
Bodycote Warringtonfire (Aus)
-
Great Southern Plantations
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Terramatrix
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AFAC
-
Bushfire CRC
-
National Aerial Firefighting
Centre
