PLEA Network

14 August 2017, ECOS, Mapping fire-prone areas before the fires. Two months after Portugal’s deadliest fire season in recent record, thousands of firefighters have again been deployed in the last few days to battle new wildfires. It’s a crisis Australia knows well from its own bushfire history which paints an equally bleak and devastating picture. Events such as Ash Wednesday in Victoria and South Australia in the 1980s, Black Saturday in Victoria in 2009 and the enduring 2001 Black Christmas in NSW, resulted in hundreds of lives lost and close to 5,000 homes destroyed. These are just three examples of a long list of major Australian bushfire events. As we head towards 2050, climate change is predicted to cause fire seasons to start earlier, end later and involve more frequent extremes of weather that support major loss events. More than ever before, planning and preparation is playing a significant role in mitigating major bushfires and their effects on lives, properties and infrastructure. Following a state-wide project that saw CSIRO develop mapping technology that identified bushfire prone areas in Queensland down to a 25 metre square area, our researchers have now stepped onto the international stage by mapping regions all over the world that have conditions susceptible to fire events. This latest global tool is a valuable resource for hazard analysts, financers, developers and even the general public, seeking bushfire information online. Read More here