CRC science and how it is helping agencies and communities is featured in the latest edition of US-based Wildfire magazine.
The Tasmania Fire Service's Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhoods program, which is backed by CRC research, focuses on building a shared responsibility approach to bushfire preparedness. TFS developed the program as a pilot in 2009 in collaboration with the Bushfire CRC, University of Tasmania and AFAC. Following its success, the program was rolled out across Tasmania. The program is an exciting example of how a community development approach can work with effecting behavioral change in communities, and won a national Resilient Australia Award last year. Read about it here.
Research investigating the air toxins firefighters might encounter at the urban/rural interface is also covered. Bushfire CRC science met the urgent need for precise information about smoke toxin risks by identifying, measuring and modelling toxic emissions more accurately than ever before. The research developed models that can assess in fine detail scenarios of multiple houses burning on the urban fringe. View this article here.
Additionally, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC CEO Dr Richard Thornton analysed the debate over prescribed burning targets, arguing that there is no universal ‘right’ level of prescribed fire because there are competing objectives to be considered, vastly differing ecosystems to be covered, and constantly shifting variables in demographics and land use. Read this article here.
The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC is represented on the editorial board of Wildfire by Communications Manager David Bruce.