Published works

In late November 2018, Queensland experienced an unprecedented fire event, with more than 1,000 bushfires burning across the state. Fire weather conditions peaked on Wednesday 28 November, with 'Catastrophic' fire danger observed at Rockhampton Airport for over three hours. Over 1 million hectares of land were burnt, 479 post-fire damage assessments were completed, with nine homes destroyed and a further eight damaged .Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) requested national resources to support both tactical firefighting and operational roles. In anticipation of forecast conditions on 28 November, QFES Manager of Predictive Services, Fire Behaviour Analyst (FBAN) Andrew Sturgess requested Bureau of Meteorologist (BoM) meteorologist and Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) researcher Mika Peace provide support to the State Operations Centre FBAN team. In this paper, we share our personal experiences and reflections as well as those of the FBAN team. In summary, we consider how the Queensland learnings may inform future events. Challenges include resourcing to develop teams with the appropriate capabilities and the ability to identify extreme conditions in advance.