Bush and Forest Fires in Australia

10 January 2002

WA calls for national bushfires policy
(Source and copyright: The West Australian)

THE WA Government has asked Prime Minister John Howard to develop a national bushfire policy as a result of the bushfire devastation in NSW. 
Acting Premier Eric Ripper said today it was ironic that Australia had an agreement to provide firefighting assistance to the United States but did not have a nationally coordinated bushfire strategy.
Mr Ripper has written to Mr Howard saying Australia needs a more coordinated approach to the strategic location of bushfire resources - including a $15 million helicopter water bomber which Mr Howard has said could be based in WA. 
"While I welcome Mr Howard's reported comment that an Aircrane could be based in WA, fire management agencies in WA have evaluated several other aerial firefighting techniques that would be effective under Australian conditions." Mr Ripper said he had been advised there may be more cost-effective alternatives than the Aircrane. He believes a committee should be formed to coordinate the development of a national policy on bushfires and firefighting resources in consultation with relevant federal government agencies. The committee should comprise members of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and land management agencies in Australia and New Zealand, Mr Ripper said. -AAP

Fire crisis not over - danger day tomorrow 
(Source & Copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald)

The bushfire crisis is not over and crucial containment work needs to be completed as soon as possible in preparation for worsening weather conditions, the Rural Fire Service warned yesterday. 
"We are not out of the danger zone as far as fires are concerned yet," said an RFS spokesman, Cameron Wade. Strong westerly winds and high temperatures were expected to cause problems tomorrow, he said. Mr Wade dismissed suggestions that delays in getting the two extra Erickson Air-Cranes into the air yesterday morning had resulted in a flare-up in the Shoalhaven area.
"Some briefing needed to take place for the pilots from New Zealand ... that briefing took longer than expected. Certainly that has not impacted greatly on fire containment, and all three aircraft are now working in the area." 
Eighty fires are still burning in the state, 80 per cent of them within containment lines. Mr Wade said the fire at Sussex Inlet, where residents were evacuated earlier this week, remained of the greatest concern, along with the fire in the Appin region. Firefighters had struggled to contain the Appin fire, Mr Wade said, because the fire was encroaching upon rough terrain that made fighting the blaze difficult. He scotched concerns that Nowra was under threat, but said the fire near the town had "progressed further than expected". A fire burning about five kilometres from property at Bilpin, north-west of Sydney, was also being closely watched. Roads remain closed in places around the Shoalhaven region because of fallen trees and power lines and police are escorting traffic through affected sections of the Princes Highway.

Fire crews  confident south coast towns safe from blaze
Source and Copyright: ABC News)

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) is confident a bushfire in the Shoalhaven region in the state's south will not encroach on any more towns in the region. The bushfire is still burning on a 45 kilometre front, with more than 550 firefighters and 11 aircraft being used to battle the blaze today.
RFS regional Superintendent Peter Ryan says firefighters are continuing to closely monitor one fire at Sassafras, south-west of Nowra. However, he says unless the wind changes direction tomorrow, the bushfire should not threaten the Nowra township. "It's a fair way out, we have crews there but again they're working with air support to ensure that those places are protected," he said. If anything does get away they can jump on it straight away and ensure that farms in that little village is fully protected." 
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Phil Koperberg, says firefighters hope to have nearly all of the fires still burning across the state contained over the weekend. He says of the 80 fires scattered across New South Wales, around 64 are within containment lines. Apart from the Shoalhaven, the Cataract catchment fires in the Illawarra, and blazes in the Nattai, south-west of Sydney and Bulga in the Hunter Valley, continue to keep firefighters busy. Commissioner Koperberg says despite the encouraging signs, there is a big difference between contained and out.
"Contained simply means that the spread of fire has been halted but that the fires are still burning within containment lines and that the areas have not been mopped up," he said. 
"And it's the mopping up process which is extraordinarily time consuming." Meanwhile, the National Parks and Wildlife Service is warning people to stay away from bushfire affected areas of the Royal National Park south of Sydney which re-opens tomorrow.
A number of picnic areas and beaches will be open to the public, although all walking trails will remain closed due to a park-wide total fire ban. Director for the region Bob Conroy says heavy fines will be imposed if people enter areas of the park which remain closed.
"I would warn people against that," he said. "There's a great danger that trees that have been damaged by the fire may fall over in the next couple of weeks." 
The New South Wales Government has announced new measures to increase protection for the community against bushfires. Under the changes, local councils will be required to consult the Rural Fire Service on any development proposals for bushfire prone areas.  The Rural Fire Service is also getting greater powers to enter lands to carry out hazard reduction operations required under the local bushfire plan but not carried out, and that will be at the landholder's expense. 
Emergency Services Minister Bob Debus says as well, anyone who believes their property is at risk and their local bushfire committee has not addressed their concerns, will be able to take the matter up directly with the commissioner.

FIRE BAN

Today is not a day of total fire ban.

Fire Weather Forecast for the Pacific Region

Fig.1. Fire Weather Index for the 
Pacific Region for 11 January 2002.
(Source: ECPC Fire Weather Index Forecast)

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for the management of fire prevention and suppression on public lands in Victoria. The last updated bushfire statistic of 9 January 2002 shows 8 controlled fires. The locations of these fires are displayed in the statewide fire situation map below.

Fig.2. Statewide Fire Situation Map of Victoria, 10 January 2002
(for legend of symbols see: National Resources and Environment)

Bird Satellite (German Aerospace Center / DLR)

Figure 1 and 2 show image fragments of the BIRD HSRS MIR 
band (at 3.4 – 4.2 µm) obtained over Australia / New South Wales region at 
~ 150° longitude East between the South latitudes 33° and 36° on 4 January 2002 at 
00 h:09 min:13 sec (UTC) and on 5 January 2002 at 00 h:08 min:16 sec (UTC) for 
Sydney  overpass, respectively. (This is of about 10:08 h local time). The fires are red color 
coded to be  in good contrast to the “ambient” black  and white background with apparent 
pixel  temperatures lower than 52° C (325 K). The changes of the fire lines within 24 hours 
can be well examined by comparison of the two figures.

Some remarks on BIRD´s detection  of  the "Cristmas Fires".

For more information on BIRD: See http://www.dlr.de/BIRD/ (News).

Modis Land Rapid Response System

Fig.4. These images were acquired by the Moderate-resolution Imaging 
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on 10 January 2002 and shows 
fires burning in the Southeast and Northeast of Australia. For details see: 
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/products_rr.html
and image search support at:
http://www.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe/current/MODIS.htm
(For earlier satellite images: see Australia fire updates off 30 
December 2001 - 9 February 2002)

Operational Significant Event Imagery (OSEI)
The following significant events were identified by Satellite Analysis Branch meteorologists and reviewed by the OSEI support team of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

The Age Company
An animated map "The trail of Destruction" generated by The Age Company (2001) shows the development of fires starting on Boxing Day 2001:
http://www.theage.com.au/flash/special/firemap.html

CSA RADARSAT-1 Disaster Watch 

CSA RADARSAT-1 Disaster Watch offers the following scenes covering the Australia fires:

•  02 Jan 02 08:36:29 UTC; S1; cycle 93 orbit 184.89987 duration 0.00900; OBR -GSS orbit 186.3128)

•  03 Jan 02 19:21:21 UTC; S2; cycle 93 orbit 205.59160 duration 0.00900; OBR -GSS orbit 207.0713)

•  05 Jan 02 08:48:54 UTC; F3N-16; cycle 93 orbit 227.89808 duration 0.00910; OBR -GSS orbit 229.3107)

•  07 Jan 02 19:04:47 UTC; F4; cycle 93 orbit 262.59390 duration 0.00883; OBR -GSS orbit 264.00652)

For more information see: http://www.uni-freiburg.de/fireglobe/emergency/radarsat.htm

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is the National Meteorological Service for Australia and provides essential meteorological services to all sectors of the Australian community.

Fire danger:

Northern Territory	High in the Alice Springs District.
Western Australia
CENTRAL WEST	Very High
LOWER WEST	Very High
CENTRAL WHEATBELT	Very High
GREAT SOUTHERN	Very High
SOUTHWEST	Very High
SOUTH COASTAL	Very High
TOWN OF PORT HEDLAND	Very High
SHIRE OF ROEBOURNE	Very High
SHIRE OF ASHBURTON	Very High
SHIRE OF EAST PILBARA	Very High
KIMBERLEY	High