GFMC: Bush and Forest Fires in Australia

2003

Bush and Forest Fires in Australia

24 February 2003

Bushfires Raging in Southeast Australia

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This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image was captured by the Terra satellite on 18 February 2003.

The NOAA/NESDIS Experimental Fire Potential Product
This product is based on the estimated intensity and duration of vegetation stress which can be used as a proxy for assessment of fire potential and danger. It combines two satellite-based indices – the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and thermal data from the NOAA AVHRR sensors. Area, intensity, and duration of vegetation stress, fire potential and danger can be estimated from colour-coded maps covering all continents. An introduction to the weekly updated products are accessible at: http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/crad/sat/surf/fpm/index.html.

Latest weekly global fire potential product map, including Australia
(upper scene)
and comparison with the situation in the previous month (map below)
(Source: NOAA/NESDIS Experimental Fire Potential Product, prepared by Felix Kogan, Robert M.Carey and David Forsyth.)

Fire Weather Forecast for the Pacific Region

Fire Weather Index for the
Pacific Region for tomorrow.
(Source: ECPCFire Weather Index Forecast)

Actual Fire Situation Maps,Victoria
An actual fire situation map can be found directly at:
Statewide fire situation

Source: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/

DSE/DPI Update on Monday, 24 February 2003, 8.30am (Day 48)

Current Summary

· Between 10 and 30 mm of rain fell across the fire area in Eastern Victoria on Friday and Saturday. Although the rain was insufficient to extinguish the fire it helped to minimise fire behaviour and allowed firefighters to consolidate much of the fire edge.

· Some 90% of the fires edge is now contained, the two most troublesome areas being on the edge of the Razor-Viking Wilderness Area in the west, and in the fire’s far east.

· In the vicinity of the Razor-Viking area crews are now able to safely attack spot fires. In the far east patrol and blacking out continues, and backburning south of Bendoc may commence as conditions allow.

· A change-over 19 person Tasmanian crew arrived by ferry on Friday and were deployed to the west Buffalo area on Saturday. On Saturday the 39 person NSW contingent returned home. The 34 person United States deployment is being de-briefed today prior to returning to the US later in the week.

· The fire behaviour over the next few days is expected to be much more benign. Fire crews will, as conditions permit, continue to consolidate containment lines and patrol already controlled edge.

· To date, the Eastern Victorian fires have burnt 1.11 million hectares of Victorian parks and forests. This figure includes the large number of lightning-caused fires that were contained in the first weeks of January.

· The main Eastern Victorian fire, which stretches from Mt Buffalo in the west, to the NSW border and to the Tubbut area in East Gippsland, is still active and has burnt nearly 1.08 million hectares.

Weather in the north-east and east gippsland

Today: Warm (low 30s at lower altitudes) and humid with moderate north-east to variable winds.
Week ahead: Gradually warming up with humid conditions and morning fog patches. South-west change late in the week.

Resources on the Eastern Fires

· Personnel currently involved:
– Around 2000 from the Government agencies committed to the fire, with about 850 personnel currently working on the fire
– approximately 150 CFA from outside the Region supporting local volunteer brigades
– 19 Tasmania
– 31 New Zealand
– 34 USA

· Thirty aircraft available statewide (12 currently deployed to the fire), over 90 specialised vehicles, around 20 bulldozers.

Agencies involved

Threats to private property and road closures

· For details of currently confirmed property losses please call CFA on 13 15 99. In total around 75,000 hectares of farming land has been burnt, 41 houses, over 200 other buildings and 11,000 head of stock. Losses continue to be assessed.

· See description of individual fires for current threats to private property. For information on significant fires on private land in rural Victoria, please call the CFA on 13 15 99 or 1800 240 667.

· For information regarding public road closures, please call the Victoria Police Emergency Information Line on 1800 444 343.

· For information on Gippsland fires, and on post fire assistance, please call the Traralgon Information Line on 1800 668 066 (8am – 8pm).

Community Information

· Community meetings continue to be held throughout the area. To date 86 community meetings have been conducted in the North East and Gippsland, with around 8,000 people attending. Community meetings are currently scheduled for today at Willow Grove (Community Hall at 7.30pm) and tomorrow in Erica (Town Hall at 7.00pm).

· Farmers affected by fire are invited to a two-hour on-farm information session to address key issues that will influence farm recovery from the fires. These sessions are being conducted jointly by the Department of Primary Industries and the VFF. Topics will include feeding livestock, farmer’s experience in recovery after fire and pasture recovery from the fire. Sessions will be held on today in Omeo/Swifts Creek area from 10.00am till 12.00pm and Omeo Valley/Benambra from 2.00pm till 4.00pm, and tomorrow in Wulgulmerang from 10.00am till 12.00pm. For details please call Department of Primary Industries, Bairnsdale on (03) 5152 0600.

· Community gatherings and meetings, organised by the Towong and Alpine Shires, regarding fire recovery, are now being held. Meetings are currently scheduled for today in Nariel (Recreation Reserve at 6pm), Falls Creek (Day Shelter Administration Building, Resort Management Board at 4.30pm) and in Mt Beauty (Community centre at 8pm), tomorrow in Mt Hotham/Dinner Plain (Dinner Plain Hotel at 4.30pm) and in Harrietville (Community Hall at 8pm) and on Wednesday in Tallangatta (Tallangatta Triangles at 6pm), in Wandiligong (Public Hall at 5pm) and in Bright (Community and Entertainment Centre at 8pm).

· Liaison between local shires/DSE/DPI/CFA/PV and Victoria Police continues on a regular basis, as does liaison with NSW fire agencies. Local Community Updates continue to be circulated on a regular basis.

· The DSE website (www.nre.vic.gov.au) is being regularly updated with fire information, including community newsletters and maps.

Fire Statistics

Victoria has around 7.7 million hectares of parks and forests. In an average summer around 620 wildfires occur and these burn around 110,000 hectares. To date this season 724 fires have occurred. These have burnt over 1.3 million hectares. The 20-year average for this time of year is 366 fires, having burnt over 68, 643 hectares.

For general information about DPI or DSE please contact:
DPI/DSE Customer Service Centre
Phone: 136 186
Email: customer.service@nre.vic.gov.au
Department of Primary Industries / Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, Australia

Source: DSE/DPI

CSA Fire Update

Latest Fire Maps 21 Feb 10:30am

North East Fire Maps 21/02/2003

The following maps are updated up to twice daily:

Overview Map – (jpeg approx 200kb)

Closer view of North East Fires – (jpeg approx 200kb)

Hi resolution PDF file of Fires (can zoom in on this map) – Large Download* (pdf size from 2 to 3Mb)

Further Information:
CSIRO also provide online mapping of the fires situation at http://www.sentinel.csiro.au

*Note – this map is hosted on the Land Victoria website.

Gippsland Community Update 24 February 12:30pm

Information for the local community and visitors to Gippsland and the North-East about going fires and the control measures being used in Gippsland.
24/02/2003

The Bogong Complex (south) Fires
Overnight operations at all Incident Control Centres have been shut down and day time operations are scaling down as the fire activity decreases. Helicopter mounted ‘Forward Looking Infra-red Radar’ cameras have been utilised in the past few days to identify and locate hot spots along the entire fire perimeter. Crews are now working on these hot spots.

Heyfield Incident Control Fires
Some hotspots were detected over the weekend close to the control line, which are being worked on now.
Other work is concentrating closely on rehabilitation, particularly on fire control lines and soil erosion.

Swifts Creek Incident Control Fires
The Incident Management Team is scaling right back to local crews only today.
There is still some fire showing up after two hot days and crews are patrolling these areas, which are some distance in from control lines.
Information is now being gathered for rehabilitation works associated with the fire suppression.

Orbost Incident Control Fires
The far east of the region did not receive as much rain as expected over the weekend, with falls generally between five and 15 mm and none since 0900 yesterday.
The fire is still active and backburning operations are planned to contain the remaining affected areas in the far eastern most sectors of the fire.
Fire teams are concentrating on planning and consolidation work over the coming week.
Rehabilitation and track protection work is also a priority.

Further information and updates are available via the DSE website.

Firefight continues in Eastern Victoria despite rain 24 Feb 10:00am

A joint media release from Department of Sustainability and Environment and CFA
24/02/2003

Current Summary
Between 10 and 30 mm of rain fell across the fire area in Eastern Victoria on Friday and Saturday. Although the rain was insufficient to extinguish the fire it helped to minimise fire behaviour and allowed firefighters to consolidate much of the fire edge.
Some 90% of the fires edge is now contained, the two most troublesome areas being on the edge of the Razor-Viking Wilderness Area in the west, and in the fire’s far east.
In the vicinity of the Razor-Viking area crews are now able to safely attack spot fires. In the far east patrol and blacking out continues, and backburning south of Bendoc may commence as conditions allow.
A change-over 19 person Tasmanian crew arrived by ferry on Friday and were deployed to the west Buffalo area on Saturday. On Saturday the 39 person NSW contingent returned home. The 34 person United States deployment is being de-briefed today prior to returning to the US later in the week.
The fire behaviour over the next few days is expected to be much more benign. Fire crews will, as conditions permit, continue to consolidate containment lines and patrol already controlled edge.
To date, the Eastern Victorian fires have burnt 1.11 million hectares of Victorian parks and forests. This figure includes the large number of lightning-caused fires that were contained in the first weeks of January.
The main Eastern Victorian fire, which stretches from Mt Buffalo in the west, to the NSW border and to the Tubbut area in East Gippsland, is still active and has burnt nearly 1.08 million hectares.

WEATHER IN THE NORTH-EAST AND EAST GIPPSLAND
Today
Warm (low 30s at lower altitudes) and humid with moderate north-east to variable winds.

Week ahead
Gradually warming up with humid conditions and morning fog patches. South-west change late in the week.

Resources on the Eastern Fires
Personnel currently involved
Around 2000 from the Government agencies committed to the fire, with about 850 personnel currently working on the fire.
Approximately 150 CFA from outside the Region supporting local volunteer brigades

– 19 Tasmania
– 31 New Zealand
– 34 USA

30 aircraft available statewide (12 currently deployed to the fire), over 90 specialised vehicles, around 20 bulldozers.

Threats to private property and road closures
For details of currently confirmed property losses, contact CFA on 13 15 99. In total around 75,000 hectares of farming land has been burnt, 41 houses, over 200 other buildings and 11,000 head of stock. Losses continue to be assessed.

For information on significant fires on private land in rural Victoria, contact CFA on 13 15 99 or 1800 240 667.

For information regarding public road closures, contact Victoria Police Emergency Information Line on 1800 444 343.

For information on Gippsland fires and post-fire assistance, contact the Traralgon Information Line on 1800 668 066 (8am – 8pm).

Community Information

Community meetings continue to be held throughout the area. To date 86 community meetings have been conducted in the North East and Gippsland, with around 8,000 people attending. Community meetings are currently scheduled for today at Willow Grove (Community Hall at 7.30pm) and tomorrow in Erica (Town Hall at 7.00pm).

Farmers affected by fire are invited to a two-hour on-farm information session to address key issues that will influence farm recovery from the fires. These sessions are being conducted jointly by the Department of Primary Industries and the VFF. Topics will include feeding livestock, farmer’s experience in recovery after fire and pasture recovery from the fire. Sessions will be held on today in Omeo/Swifts Creek area from 10.00am till 12.00pm and Omeo Valley/Benambra from 2.00pm till 4.00pm, and tomorrow in Wulgulmerang from 10.00am till 12.00pm. For details contact Department of Primary Industries, Bairnsdale on (03) 5152 0600.

Community gatherings and meetings organised by the Towong and Alpine Shires regarding fire recovery are now being held. Meetings are currently scheduled for:

Today, Monday 24 February
Nariel (Recreation Reserve at 6pm)
Falls Creek (Day Shelter Administration Building, Resort Management Board at 4.30pm)
Mt Beauty (Community centre at 8pm)

Tuesday 25 February
Mt Hotham/Dinner Plain (Dinner Plain Hotel at 4.30pm)
Harrietville (Community Hall at 8pm)

Wednesday 26 February
Tallangatta (Tallangatta Triangles at 6pm)
Wandiligong (Public Hall at 5pm)
Bright (Community and Entertainment Centre at 8pm)

The DSE website is being regularly updated with fire information, including community newsletters and maps.

Source: CFA (Country Fire Authority)

Further informationand resources
Information hotlines for residents in the Towong Shire (02) 6071 5100 and theAlpine Shire 5755 0524
Victoria Police Information hotline (road closures) 1800 444 343
Parks Victoria Hotline 13 19 63
CFA Community Hotline 1800 240 667
Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) website
DSECommunity Updates – available for Upper Murray, Ovens and Kiewa Valley,Gippsland, Beechworth and Bogong fires. Detailed reports, produced daily.
NSW RuralFire Service website
…and stay tuned to your local radio station.

GFMC Note
With letters directed to the A.C.T. Bushfire Service and the CFA Victoria on 26January 2003 the GFMC has offered liaison with Russia for the deployment ofIL-76 air tankers to assist the Australian authorities in fire suppression.

Currentweather situation, forecasts, fireweather http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/tas/ Actual fire Situation Tasmania Actual Fire Situation Maps, Tasmania More Information on Australian Fires IFFN country notes Further Information Australian and New Zealand links. Background information Recent Media Highlights on Fire, Policies, and Politics

Australia´s fire seasons

24. November 2017/by GFMCadmin