Science, Technology, Environment & Resources - Internet Resources

Bushfires

Government

Emergency Management Australia advises and supports the Attorney-General and the portfolio, the Australian Government, States and Territories, and the broader emergency management community to enhance their capacity to best manage the risks that disasters present to the community.

In Australia the prime responsibility for the protection of life, property and the environment rests with the States and Territories.

Australian Capital Territory

• Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency
• ACT Rural Fire Service

New South Wales

• Office for Emergency Services New South Wales
• NSW Rural Fire Service

Northern Territory

• Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Service
• Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service

Queensland

• Emergency Management Queensland
• Queensland Fire and Rescue Services

South Australia

• South Australia State Emergency Service
• SA Country Fire Service

Tasmania

• State Emergency Service Tasmania
• Tasmania Fire Service

Victoria

• Victoria Department of Justice Emergency Services
• Country Fire Authority

Western Australia

• Fire & Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia

Key National Bodies

• Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) is the peak representative body for fire, emergency services and land management agencies in the Australasian region. AFAC was established in 1993 and has 26 full members and 12 affiliate members.

• National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) co-ordinates and manages the acquisition and deployment of firefighting aircraft for the Commonwealth and the States and Territories of Australia.

• Augmented Australasian Police Ministers Council is an expanded version of the Australasian Police Ministers' Council formed to deal with issues related to emergency management, including disaster mitigation and anticipation. Created in 2003, it brings together Commonwealth, state and territory police ministers, ministers responsible for emergency management and ALGA.

• Bureau of Meterology – Bushfires

• Bureau of Meterology – Climate

Research in Australia

• Bushfire CRC provides research that enhances the management of the bushfire risk to the community in an economically and ecologically sustainable way.

• CSIRO Bushfires research into bushfire behaviour is improving the understanding of fire, and leading to better technologies and strategies to save lives and limit damage.

• Risk Frontiers - Macquarie University - FireAUS - A national database of address bushfire risk ratings based on distance to the nearest area of extensive bushland.

Recent Inquiries

• Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management. The report and COAG's response were released on 24 January 2005.
• On Wednesday 5 November 2003, the House of Representatives Select Committee on the recent Australian bushfires tabled its report entitled A Nation Charred: Inquiry into the Recent Australian Bushfires. The committee tabled the report of its inquiry on Wednesday 5 November 2003. The Australian government presented its response to the report on Thursday 15 September 2005.
• State Coroner's Office Victoria - Report of the Investigation and Inquests into a Wildfire and the Deaths of Five Firefighters at Linton on 2 December 1998.
• ACT Coroner's Bushfire Enquiry - Under the provisions of the Coroners Act 1997, the ACT Coroner’s Court conducted an inquiry into the cause, origin and circumstances of the fires which destroyed and damaged property in January, 2003 and inquests into the deaths associated with those fires. The report was released in December 2006.

Key International Bodies

• International Association of Wildland Fire is a non-profit, professional association representing members of the global wildland fire community. The purpose of the association is to facilitate communication and provide leadership for the wildland fire community.

• The Association for Fire Ecology is an organization of professionals dedicated to improving the knowledge and use of fire in land management.

• United Nations Environment Programme - Global wildfires - real-time information on current fires status and early warning.

• Current & archived significant global fire events and fire season summaries.

• Firenet - the international fire information network.

• NASA's Earth Observatory - natural hazards - fires.

Other Countries

United States

• Healthy Forests Initiative - reducing the risks of wildfire to people, communities and the environment.
• Useful links to US agencies and organizations involved with wildfires.
• Community Wildfire Protection Plan;
• An Initiative for Wildfire Prevention and Stronger Communities - White House Report
• Joint Fire Science Program
• National Interagency Fire Center - Wildland fire does not respect jurisdictional boundaries. No single federal, state, local, tribal, or volunteer agency alone can handle all wildland fire that may occur in its jurisdiction. A number of agencies work together to exchange support, protection responsibilities, information, and training, providing an efficient method for protecting lives, property, and natural resources.
• SmokeyBear fire prevention.
• Resourceshelf - Learn about Wildfires

Canada

• Canadian Forest Service - Forest fire in Canada.
• Key fire links for Canada.
• Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre - provides operational fire-control services, as well as management and information services to its Member Agencies. In addition to coordinating services for all of the provinces and territories, CIFFC often coordinates the sharing of resources with the United States and other countries.

New Zealand

• National Rural Fire Authority - responsible for coordinating the rural fire management activities of New Zealand.
• Useful links for New Zealand.

Further References

• Parliamentary Library publication Bushfires: Is Fuel Reduction Burning the Answer?,10 December 2002.
• Paul Collins, Burn: the epic story of bushfire in Australia, Allen & Unwin, 2006. (Held in the Parliamentary Library at 363.3790994 COL)
• Bushfire Summer, ABC Television—Episode 1: Heat Wave - 15 January 2007; Episode 2: All Hell Breaks Loose - 22 January 2007; Episode 3: State on Fire - 29 January 2007; Episode 4: Future on Fire - 5 February 2007.
• Hennessy K, Lucas C, Nicholls N, Bathols J, Suppiah R, Ricketts J., Climate change impacts on fire-weather in south-east Australia, CSIRO, 2006.
• Steven W. Running, 'Is global warming causing more, larger wildfires?', Science, 18 August 2006, v.313(5789), pp. 927-928.
• Dan Drollette, 'Storms of fire [Environmental factors making Australian increasingly prone to bushfires]', Cosmos, December 2005-January 2006, no.6, pp. 70-76.
• Vic Jurskis, 'Decline of eucalypt forests as a consequence of unnatural fire regimes', Australian Forestry, December 2005, v.68(4), pp. 257-262.
• S. Ellis, P. J. Kanowski and R. J. Whelan,  'Inquiries following the 2002-2003 Australian bushfires: common themes and future directions for Australian bushfire mitigation and management', Australian Forestry, June 2005, v.68(2), pp. 76-86.
• Asa Wahlquist, 'An unstoppable force', Australian, 13 December 2006, p. 11.
• Megan Doherty, 'Fire season: ready or not?', Canberra Times, 7 October 2006, p. 3.
• Brendan O'Keefe, 'El Nino flags more extreme fires', Australian, 30 August 2006, p. 3.
• Dr Geoff Cary, Climate change and bushfire incidence, Proceedings of NSW Clean Air Forum 2004, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 17 November 2004.

See also the Parliamentary Library's Economics Internet Resource Guide on DROUGHT.

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