Fire Australia Autumn edition

A major theme of the latest Fire Australia is floods and fire safety, focussing on the important work that fire services perform in storm and flood incidents such as those that affected Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria this summer.

The cover story, Getting Brisbane back in business, describes the January Queensland floods and their aftermath, with several further articles looking at how fire agencies deal with floods.

Bushfire CRC Chief Executive Officer Gary Morgan has an article explaining how a key lesson from the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires -- the need for better communicating with residents by providing timely and accurate warnings and information – was crucial to the management of the floods, cyclones and other natural hazard emergencies experienced since.

Other Bushfire CRC articles include an opinion piece by Chairman Len Foster, AO, on the proposed Australasian Fire Research Institute and its once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a centre of global excellence for managing fires and related natural hazards; features on Bushfire CRC research on the need for “worst-case scenario” planning during bushfires and on the operation of incident management teams; and news reports on the trial of two Convair aerial water tankers in Victoria and a survey of communities in the Perth hills affected by the bushfires there in late summer.

The quarterly magazine is a joint publication of the Bushfire CRC, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC),  Fire Protection Association Australia and the Institution of Fire Engineers Australia.