Flames and firebrands at Forum

Around 60 Bushfire CRC researchers, students and end-users gathered at University House at the Australian National University for the fifth meeting of the Research Advisory Forum at the end of last month.

Fire weather, risk management, community education, smoke behaviour and characteristics, shared responsibility, environmental impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, health and safety on the fireground – these were some of the topics under discussion at the forum in Canberra.

The Bushfire CRC holds the forum twice a year to review the progress of ongoing projects. Researchers and Lead End Users are given the opportunity to present an update of their activities and invite discussion from across the members of the Bushfire CRC. The forum provides an invaluable forum to get broad feedback from all stakeholders to support the research.

The audience heard presentations from around half the current research program from researchers, students and end-users.

The meeting included a site visit to the nearby CSIRO Pyrotron for a demonstration of fire spread under controlled conditions. The pyrotron is a 25 metre long fire-proof wind tunnel with a glass panelled observation area to monitor the burning fuel bed. Led by researcher Dr Andrew Sullivan (pictured above) from the CSIRO, the pyrotron research is part of the Bushfire CRC Extreme Fire Behaviour project as well as part of the CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship.

Nearby, Dr Peter Ellis, (pictured below) demonstrated his work on firebrands in a vertical wind tunnel.