Workshop on fire, weather and risk

The Fire, Weather and Risk Workshop attracted almost 100 participants to Busselton, Western Australia on 15-17 of May 2013.

Held with the support of the Bushfire CRC, the Bureau of Meteorology, WA’s Department of Environment and Conservation and Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the workshop brought weather, fire modelling and risk assessment researchers together with forecasters and fire management officers to discuss a wide range of issues, with an emphasis on the transfer of the research to operations.

The organising committee wishes to thank and acknowledge the support of the presenters and the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre. The workshop participants enjoyed the expertise of a range of very highly credentialed national and international researchers who provided a wide range of thought provoking and comprehensive research outcomes, and identified gaps in our collective knowledge. Whilst much of the research work is still to be developed so that it has applicability operationally it clearly demonstrated that there is much that we have learnt and much more still to learn.

The integration of research and its appropriate practical application by meteorologists, risk managers and fire agency practitioners and managers is still an unachieved goal. This workshop provides a step down of the process of integration, and encourages the liaison and discussion between researchers and the users of that research.

The goals of the workshop were to:

1.     Foster liaison between meteorologists, researchers, risk managers and fire agency practitioners and managers;

2.     Help practitioners keep up to date with the latest developments; and

3.     Provide feedback to researchers on the operational needs of forecasters, risk managers and fire officers.

The organising committee believes that the workshop goals were achieved.

The assistance provided to the workshop by the researchers agreeing to have their presentation published is gratefully acknowledged.

The organising committee wishes to thank the participants and the researchers for making the workshop a success. The organising committee also wishes to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Naomi Stokes for her administrative assistance. The participants also viewed the area that was significantly burnt in an escaped prescribed fire around Margaret River in 2011, and discussed the unique fire weather issues in the area, and the recovery of both the vegetation and the community.

Two years ago this workshop was held in conjunction with the Bushfire CRC and AFAC annual conference in Sydney.

Proceedings from the Busselton workshop will soon be on the Bushfire CRC website.