Adelaide 2008 International Bushfire Research Conference

In September, 1130 delegates participated in the combined International Bushfire Research Conference 2008 and 15th Annual AFAC Conference. The event was held over three days at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The conference heard from more than 90 international and Australian speakers from research organisations and from the fire and related industries.

Bushfire CRC Chairman, Len Foster, said the event offered a great opportunity for representatives in the fire industry to exchange information with researchers.
“They saw how leading researchers from around the world are working with industry partners on issues that have been identified as critical to their business,” he said.

Follow the links for more on the presentations, research posters and the pre-conference workshop Bushfire Incident Response.

News from the Event

Urban Search and Rescue Exercise (USAR) – a demonstration of the USAR capability within the emergency service sector in South Australia, as part of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council and Bushfire CRC conference in Adelaide.
Amongst more than one thousand delegates taking part in the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) Conference starting in Adelaide today, will be 35 participants from Pacific Island countries.
Firefighters, researchers, scientists and fire prevention managers from around the globe will be in Adelaide next week for the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre’s (CRC) International Bushfire Research Conference 2008.
As we head into the next bushfire season across southern Australia senior fire and emergency management staff and leading international researchers will meet next week to discuss the major issues now confronting the industry.

Research Posters

Author Title
Economic impact of wildland fires
USDA Forest Service structure and AGC research agenda
Program A
Author Title
Aerial suppression experiments, Ngarkat Conservation Park, March 2008
Application of a rapid deployment flame measurement package
Assessment of grassland curing using Field Spectroscopy and satellite imagery
Behind the flaming zone
Burning Under Young Eucalypts
Fire probability mapping using the Bushfire CRC fire spread simulator
McArthur forest fire danger index VS the Canadian forest fire weather index
Mesoscale NWP forecasts and abrupt wind changes
Technology-enhanced learning - multimedia in training
Program B
Author Title
Establishment of a set of wildfire chronosequence benchmark plots in southern Tasmania
High Fire risk: analysis of lee-slope eddies
High Fire risk: fire crew watch-outs and our research
High Fire risk: fuel moisture content VS fire danger rating
High Fire risk: the role of rugged landscapes
High Fire risk: the thermal belt in Australia
High Fire risk: violent pyro-canvection
High Fire risk: weather anomalies in the high-country and nocturnal low-level jets
Soil temperatures during autumn prescribed burns and germination
Trapping sediment at Mount Bold water reservoir SA
Variation in fire response traits in mountainous plant communities
Wildfire return intervals in semi-arid southern WA
Program C
Author Title
Assessing community perceptions of fire risk
Bushfire risk perception: perspectives of children
Community resilience to climate change and policy networks
Cost of fire in Australia
Fire catchment management groups
Fire, families and decisions
Household bushfire preparation
Human induced ignitions
Living with fire on the land
Program theory and community safety programs
Program D
Author Title
A residential planning tool to minimise house loss
Carbon monoxide - hazard?
Dehydration in Australian bushfire fighters across consecutive shifts
Emergency services volunteering VS family life
Enhancing information flow and incident management team effectiveness
Experienced firefighter's safe and productive tanker-based bushfire suppression
Fitness components for successful pack hike
Human behaviour and house loss
Human factors and fire ground safety
Influence of member familiarity on IMT decision making
Multiple agency approaches to emergency management
Post-incident interviews and current understanding
Smoke particle emissions from different vegetation
Volunteer numbers and member tracking survey