Written by Danny Haipola, Danny Haipola
The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) Program is a once in a generation change to the way we predict fire rating nationally.
As we are all aware, fire danger ratings are a fundamental basis for minimising the impact of bushfires and managing the risk to life and property.
The 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements made clear recommendations on the importance of delivering a national approach in deriving and publishing fire danger rating information. The recommendations expedited this project which had been recognised as a national priority and progressing in the background since 2014.
Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Councils (AFAC) commissioned Nova Systems, in partnership with NSW RFS and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), to lead the build of a national unified system to deliver accurate, timely, and consistent fire danger rating information.
The AFDRS was built in collaboration with emergency services agencies from the states and territories to bring benefits to Australians for generations to come.
The AFDRS, as outlined on the AFAC on its website, aims to improve public safety and reduce the impacts of bushfires by:
Improving the scientific accuracy behind fire danger predictions
Improving the way that fire danger is communicated
Providing government and industry with better decision-making tools
Reducing the costs associated with bushfire impacts.
Nova Systems designed and developed the technology platform to integrate specialist expertise and data from the BoM and State fire agencies with the latest fire behaviour science in a single, truly consolidated and national unified system.
The operational build of the AFDRS enables the latest science, technology and data to be used to produce accurate and timely fire danger information. It will continuously be improved and updated.
The platform includes eight standard fire behaviour models based on the most the most recent fire behaviour research, with a modular design that can incorporate new fire behaviour research as it becomes available.
The outcome of this project is nationally consistent data for calculating fire danger ratings for the first time.
Importantly, it has standardised the way information is captured and published.
A combination of best practice approaches in design and software development ensured the successful delivery of the AFDRS. But arguably the biggest success driver was that all the jurisdictions were on the journey together, to develop a standardised system that would service all their needs.
Fires cross borders
A national model avoids confusion and assists planning.
Before the AFDRS was even built, a national vegetation map was developed – a huge piece of work that had never been done before.
The previous two fuel type classifications of grass and forest were updated into 22 different fuel types. While each state and territory retains control over their fuel information, it can now be delivered in a nationally consistent format to aid in decision making.
The true success indicator will come in fire seasons ahead.
But already we can consider: What has this journey taught us? What more could we be doing?
One key learning outcome is that the ability to share data is as valuable as the ability to share equipment, resources and personnel.
It needs to be at the forefront, and we need to be preparing now.
In many aspects of bushfire management the states act independently, although the operations of running a fire service are similar across the country. Is there the opportunity for some of this to be consolidated?
For both a public safety benefit, but also to save on resources and share the cost.
Current Incident Feeds are different across jurisdictions. Different applications are used and when firefighters and members of the public travel between states, they need to use different mapping tools to view the current incidents.
Some work has already been done to standarise colours, symbols and information but could we work on standardising the format of incident feeds?
The expertise we have collectively gained in the AFDRS project could drive a national project to improve this.
In a similar manner, could we consider a more standardised approach to hazard reduction burns?
In Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is responsible for managing fuel reduction activities on public land in Victoria.
This program requires clear communication and engagement with the community to provide awareness of activities that impact on the social, safety, economic, and environmental well-being of the community.
To meet DELWP’s requirement to efficiently engage the community, Nova Systems undertook a comprehensive end user focused (Human Centred Design) engagement process to design and build the Planned Burns Notification System. The application delivers a simple user experience that guides the public audience to register for notifications of planned burns in their local area.
The project delivered DELWP a platform that is cost effective, easy to maintain, and provides the Victorian community with an intuitive tailored experience to self-register for notifications of planned fuel reduction activities occurring near them and can explore the underlying strategic drivers and planning behind those activities.
There is varying legislation across jurisdictions, but there are clearly national gains to be made.
The data exists – location details, population, housing, fuel load and so on.
We have the data to answer the questions, so can we share it in a way to solve our problems?
AFAC is an exceptional example of an industry organisation that showed leadership and was able to get all of the players on board and come up with a solution – the AFDRS.
At Nova Systems, we have the expertise to put data together, build a system and deliver it in a way that users will want to use, and that is robust and functional.
If the states and territories can embrace the opportunity to share information freely, it will benefit all of us.
Could there be a national approach to help the state-based agencies to transition from the previous fire danger rating systems to the new national model? Nova Systems has been working with Victoria and NSW to help implement changes.
There are many other examples of innovative projects that we have been involved with that could transcend borders.
The Smoke Plume Modelling System is used to calculate likely areas of impact from the smoke from planned burns. We developed a Geographic Information Systems for smoke modelling which can create 3D forecasts of predicted smoke activity based on weather and fuel and can be used during wildfires and for planning hazard reduction burns.
We upgraded the NSW Smoke Modelling System to make use of the National Smoke Modelling System (AQFx), which has been developed by CSIRO and the BoM.
This information is vital for agencies to inform when prescribed burns should occur and to inform the community of any potential health impacts because of smoke and air quality.
We are also working on improving the RFS's ability to collect and use Airborne Intelligence, including fixed wing, helicopters, drones and satellites. One of the goals of this development is to facilitate sharing of intel between agencies including agencies from other states.
*The AFDRS platform won the NSW Technical Excellence award at the 2021 Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards.
*Originally appeared in Asia Pacific Fire Magazine in July 2022.