Black Saturday Bushfires

Black Saturday Bushfires

-Kathryn Lawn, Senior Science Assessment TASK 3

A natural disaster is defined as any event or force of nature that has catastrophic consequences. This report investigates the Black Saturday Bushfires that consumed Victoria and its surrounding areas on the 7th of February 2009; examining the extent of its impact on both the community and the land. Black Saturday was made historic by its unprecedented weather conditions; creating an environment that permitted the day’s events. The scale and ferocity of such fires tested the capacity of human endurance. In the aftermath of the devastation, preparation and response recommendations have been developed and incorporated into procedures aid in the hope that they will prevent

Sentinel hotspots are data derived from satellite-born instruments that detect light in the thermal wavelengths. The innovative method gave emergency service managers access to the latest fire location information and allowed them to track its movements and development. The main tactic to monitor the fires came from the inundation of calls to emergency services on the day of the fires. Among the thousands of calls put through, many told of the location of fires which then gave fire fighters direction. These were tracked; creating an image of where the fires were currently and wind direction technology allowed them to predict where the fires would spread and warn civilians

The Commission investigated how the policy performed under the extreme circumstances of Black Saturday. The faults flawing the relief system were answered by an announced replacement fire hazard system. The system uses a six-tier scale as its foundation, flexible to elements such as the risk and activity of the fire. This standardised Fire Danger Rating was adopted by all Australian states in late 2009, embracing a system that could assist the survival of communities. During fire season the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a daily Fire Danger Index by considering the predicted weather including wind speed, temperature, humidity, and dryness of vegetation. This is made available to the public; keeping them informed of the predominant risk so that they can keep themselves and their family prepared and enact their personal fire safety plan if necessary. Its surrounding policies have been augmented with recommendations in a number of areas. These include strengthening warnings and improving their timeliness, improving the advice on fire behaviour and making it readily available along with the associated risks of property defence. Community memory of fire can fade because of the relative infrequency of such events. Public awareness and community education are the only actions with the potential to break the cycle