Western Australian home-grown technology, designed by Landgate, has been selected by the Federal Government to build the nation's first national bushfire simulation and early warning system with $2.8million funding.
Acting Lands Minister Terry Waldron said the project should see a fully operational warning system available to WA in 2011 and nationally in 2012.
"Once completed, the system will provide people, communities, organisations and emergency services in rural, regional and remote Australia with a range of ground-breaking tools that undoubtedly will save lives and property," Mr Waldron said.
The Minister said some of the system's features included:
· bushfire alerts (SMS and email) of nearby bushfires detected by satellite
· instant access to bushfire simulation maps - (via Landgate's FireWatch website) showing where the bushfire is currently located, where the fire is predicted to spread to and its estimated arrival time at various locations
· early warning of bushfires and their predicted location - will enable users to make an early and timely decision about staying or evacuating
· rapid testing of fire fighting techniques to defend against oncoming fire -
fire fighting agencies can rapidly test, in three minutes, a range of bushfire fighting techniques (for example temporary fire breaks or back burning) against the current fire by running the Bushfire Simulator to choose the most effective tactical response to that particular fire
· bushfire prediction planning tool to improve bushfire management - this tool can model bushfire management interventions (fire breaks, controlled burning, etc) to assess the effectiveness of those interventions in protecting property or infrastructure in any chosen location in Australia
· improving bushfire resilience of infrastructure - the bushfire prediction planning tool can perform a bushfire risk assessment on all current and future infrastructure; assess what changes to the location and layout of the infrastructure could be made to reduce the bushfire risk; and ensure future regional planning minimises the impact of bushfires upon infrastructure.
Mr Waldron said the project would be jointly delivered by lead agency Landgate, using its existing FireWatch system and award-winning web delivery technology; The University of Western Australia, which has developed a bushfire simulator with funding from the Bushfires Cooperative Research Council; and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority ( FESA), which would provide validation and testing support for the system.
Landgate, the State's land information authority, will receive $2.8million under the Federal Government's Digital Regions' Initiative, to deliver the National Bushfire Prediction, Detection, Simulation and Early Warning System.
Minister's office: 9213 7000
