New Fire Danger Rating System For Australia

Bilpin Rural Fire Brigade incorporated information about the new Fire Danger Rating System rolled out across the country on September 1 when they met to talk about about getting ready for bush fires last Saturday.

The Australian Fire Danger Rating System Program (AFDRS) was developed to improve public safety and reduce the impacts of bushfires by:

• Improved scientific accuracy behind fire danger predictions;
• Improved communication of fire danger;
• Provision of better decision making tools for government and industry; and
• Reduced costs associated with bushfire impacts.

Fire danger ratings are important, but often misunderstood. They don’t indicate the chance of a fire occurring.

A combination of weather forecasting and information about vegetation that could fuel a fire are used to calculate ratings.

The AFDRS has been changed to incorporate up-to-the-minute science because a lot has changed in the past 60 years.

A prototype of the new AFDRS was developed by NSW Rural Fire Service and demonstrated improved fire danger forecasts when compared to real-world fires.

The new system has also been built to be continuously updated as science improves.

• Topics:

• Emergency Services
• Fire Safety
• Bush Fires