operational fire fighting social perspective disaster planning perspective fire behaviour...

Operational Fire fighting

Social Perspective

Disaster Planning PerspectiveFire

Behaviour Perspective

Planning Design Perspective

Building Design Perspective

Policy Perspective

Key perspectives that planners need to consider in developing planning strategies for bushfire


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective

Disaster Planning perspective:

Brings a risk management approach:

• Assess the risk,

• Avoid the risk,

• Mitigate the risk,

• Prevent ignitions,

• Accept residual risk

Land use planning is a key tool in avoiding and mitigating the risk

Disaster Planning perspective

Emergency Management approach:

• Land-use controls are key tools for prevention and preparedness – avoiding development in areas of unacceptable risk,

– stricter developmental guidelines for areas of known risk,

– asset protection zones,

– hazard reduction and fuel mitigation programs.

• Understanding how fire-fighters respond to fire helps planners to ensure appropriate access to water, road access and egress…

Prevention, preparedness, response, recovery


Social Perspective

Disaster Planning PerspectiveFire Behaviour

Perspective



Policy PerspectiveFire Behaviour perspective

Understanding historic ways fire have behaved in the local area – topography, vegetation, fuel loads, fire weather and travel of fire fronts helps planners to:

• Assess and identify risk for constructed and natural assets as well as risk to community safety.

• Develop a range of strategies for future and existing developments.

Fire Behaviour

• Fire moves faster and hotter up slopes than flat land.

• In south-eastern Australia developments on north facing slopes are particularly at risk because it is the hot northerlies which create high fire danger days.

• Small fires can scale up very quickly into large fires with a change in wind direction where a long line of the flank of a fire becomes the new fire front.

• “Spotting” – a rain of embers - from large fires can occur up to 12 km from the fire front so developments can be at risk even if not considered close to bushland.

• Different vegetation has different flammability – traditional English gardens less flammable than native Australian bushland.

• Buildings exposed directly to fire-fronts and/or embers from spotting are at risk of burning.

• Although fire-fronts move quickly past buildings, buildings are at risk of:– the intense heat created by the burning of the surrounding

vegetation or flammable materials in the yard. – embers finding access into the house or into rooflines.

• A “well prepared” home is likely to survive “high fire danger” fires but not “extreme” or “catastrophic” fires.

• Fuel mitigation programs and protection zones may not be sufficient to protect constructed assets in catastrophic fires

Fire Behaviour


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective

Operational Fire Fighting perspective

What happens in a bushfire emergency?

• Powerlines may be affected – power shut off

• Water in demand by residents and fire fighters

• Replacement of local water reservoirs through pumping from major reservoirs may not be possible if power unavailable.

• Roads may not be passable because of smoke, blocked by trees, fallen debris, or fallen powerlines.

• Firefighters may not be able to fight the fire, just protect assets and community safety

Operational Fire fighting perspective

What do fire fighters need during a bushfire emergency in terms of planning arrangements?

• Access to water – hydrants, constant supply

• Road access into homes and around and between subdivisions, alternate access routes, fire trails

• Defendable Spaces• Clear routes for evacuation of

residents should staying not be an option

• Clear indication of those assets which have high value in terms of where to put fire fighting resources to protect them.


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective

• Infrastructure – – Water – easy access points and plans for

storage replenishment in emergencies– Power – redundancy of supply, access

through bushland has vegetation clearing as protection zones

– Roads – alternate routes, resilience to landslip and erosion, role as defendable space (using perimeter roads rather than battle-ax access), vegetation clearance, consider evacuation implications

• Clustered developments with perimeter protection zones and perimeter roads, rather than isolated houses within bushland

Planning design perspective

What are important considerations in the design of new subdivisions in bushfire prone areas?

• Restricted positioning of buildings on slopes• Structural design of buildings – building codes• Landscape around buildings – providing protection

zones, choosing appropriate vegetation (with reduced flammability)





• Protection zones between developments and bushland– how much is considered enough?

• What is the impact of the development and its need for protection zones on the environmental values?

• Careful placement of vulnerable groups such as schools, hospitals and aged-care facilities – consider both risk to the sites and potential for evacuation.

• Ensure risk to important community assets minimised – e.g. community facilities and businesses which provide livelihood and enable the community to function.

• Neighbourhood safety areas – places suitable for people to go to during a fire event.


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective


Mitigating the risk through:

• Material selection – buildings, tanks, fences – wood, steel, plastics, brick

• Construction of Dwellings– Rooflines– Places where embers can get stuck

• Landscaping – grading of slopes, type and amount of vegetation, clearance zones, sheds etc

Australian Standards and State legislation for developments – guidelines for providing protection from bushfires under “design” fire conditions (less than fire danger rating of 100)


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective

• Disaster planning economics – comparing the costs of prevention and preparedness approaches with the cost of response and recovery.

• Understanding drivers to policy and role of the community in accepting and engaging with policy changes.

• What legislative power do state and local planning authorities have in terms of enforcing development codes, land-use agreements, vegetation abatement actions, environmental protection?

• What protocols exist to determine how different authorities work together during an emergency?

Policy perspective


Social Perspective





Policy Perspective

Social perspective

• What constitutes a community?

• What is the community’s vulnerability, awareness and preparedness for hazards? What capacity have they for mitigating the risk and responding to an emergency? How adaptive have they been to past disasters?

• What does the community value, what is the history of the community, why do they live where they do, what would they like to protect? What is the heart of the community?

• What community consultative or educative processes have been used in the past and how successful have these been in terms of reaching consensus actions or adaptations? What are the competing issues and what processes might be helpful for the community in finding ways forward?

operational fire fighting social perspective disaster planning perspective fire behaviour...

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