Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer Joshua Fisher explains changes to the Australian Fire Danger Rating System

Transcript

Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer Joshua Fisher explains changes to the Australian Fire Danger Rating System · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me in this studio is Josh Fisher, who is
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the Deputy Chief Fire Officer. Did I get that title right?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: You did? But acting presence acting at.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Present, Well, good to have you in this studio. I
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: know there's been plenty happening. We got you in obviously
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: because we wanted to find out more about this danger
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: rating system for fires. Before we get to that, though,
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  Speaker 1: we know that it's been a busy couple of weeks
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: when it comes to fires around the Northern Territory. Have
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  Speaker 1: things been a little bit quieter this week as that
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  Speaker 1: humidity and even a tiny bit of rain have crept in.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly, in the last forty eight hours from a
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  Speaker 2: wildfire perspective, we've had less incidents, and yeah, thankfully due
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to the increased humidity, sort of more marginal fire weather conditions,
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  Speaker 2: we've seen less instances of fires occurring, and certainly not
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: those dangerous fires where we saw the emergency warnings issued
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: in the Darwin Emergency Response Area and our counterparts with
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  Speaker 2: bushfires NT so some really dangerous fires that had occurred
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  Speaker 2: in the last seven days. And yeah, thankfully we've got
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  Speaker 2: more milder conditions.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you sort of had a few days there where
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  Speaker 1: it was there where house fire. Then you had that one.
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  Speaker 1: I think it was on Kirkland Road. It was a
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  Speaker 1: really busy time.
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  Speaker 2: I look, it certainly was on the day that the
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  Speaker 2: College Road incident happened. We also had to watching acts
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  Speaker 2: issued in the Greater Darwin area for homes under thread
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  Speaker 2: and people at risk of bushfire spreading, and then followed
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  Speaker 2: up in the following days with an emergency warning there
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  Speaker 2: at Wishart Road that burnt through Berrima to Hidden Valley.
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  Speaker 2: Some really challenging times, but thankfully our members they worked
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  Speaker 2: tirelessly in quite dangerous conditions. Our volunteers, our career firefighters,
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  Speaker 2: our support staff, our people at the desk, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they're sometimes they've forgotten people that are dispatching our resources.
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  Speaker 2: They're recording and collating the information that comes back and
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  Speaker 2: assist in our members with resourcing some additional crews to
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  Speaker 2: get to those fires. Really challenging time and I thank
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: everyone that assisted.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Josh, have you in today because we're keen to
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  Speaker 1: find out about these changes to the National Fire Danger
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  Speaker 1: Rating system so they actually come into effect as I
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  Speaker 1: understand it from today. Why were these ratings reviewed?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so commencing from today. We've now got a simplified
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  Speaker 2: fired ager rating system that's national. So what that means
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  Speaker 2: is across Australia, wherever you are, whichever community you'll be in,
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  Speaker 2: you'll be receiving consistent style of fired ager ratings right
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  Speaker 2: across Australia. Look, the reason why the change to a
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  Speaker 2: new national approach is simply the previous fired anger rating
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  Speaker 2: system was based on science that was greater than sixty
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  Speaker 2: years old, hadn't been updated, and it was only designed
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  Speaker 2: for very limited number of vegetation types, roughly only representing
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  Speaker 2: around a third of the Australian continent. So when we
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  Speaker 2: applied that across the whole of Australia, and even in
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  Speaker 2: the NT context, some of those fired ager ratings weren't
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  Speaker 2: that accurate, particularly in Central Australia where we've got an
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  Speaker 2: arried environment with spinifex grasses. The science that was used
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  Speaker 2: to model fired ager ratings wasn't for spinifex grasses, so,
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  Speaker 2: you know, recognizing that we've got diverse ecosystems that it
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  Speaker 2: doesn't the previous model didn't accurately reflect current fuel states.
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  Speaker 2: So the total volume of fuel the grass that was
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  Speaker 2: on the ground and especially in forests down south, so
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  Speaker 2: outside of the territory. And it didn't make use of
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  Speaker 2: the advancements mating technology in science over the last sixty years.
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  Speaker 2: So hence why a project that's really commenced around twenty
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  Speaker 2: fourteen began across all states and territories in federal government
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  Speaker 2: to develop a new system.
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  Speaker 1: And so what are the new ratings and what do
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  Speaker 1: these sort of mean.
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  Speaker 2: So we've gone from having six ratings previously, where we
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  Speaker 2: had load of moderates. We had a high, very high, severe,
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  Speaker 2: and extreme. We've now just got four so we have
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  Speaker 2: a moderate, high, extreme, and catastrophic. So they are the
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  Speaker 2: four ratings that will have and in periods where there
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  Speaker 2: is no fire danger, so in the wet season, during
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: a cyclone, this system is designed to be turned off
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  Speaker 2: so there is no rating. So if it's in the
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  Speaker 2: middle of the wet season, you're in the top end,
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  Speaker 2: the grass is fully fully green, the grass is growing,
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  Speaker 2: or there's a cyclone or a tropical low that's bearing down,
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  Speaker 2: or there is no fire danger.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so based on those ratings, I mean, particularly
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  Speaker 1: one like the catastrophic. Have we ever experienced those catastrophic
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  Speaker 1: conditions in the territory we have.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are infrequent, but they do occur. And we've
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  Speaker 2: seen catastrophic fired anger in twenty nineteen and we've had
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  Speaker 2: it recently again. Obviously, when we reach catastrophic fired anger,
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  Speaker 2: that's the most dangerous fire weather conditions. And we talk
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  Speaker 2: about then that it's around survival and so if you're
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  Speaker 2: in a high risk bush fire area, you shouldn't be
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  Speaker 2: there because if a fire does start, it's likely that
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  Speaker 2: it will result in lost to property and could put
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  Speaker 2: people in serious harm.
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  Speaker 1: And Josh, I suppose not to normal, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: the everyday public listening this morning. Who you know who
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: aren't Caorea firefighters or who aren't volunteers, What does that
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  Speaker 1: sort of mean for them? And does they need to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: be communication to everyday territorians to let them know about
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: this change or is it just something that they'll it'll
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  Speaker 1: just happen and they'll notice at some point.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, the look and feel of the fight ager
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  Speaker 2: ratings is much the same, So that watermelon wheel is
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  Speaker 2: much the same. The coloring is the same, which is
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  Speaker 2: reducing from six levels down to four. Territorians will start
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  Speaker 2: to see those signs that are on roadsides changed progressively
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  Speaker 2: over the next few months. So there's already a new
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  Speaker 2: signing place at Berry Springs just near the very Springs
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  Speaker 2: T having it the Bushfires in T Volunteer Berry Springs
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  Speaker 2: Volunteer Brigade headquarters. There is a new signing place there
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  Speaker 2: and we're working with Bushfires in T in the Department
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  Speaker 2: of Infrastructure Planning Logistics to roll out the remainder of
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  Speaker 2: the signs across the territory over the coming months. You'll
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  Speaker 2: also see it in our social media platforms. You'll see
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  Speaker 2: some really good information on Secure and T but also
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory Fire Incident Map. If you toggle there's
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  Speaker 2: a little Hamburger icon as it's known. If you toggle that,
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  Speaker 2: you click it on, you can start to see these
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  Speaker 2: new fight Angel ratings displayed on the UNT Fire Incident
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  Speaker 2: Map as well.
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  Speaker 1: Right there. You go, well and hopefully just makes it
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  Speaker 1: all a little bit more simple for people to understand
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  Speaker 1: and know exactly what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, Josh.
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  Speaker 1: Good to catch up with you this morning. I really
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: appreciate you coming into the studio and having a chat
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  Speaker 1: with us. No doubt we'll talk again in the near future.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie,