In fire prone ecosystems, unplanned and unmanaged fires can have devastating effects, taking peoples lives, destroying
livestock and ruining businesses and property.
The identification of who is legally responsible for the start of a fire and the damage of property or loss of life can
be extremely confusing when there are multiple fire origins to essentially one large fire.
- After a devastating fire all available data regarding the fire is sourced
- All available data is fed into a fire simulation model (Farsite) to model the spread of fire
- The different fire origin scenarios are run separately & then combined to determine the most probable occurrence of
events of the day of the fire
The following data is collected :
- Possible origins of the fire
- Location & type of all counter fire measures
- Eye witness accounts of the fire spread
- Photography of fire spread
- Satellite imagery pre & post fire
- Weather data: Wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, maximum & minimum temperatures for the days preceding the fire,
the day/days of the fire & after the fire
- Fuel data: The different fuel types that were present are determined from on the ground investigation & mapped using satellite
imagery or aerial photography
- Topographical data: Contour data is used to build a 3D model of the area burnt to determine elevation, aspect & slope of each
area within the burnt area
This product can be used to develop detailed fire management plans for fire suppression and has also been successfully used during
litigation and court proceedings.
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