Everything starts with a story. A timely story is being written now and it started with ‘I’m from the government and I need your help’. Scott Brook from National Parks and Wildlife attended this year’s GovHack at Smart Hub Rockhampton. He did a pitch asking participants to develop an application ‘APP’ from the open source data available that could help determine when land should be burned to improve pasture, increase biodiversity or simply for hazard reduction.
Any open fire exceeding 2 metres square requires a permit. On large land holdings when land management by fire is required, the usual practice is for the landowner to fill in the paperwork and submit it to the local Fire Warden. The Fire Warden then using the tools and experience on hand makes a decision. At times, these controlled burns get out of control due to factors that were not able to be taken into consideration or changed. Causing extensive property damage and threaten lives.
Government expenditure in fighting bush fires then rehabilitating the affected land and infrastructure can run into millions of dollars.
4 GovHack participants responded to Scott’s pitch and formed a team they called The Firestarters. Over the course of the weekend they developed a prototype of an APP, they called Fahrenheit 4701. It accesses Bureau of Metrology weather data then analyses the forecast conditions against a fire behaviour model. From the results produced they are able to indicate windows of opportunity when fires could more safely be lit and when not.
Fahrenheit 4701 needs further work and access to other data to make its forecasts more accurate. National Parks Sport and Racing are keen to see this work progress and are working to this end.
Other more expedient solutions however could be utilising the coding talents of local people like the Firestarters team.
For the story to go on this tangent and not possibly be another ‘if only’, funding is required. It could be government funding which often involves a drawn-out process with no guarantee of success, or private investment.
We are talking about creating a forecasting tool that enable land owners to better manage planned fires and wildfire response. It could save millions of dollars each year and lives. A tool that for no or little cost should be in the hands of every multi acreage land holder in the state and later the nation, even internationally. A tool that could be developed from this regions skill set, possibly with assistance of the CQUniversity research centre. A tool that is not only very pertinent to Central Queensland but could be produced here.
A dry winter is going to result in more bush fires, as already evident. October is when some land owners like to use fires to clear land specially to destroy sucker plants. The risk for a controlled burn to become uncontrolled is going to be greater. Fire Warden’s to just say no is not the answer; easily accessible information of when is the best time, in the hands of the land owner and Fire Warden, is a big part of the answer.
Hopefully there is going to be more to this story, particularly a strong local infusion of talent and funding.