Mercury Rising puts heat on bushfires

The wet winter has increased fuel loads across SA, and the dry spring encountered in many areas of the state could result in an early start to the fire season.

According to the Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC's seasonal outlook for southern Australia, the Mid North and Eyre Peninsula face above average fire potential this season.

In order to kickstart awareness ahead of the bushfire season, the CFS and other fire-focused organisations have hosted Mercury Rising: Extreme Bushfires, bringing together a meteorologist, fire behaviour researcher and community response expert to examine fire behaviour and people's decision-making during a fire threat.

A joint initiative of the CFS, the Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and Royal Institution of Australia, two sessions of the event were held at RiAus in Adelaide on Tuesday last week - one for emergency services professionals and another for the general public.

The event also included an interactive element, where the audience used their smartphones to vote on a range of fictional fire scenarios.

CFS project manager of Partners in Bushfire Safety Peta O'Donohue said the event was designed to disseminate the latest in fire research.

"The Bushfires and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre coordinate a whole lot of research into bushfires, and it doesn't always get out to the public in common-speak," Ms O'Donohue said. "We wanted to present the latest in fire and climate science, in bushfire behaviour and in community response, to help people develop a picture of what that means for a fire today."

About 20 CFS staff attended the afternoon session, with some MFS and police officers also taking part. The event was also live-streamed online, with about 150 people - including CFS regional officers and volunteers - tuning in.

She said the event was timed to encourage people in risky areas to prepare early for bushfire season.

"We want people to start thinking about the worst case scenario - not just if there's a little fire, but if it's the big one, are you ready?" she said.

"The first thing I'd do is sit down with your family or your business and talk to each other about it - make sure you're all on the same page, that you know where's the safest place to go, and that you have a plan if phones don't work."

In addition to making properties as fire-safe as possible, she encouraged rural residents to create written plans, review their plans every year - even if circumstances haven't changed - and ensure their properties were properly insured.

Speaking at the event, RMIT research fellow Josh Whittaker said rural residents were generally better prepared than those on the city fringe.

"Generally we find that rural communities have a much higher level of awareness about bushfires, and they're often better prepared," Dr Whittaker said. "We've also found from some of our studies that they are better at adapting when things go wrong. When machinery fails, they can fix it, so some of those practical skills that they have really help them be adaptive and able to defend against fire.

"In agricultural areas, people feel a strong sense of responsibility to their livestock, and what we often hear when we talk to people in rural areas is that leaving is not an option.

"Farmers feel they have to stay and defend, and animals are usually the biggest motivator of that, both from a financial sense but also a moral sense of needing to protect their livestock."

* Full report in Stock Journal, September 25, 2014 issue.