Whether it is in a national park or other public land, a paddock or a house fire, one of the most important aspects of stopping fires is to get on to them quickly. The sooner that firefighters arrive, the smaller the fire will be and the easier it is to contain. In Victoria, one of the ways we try to keep fires small during high fire danger days is by launching aircraft as soon as a fire is detected. Often aircraft can then get on scene and start to contain the fire before local brigades arrive. This system (called pre-determined dispatch or PDD) was developed as part of the response to the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission (VBRC), and was based on a model used in a number of other states. Under PDD, fire fighting aircraft are mobilised as soon as a call out occurs for local fire brigades with a trigger needed to authorise the launch of aircraft.
Other ways we get onto fires quickly includes things like deploying remote area firefighters onto new start fires, inserting rappel crews from helicopters, and sending multiple vehicles at the same time to ensure there are enough resources to tackle the fire. We use real time analysis of satellite images and on some days put aircraft up for surveillance (rather than firefighting) purposes. There is lots of chatter about using drones that could carry water or fire retardant that could be sent to put out small new start fires. And of course, we have traditionally relied on staffed fire lookout towers to spot fires while they are small.
In recent years Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been billed as being a new option for spotting new start fires quickly.
Mountain Journal 
Recent Comments