Bushfires

CSIRO bushfire research is improving the understanding of fire, and improving technologies and strategies to save lives and limit damage.

• 12 February 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Bushfires in Australia
• Research background 
• Key research achievements
• Research partners

Bushfires in Australia

Bushfire has been part of the Australian landscape for millions of years. Much of our vegetation has evolved with fire, and like the vegetation in other harsh and dry environments, it has developed characteristics that promote the spread of fire.

Bushfires are most common over the savannas of tropical Australia, where some parts of the land burn on an annual basis. However, the southeast, where the majority of the population resides, is susceptible to large wildfires that threaten life and property.

Research background 

CSIRO has been involved in bushfire research for more than forty years. This has focused on:

• understanding and predicting bushfire behaviour
• the impact of bushfires on infrastructure
• ecological responses to fire
• the impact of climate change on bushfire risk
• pollutants and greenhouse gases as a result of bushfires.

Research results have been used to respond to bushfire threat through weather warnings, fire location information, fire-fighter training, predicting fire behaviour and informing fire safety policy.

Key research achievements

CSIRO has a string of notable achievements including the development of the Forest Fire Danger Index in 1967, which today forms the basis of Australia's well known fire-risk warning system.

Understanding bushfire behaviour

Bushfire experts have teamed together to provide vital information on predicting the behaviour and management of bushfires.

Locating bushfires as they happen

Sentinel Hotspots provides reliable 'eyes' in the sky for Emergency Services, using satellite images to locate and map bushfires occurring in Australia and providing the information to anyone on the internet.

Understanding building infrastructure performance in bushfires

From the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires to the present, all bushfires involving significant house loss have been surveyed by CSIRO bushfire researchers.

Torching tankers – evaluating fire vehicle protection systems

CSIRO’s bushfire researchers used a bushfire simulator and field experiments to measure the effectiveness of spray protection devices fitted to fire tankers.

Climate change in Australia: technical report 2007

This report, Climate Change in Australia, was developed by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology through the Australian Climate Change Science Program, and provides the most up to date assessment of Australia's changing climate. (148 pages). 

CSIRO researchers have developed tools, methods, guides and training materials that are in operational use by relevant fire emergency services agencies across Australia.

Research partners

The bushfire research at CSIRO is part of a large scale collaborative effort with the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre.

It draws on the resources of the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, and state and territory based fire agencies.

Find out more about CSIRO's Bushfires research.