- Title:
-
Overall Fuel Hazard Guide
- Date:
- January 1998
- Organisations
- DSE
- Authors:
- G.J. McCarthy, K.G. Tolhurst, K.Chatto
- Location:
- Victoria, VIC, Australia
Overview
The purpose of this guide is to assist supervisors of fire control operations or prescribed burns, in assessing the hazard posed by Bark Fuel, Elevated Fuel, and Surface Fine Fuel. It builds on the principles of fuel hazard assessment already established in the previously published Eucalypt Bark Hazard Guide (Wilson 1992) and Elevated Fuel Guide (Wilson 1993). It replaces these Guides.
Using this guide will assist with:
- defining, in a consistent way, fuel management objectives, i.e. ensuring that there is statewide consistency in achieving appropriate Overall Fuel Hazard levels for Fuel Management Zones
- identifying fuel hazards during fire suppression operations, from first attack through to the conduct of complex final suppression strategies, in particular, back burning
- identifying fuel hazards to conduct prescribed burning or backburning in the most effective way - ie. effectively reducing fuel hazards to ensure that control lines are not breached
- increasing the safety of fireline personnel, by recognising fuel hazards which may give rise to uncontrollable fire behaviour
- identifying fuel hazards in forested areas which may pose a significant threat to adjoining houses or other assets.
This guide describes five categories of Overall Fuel Hazard. These categories are based on the ability of suppression forces to control a fire in these fuels.
