Taking The Heat Out Of Bushfires With Innovative Technology

February 7, 2009, will long be remembered by Australians as "Black Saturday" - the day on which almost 200 people perished and thousands were left homeless as a result of bush- fires that raged out of control on the outskirts of Melbourne. The Black Saturday tragedy is generally thought to have resulted from record high temperatures (around 46ºC) on the day, significantly below-average rainfall over the five previous years and a "stay and defend" stance taken by many rural residents.

Hotter summers and a drier year-round climate suggest that conditions likely to increase the frequency and intensity of bushfires will persist in Australia for some time. And Australians are now looking to technology to help reduce bushfire impact in rural communities.

By their very nature, bushfires are difficult to predict and control - above and beyond the effects of other variables such as terrain and winds. Extinguishing them is a daunting task. So, in a world of video-playing iPods, mass-printable thin- film polymer solar cells and nanoparticles for targeted cancer treatment, what technologies are being developed for bushfire protection?

Elvis to the rescue

Generally, very few ideas conceived in the aftermath of bushfires have been converted into bush- fire protection technologies. Even where patent Photos.com applications are filed, they are often not followed through on. Some ideas, however, are translated into tangible solutions. One such tool - currently the subject of patent protection in Australia and other countries - is a water-bombing helicopter, colloquially known as "Elvis." At the frontline of bushfire fighting, the helicopter, produced by the U.S. company Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated, is hired each summer by Australian state governments to assist in their protection efforts.

The Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre

In Australia, the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre (Bushfire CRC) is at the heart of research aimed at generating bushfire protection solutions. The Bushfire CRC receives input from more than 30 fire and land management agencies in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Australian government-funded Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The Bushfire CRC's research focuses on three main areas: (1) fire behavior; (2) human behavior...