Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference - Canberra

FUEL, FIRE AND SMOKE: EVOLVING TO

CANBERRA

PARTICIPANTS APPRECIATE DIVERSITY AND BREADTH OF SPEAKERS

BY JOANNA WOOD

The global fire science community gathered to discuss the latest research, practices and future themes at the 7th International Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference held on Ngunnawal Country, Canberra, in April.

More than 300 people participated in five days of conference talks, workshops, and field trips in Canberra in a program put together with the support of Natural Hazards Research Australia and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council with local Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and New South Wales (NSW) partner agencies.

Key themes were risk modelling, fuel management, emerging tech and approaches, cultural perspectives, human dimensions, and weather and climate.

After U.S. Fire Administrator Dr Lori Moore Morell opened the conference in a shared presentation with U.S. delegates in Boise, the first local keynote, Dr. Lachlan McCaw, Australian Fire Service Medal, drew on his extensive experience as a fire scientist in Western Australia and to celebrate fire management achievements over the past 40 years, and where to go from here. Nerilie Abram, professor in climate science at the Australian National University, spoke on the future of fires and fire ecology, highlighting the impact of climate variability on dangerous fire weather in south-east Australia.

Dr. Dean Yibarbuk, chair of Warddeken Land Management Ltd., presented a highly impactful keynote about the disconnection of First Nations peoples in West Arnhem Land from their cultural fire practices with colonisation, and their subsequent re-establishment in the last 20 years. Streamed to delegates in Boise, Yibarbuk shared his and the Warddeken Rangers’ mission to “share the gift of understanding of fire without fear” with fire managers around Australia and the world.

The subsequent panel, comprising Yibarbuk, Aidan Galpin (South Australian Country Fire Service), Dean

Dr. Dean Yibaruk presented a highly impactful keynote about the disconnection of First Nations Peoples in West Arnhem Land from their cultural fire practices with colonisation, and their subsequent re-establishment in the last 20 years.

IAWF vice president Trevor Howard welcomes delegates, sets the scene for the 7th International Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference and acknowledges sponsors and contributors in Canberra. Photo by Friedo Ligthart, Natural Hazards Research Australia.

Freeman (Riverina Local Land Services), Dr. Rowena Morris (Natural Hazards Research Australia), Kirsty Babington (ACT Parks and Conservation Service), and former IAWF president Dr. Mike DeGrosky visiting from the United States, and hosted by anthropologist and disaster psychologist Dr, Steve Sutton, unpacked culture, human nature and fire management. Panel members were challenged to think about identity, purpose, and their relationships with fire through the lens of “all human ecological endeavours and our collective cultural endeavours.”

Professor of wildlife conservation Sarah Legge from Charles Darwin University highlighted the value of small-patch burning on species biodiversity through the Pirra Jungku project alongside the Karajarri Rangers on their country in the Great Sandy Desert in the Western Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Legge shared the concept of right fire carried out in the correct cultural way by the correct people; the way these people interact with the fire, Legge said, is key to ensuring diversity of the short-, mid- and mature-growth vegetation crucial to biodiversity in the Great Sandy Desert, as well as reducing the impact of feral animals.

The final keynote speaker, Dr. Dan Pronk, brought a much needed – and welcome – change of pace, focusing on building resilience in people working in high stress, high consequence roles. A former Australian Special Air Service soldier and doctor with more than 100 active missions in Afghanistan, Pronk developed the resilience shield approach to building resilience in response to the high level of stress he experienced both while active and once discharged from active service.

Pronk’s personal insight into the sustained, ongoing stress and trauma associated with first response roles, as well as the overwhelming evidence that members of the emergency sector experience higher rates of mental and physical illness were a timely reminder that everyone in this space – from frontline staff, to planning and researchers – is at risk of the effects of high stress and burnout, and can train to build resilience and manage stress responses.

Pronk’s three points for resilience impact are:

1. Meditation for 10 minutes a day, most days of the week

2. Deep, inter-personal relationships and connection

3. Sleep and sleep hygiene

IAWF proudly acknowledged Alen Slijepcevic, Australian Fire Service Medal, Country Fire Authority, with the Distinguished Service Award, recognising his commitment and outstanding contribution to furthering the goals of the association, including his tenure as president in 20182019.

IAWF Vice-president Trevor Howard presented the award and noted that Slijepcevic is well known in the Australian

Dr. Dan Pronk, co-author of The Resilience Shield and former special operations doctor, brought a change of pace, from wildland fire management to building resilience in people working in high stress, high consequence roles.

Photo by Friedo Ligthart, Natural Hazards Research Australia.

IAWF Vice-president Trevor Howard recognizes best student poster recipient Aoran Cheng of Hong Kong University, who presented his research, Fire Rescue Missions Utilise Air Drone Carriers, in Canberra.

Photo by Friedo Ligthart, Natural Hazards Research Australia.