Bushfire and Emerging Technology Project

AFAC has become a member of Global AI Collaborative: Wildfires, a strategic initiative by Google.org bringing together leading not-for-profits, academic institutions, government agencies, and companies to help people and communities better manage fires by using AI.

Spark Operational 1.3.0 - Major functional and scientific enhancements

The Spark Operational 1.3.0 release brings with it a series of major scientific and operational improvements for bushfire simulation across Australia. This release is not just an incremental update, it introduces new models, greater flexibility for ensemble simulations, and advances in scenario analysis, amplifying the capacity of Spark to deliver trusted decision support for Fire Behaviour Analysts.

Australasian crews set to return home after a challenging Canadian wildfire season

Australian and New Zealand firefighters have been on the ground in Canada since 2 June 2025.

Volunteers embrace the new Response to Electric Vehicle Incident – Foundation Training program

In the 2 months since its launch, over 1,000 members from Australian emergency response agencies have completed the Response to Electric Vehicle (EV) Incident – Foundation Training course and have given the course an average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5.

AFAC25 Results from 37 years of fire management at Millstream Chichester National Park

Millstream Chichester national park, located in northern Western Australia, has rich Aboriginal heritage, outstanding tourism attractions, and significant environmental values.

AFAC25 Disrupting traditional hierarchical structures in SACFS Brigades

In an era of rapid change, the traditional hierarchical structure of a volunteer firefighting brigade, along with other volunteer emergency service agencies, face significant challenges. This presentation explores the necessity of adapting these structures to better manage volunteer groups, while maintaining the command-and-control approach essential for emergency service organisations.

AFAC25 Building on a diverse workforce using novel funding, increasing fire management capacity in remote communities.

This presentation will focus on the partnership with the Balanggarra people and will be co-presented with a director from Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation. It will cover the journey from negotiating the agreement, to the establishment of the Dalunga Working Group that guides the implementation of the agreement, through to the employment and training of six new rangers from the remote aboriginal community of Kalumburu who are now working on country to help manage Drysdale River National Park.

AFAC25 Benefits of landscape scale fuel management through prescribed burning to reduce bushfire threat

This case study examines the outcomes of the November 2023 bushfire complexes in the Perth Hills region of Western Australia, focusing on the Mundaring and Serpentine complexes, and compares them with the 2005 Pickering Brook fire. The study evaluates the effectiveness of prescribed burning as a bushfire mitigation strategy by analysing fire behaviour, severity, suppression success, and impacts on life, property, environment, and drinking water catchments. It also incorporates simulation modelling using the SPARK bushfire simulator to assess hypothetical scenarios where the actual ignitions spread in long unburnt fuels.

AFAC25 NSW tsunami inundation modelling project

NSW SES’s existing tsunami evacuation mapping has been publicly available since 2016 and defines a conservative evacuation zone covering  areas with elevation less than 10m, within 1km of the coast and 10km up estuaries. Based on this mapping, a tsunami land threat occurring today would require evacuation of approximately 1.1 million people across NSW. This would pose a significant challenge to NSW SES and other emergency agencies, who would be quickly overwhelmed.

AFAC25 Enhancement of flood rescue in NSW

NSW SES was tasked to coordinate and drive the implementation of recommendations from the NSW State Rescue Board following the inquiry, and lift flood response capability across all emergency service organisations (ESOs). To this end NSW SES established a Flood Rescue Enhancement Program (FREP) to ensure a timely delivery of outcomes to bolster flood rescue capabilities and coordination.

AFAC25 Empowering locally informed recovery in Northern Australia: A Queensland perspective

This presentation will highlight the recovery and resilience strategies applied in response to disaster events, like Tropical Cyclone Jasper in 2023-24. Mr. Brett Matthews representing the Human and Social Functional Resilience and Recovery Group in Queensland, will explain significant initiatives that enhanced efficiency and inclusivity within the recovery process. These strategies serve as a testament to the power of ingenuity in bridging the distance between communities and their homes during the crucial recovery phase.

AFAC25 RFS reflects – Our Reconciliation journey

On November 09, 2023, NSW Rural Fire Service became one of the first emergency service agencies in Australia to have a Reconciliation Action Plan endorsed by Reconciliation Australia.