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

With support from Google.org, AFAC has established the Bushfire Emerging Technologies Hub (the Hub), with the intention to support member bushfire and land management agencies to improve how Australia detects, tracks and responds to bushfires.

Major areas of the Hub involve:

• an environmental scan to assess the current state of satellite technologies, aircraft and drones, cameras and sensor detection equipment, and communications and warnings technologies
• a grant application process for member agencies to fund innovative projects that demonstrate the practical application of technological benefits in real-world scenarios
• collaboration and capacity building across agencies to maximise the effectiveness of new technologies and support coordinated bushfire management efforts. This will be facilitated through the new Bushfire Emerging Technologies Hub.

Since the grant was awarded, the AFAC project team and member-led Steering Committee have both been established. The Steering Committee is a working group of AFAC’s Rural and Land Manager’s Group and is chaired by NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Peter McKechnie. Other Steering Committee members include James Carter from Forestry Corp NSW, Frazer Wilson from Department of Energy, Enironment and Climate Action, Steph Rotarangi from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Jake Bradley from ACT Environment Significance Opinion, Troy Spinks from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Jackson Parker from Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Alen Slijepcevic from Country Fire Authority, and Sandra Whight from AFAC.

Environmental scan

The Hub has partnered with Natural Hazards Research Australia to engage Marta Yebra from Australian National University to undertake an environmental scan of AI and emerging technologies used across the hazard landscape, including bushfire, severe weather and flood. This analysis will include capturing existing projects, a gap analysis, understanding challenges and barriers to implementation, and potential opportunities.

Innovation projects

In late 2025, AFAC launched a call for grants for member and affiliate member agencies to participate in the project. The grant program provides funding for projects to use AI or emerging technology in pre and active bushfire stages, supporting the Collaborative’s mission to harness the power of AI and emerging technology to manage bushfires. After careful deliberation, 4 projects were successfully chosen to participate in the Hub. 

A trial of AI for early fireground intelligence and triage: Country Fire Authority, Victoria
This project will test the ability of AI models to process existing communication streams to predict the first status of the fire, predict the outcomes of the fire, and summarise the incident for reporting.

Scaling AI for Tankers: Country Fire Authority, Victoria and NSW Rural Fire Service
This project intends to reduce the need for crew members to be exposed on tanker decks or on foot during operations. This will be achieved by utilising AI in Tankers to classify fire edge in real-time, detect hazards and obstacles and offer autonomous suppression pump-and-role methods.

AI Grass Curing Estimator: South Australian Country Fire Service
The AI Grass Curing Estimator project will provide a proof of concept for a practical, fielddeployable tool (application) that uses machine learning to automatically estimate grass curing percentages from simple photographs taken with a smartphone or drone.

SkySeekFire: Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action and Country Fire Authority, Victoria
This project aims to detect fires in the smouldering stage using aerial infrared technology across multiple platforms, before the fire becomes visible, more active and difficult to supress.

As part of the Hub, these projects mark a significant step forward in harnessing the potential of AI and emerging technologies to strengthen bushfire resilience across Australian and New Zealand.

For more information on the Global AI Collaborative: Wildfires or the Hub, please contact media@afac.com.au.