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.