HIGHFIRE RISK PROJECT

Project Team:
Rick McRae - ACT Emergency Services Agency, Jason Sharples & Rodney Weber - University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy.

The HighFire Risk Project

FIRE CHANNELLING EVENTS

This is an inventory of confirmed fire channelling events. Our research has shown for the first time how significant fire channelling can be in the development of catastrophic fires.

TERMINOLOGY

Pressure-driven channelling is a form of WIND CHANNELLING that occurs in large incised mountain valleys where there is a pressure gradient along the length of the valley. Air that drops down into the valley from the prevailling winds is deflected in the direction of the pressure gradient.
Forced channelling is a form of WIND CHANNELLING that occurs when localised forces deflect part of the prevailling wind flow into a valley. If air flows over a valley aligned across that air flow, some air is deflected down into the valley. Whether it turns to the left or the right depends on the balance of local forces.
Lee-slope channelling is a form of WIND CHANNELLING that occurs when a lee-slope eddy takes on the role of a valley in forced channelling. This process was identified by this project.
Fire Channelling occurs when fires burns into the influence of a wind channelling event, usually lee-slope channelling. It comprises two components: (1) the local winds flow moves the fire cross-slope at right-angles to its main direction of spread (up to 5 km/hr has been observed), and (2) thermal expansion that arises from the fire inside the eddy air flow drives embers back into the prevailling winds overhead, resulting in dense spotfire formation for some distance downwind (up to 6 km has been observed). This then results in fire expansion in two directions, and leads to violent pyro-convection.

For more information read our papers on this subject - see below.

Fire trucks wait in the Brindabella Valley, NSW, on 18 January 2003, while the fire channelling on the left flank of the Broken Cart Fire draws near.
[Photo by a member of the Brindabella Volunteer Bushfire Brigade.]

EVENTS REGISTER

Click on the event code to get more detail, if it is available.
All events have been identified as fire channelling events through analyses of multispectral line-scan data or aerial photography. All events are in southeastern Australia or California. Type ‘V’ indicates that the event occurred in connection with an incised valley, while ‘L’ indicates that the event occurred in connection with a lee slope only.

Date	Fire	Location	Longitude (d.dd°)	Latitude (d.dd°)	Elevation (m)	Type	Code
16 Dec 1977	Lawson Fire	Lawson, NSW	150.43	-33.71	720	V	771216A
9 Nov 2002	Willow Vale Fire	Mittagong, NSW	150.46	-34.43	600	L	021109A
6 Dec 2002	Baulkham Hills Fire	Fiddletown, NSW	151.07	-33.60	200	V	021206A
8 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Brindabella NP, NSW	148.75	-35.27	800	L	030108A
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Flea Creek, NSW	148.73	-35.28	600	V	030118A
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Pig Hill, NSW	148.88	-35.23	1000	V	030118B
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Dingo Dell, NSW	148.84	-35.26	1000	V	030118C
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Hyles Block South, ACT	148.94	-35.26	500	V	030118D
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Genges Trig, NSW	148.85	-35.27	1100	L	030118E
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Blue Range, ACT	148.86	-35.29	1100	L	030118F
18 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	Cotter Reserve, ACT	148.95	-35.31	600	L	030118G
18 Jan 2003	Bendora Fire	Brindabella Road Lower, NSW	148.76	-35.38	800	L	030118H
18 Jan 2003	Bendora Fire	Brindabella Road Upper, NSW	148.78	-35.38	1000	L	030118I
18 Jan 2003	Bendora Fire	Bendora Dam, ACT	148.82	-35.45	900	V	030118J
18 Jan 2003	Broken Cart Fire	Cooleman Creek, NSW	148.70	-35.45	900	L	030118K
18 Jan 2003	Broken Cart Fire	Browns Creek, NSW	148.65	-35.46	900	L	030118L
18 Jan 2003	Broken Cart Fire	Log Hut Creek, NSW	148.65	-35.52	1300	L	030118M
18 Jan 2003	Stockyard Complex	Orroral Valley, ACT	148.99	-35.68	1100	L	030118N
26 Jan 2003	McIntyres Hut Fire	“Kenya” property, NSW	148.75	-35.16	1000	V	030126A
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Burrungubugge River, NSW	148.48	-36.25	1700	V	030126B
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Guthega, NSW	148.38	-36.37	600	V	030116C
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Thredbo #1, NSW	148.39	-36.45	1400	V	030126D
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Thredbo #2, NSW	148.43	-36.43	1500	V	030126D
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Thredbo #3, NSW	148.46	-36.41	1500	V	030126D
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Thredbo #4, NSW	148.55	-36.38	1200	V	030126D
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Dead Horse Gap, NSW	148.35	-36.53	1700	L	030126H
26 Jan 2003	Alpine Complex	Tom Groggin, NSW	148.13	-36.59	900	L	030126I
26 Oct 2006	Esperanza Fire	California	116.86	33.84	1200	L	061026A
7 Feb 2009	East Kilmore Fire	Kilmore Gap, Vic	145.02	-37.28	400	L	090207A
5 May 2009	Jesusita Fire	California	119.7	34.4	200	L	090505A
17 Dec 2009	Tea Tree Creek Fire	Michelago, NSW	149.2	-35.7	800	V	091217A

READING

McRae, R.H.D. (2004) The Breath of the Dragon - Observations of the January 2003 Bushfires. Proceedings, 2004 Australian Bushfire Research Conference.	View PDF paper
	View PDF presentation
McRae, R.H.D., Weber, R.O. & Sharples, J.J. (2006). Lessons learnt from the Jan 03 fires Proceedings 2006 Bushfire Research Conference.	View PDF paper
	View PDF presentation
Sharples, JJ. (2009). An overview of mountain meteorological effects relevant to fire behaviour and bushfire risk. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18(7): 737-754.	View PDF paper
McRae, R.H.D., Sharples, J.J. & Weber, R.O. (2007). Are big fires inevitable? Proceedings, Australasian Fire Authorities Council 2007 Conference.	View PDF paper
	View PDF presentation
Sharples, J.J., Weber, R.O. & McRae, R.H.D. (2007). Wind-Terrain Effects on Rugged LandscapeFire: Lee-slope Channelling Poster presented at 2007 AFAC/Bushfire CRC Conference.	View PDF poster
Sharples, J.J., McRae, R.H.D. & Wilkes, S.R. (2012). Wind-terrain effects on the propagation of large wildfires in rugged terrain: fire channelling. International Journal of Wildland fire doi:10.1071/WF10055	CSIRO Publishing.

30 June 2014