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

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.
DateFire LocationLongitude (d.dd°)Latitude (d.dd°)Elevation (m)TypeCode
16 Dec 1977Lawson FireLawson, NSW150.43-33.71720V771216A
9 Nov 2002Willow Vale FireMittagong, NSW150.46-34.43600L021109A
6 Dec 2002 Baulkham Hills FireFiddletown, NSW 151.07 -33.60 200 V021206A
8 Jan 2003McIntyres Hut FireBrindabella NP, NSW148.75-35.27800L030108A
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireFlea Creek, NSW148.73 -35.28 600 V030118A
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FirePig Hill, NSW148.88 -35.23 1000 V030118B
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireDingo Dell, NSW148.84 -35.26 1000 V030118C
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireHyles Block South, ACT148.94 -35.26 500V030118D
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireGenges Trig, NSW148.85 -35.27 1100 L030118E
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireBlue Range, ACT148.86 -35.29 1100 L030118F
18 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut FireCotter Reserve, ACT148.95 -35.31 600 L030118G
18 Jan 2003 Bendora FireBrindabella Road Lower, NSW148.76 -35.38 800 L030118H
18 Jan 2003 Bendora FireBrindabella Road Upper, NSW148.78 -35.38 1000 L030118I
18 Jan 2003 Bendora FireBendora Dam, ACT148.82 -35.45 900 V030118J
18 Jan 2003 Broken Cart FireCooleman Creek, NSW148.70 -35.45900L030118K
18 Jan 2003 Broken Cart FireBrowns Creek, NSW148.65 -35.46 900 L030118L
18 Jan 2003 Broken Cart FireLog Hut Creek, NSW148.65 -35.52 1300 L030118M
18 Jan 2003 Stockyard ComplexOrroral Valley, ACT148.99 -35.68 1100 L030118N
26 Jan 2003 McIntyres Hut Fire“Kenya” property, NSW148.75 -35.16 1000 V030126A
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexBurrungubugge River, NSW148.48 -36.25 1700 V030126B
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexGuthega, NSW148.38 -36.37 600 V030116C
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexThredbo #1, NSW148.39 -36.45 1400 V030126D
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexThredbo #2, NSW148.43 -36.43 1500 V030126D
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexThredbo #3, NSW148.46 -36.41 1500V030126D
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexThredbo #4, NSW148.55 -36.38 1200 V030126D
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexDead Horse Gap, NSW148.35 -36.53 1700 L030126H
26 Jan 2003 Alpine ComplexTom Groggin, NSW148.13 -36.59 900L030126I
26 Oct 2006 Esperanza FireCalifornia 116.86 33.84 1200 L061026A
7 Feb 2009East Kilmore FireKilmore Gap, Vic 145.02 -37.28 400 L090207A
5 May 2009 Jesusita FireCalifornia 119.7 34.4 200 L090505A
17 Dec 2009 Tea Tree Creek FireMichelago, NSW149.2-35.7800 V091217A

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