State and Territory fire agencies
The Bureau of Meteorology works closely with fire agencies around the country to keep the community informed about fire danger.
Working together to keep the community safe
Fire agencies work together with Bureau staff at both a State/Territory and National level. During the defined fire season, Bureau fire weather forecasters provide gridded fire weather forecasts to help fire agencies plan and prepare for the level of fire risk. When there are significant fire events, Bureau fire weather forecasters provide Incident Weather Forecasts describing the specific weather expected at that fire location. This is used to help the incident controllers to understand how the weather will impact on the spread of the fire and ultimately to keep the community safe.
In most States there is an embedded meteorologist, a Bureau forecaster, who works at the State Operations Centre for the fire agencies. This forecaster provides specialist briefing services and advice to support the operational decisions made by the fire agency – including planning, preparedness, emergency response and recovery. They also provide support for fuel reduction burning programs. Learn more about our embedded meteorologists in this blog article.
Figure 1: Bureau meteorologist Bob Tarr in the WA State Operations Centre
At a national level the Bureau is part of specific collaboration groups that are coordinated by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC). These groups help to set the standards for the fire weather service provided by the Bureau and work together to utilise recent scientific research to improve fire weather services in a coordinated way across the whole country.
State and Territory fire agencies
Connect to fire agencies in your state or territory for more information.
Figure 2: Rural fire fighter