On the 8th February the Victorian Government requested the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre ( Bushfire CRC) to establish a Research Taskforce to collect data from the aftermath of the Victorian Bushfires and analyse the data. The Bushfire CRC created a team of 50 researchers from across Australia, NZ and the US to painstakingly and systematically collect data.
An interim report was produced in June 2009 based on the preliminary findings, for consideration by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
While it is stressed throughout the interim report that the findings are preliminary and likely to change as more of the data is analysed, there were some very interesting preliminary findings. In particular some of the information in relation to the houses examined, which had burned down, was very interesting.
In the report, entitled Victorian 2009 Bushfire Research Response Interim Report June 2009, draws on the research from over 1000 homes, which they surveyed. From this information a number of conclusions were drawn. Some are not new , although perhaps some of us had forgotten some of them, such as:
- Active defense of properties is a major facet in house survival
- The type of house, its structure, quality and age appear to be factors in survival rates
- Wind damage should be a key factor in building standards
- Plastic or fiberglass tanks are more vulnerable than metal or concrete tanks in a fire.
- Pumps and pipe work need to be carefully designed and located.
- Mains water and electricity are not reliable in a bushfire
- Vegetation next to or overhanging a house, whether isolated or not, is a major contributing factor in house loss.
Others findings appear to be new and perhaps different from the previous prevailing view, such as:
- Mud brick houses and houses with lightweight frames and timber or cellulose cement sheet cladding are significantly more at risk than brick houses.
- About one fifth or 20% of house losses studied appear to have been directly related to their proximity to forest.
- Houses were destroyed that were over 380 meters from continuous bush, and this distance may well be wider after all the data is analysed
- Over half the houses destroyed on 7 February were not in an area with a Wildfire Management Overlay
For the full report: Victorian 2009 Bushfire Research Response Interim Report June 2009