Early warning system could help in fight against fires

AN EARLY warning system that can detect a fire within five minutes of it starting, alert fire personnel with an SMS of the exact location and send real-time imagery of the fire could be the answer to Australia’s quest to protect communities from future bushfire devastation.
Developed in Portugal following ITS fires in 2003 where 18 lives were lost and 10% of the country’s forests went up in flames, the Forest Fire Finder is the only fully-automated fire detection technology in the world that can identify bushfire smoke and differentiate from chemical/industrial smoke.
The Forest Fire Finder was field-trialed in 2006 and several units have been in operation for the past two to three years. The Portuguese Government has now decided to invest in 36 units for installation across the country.
“We have an opportunity to draw on the experience and a field-proven technology from Portugal to help protect Australian communities from future bushfires,” said Nicolas Souchaud of Fire Fighting Technologies.
“Many parallels can be drawn between the 2003 Portugal fires and the 2009 Victoria fires. High temperatures, low humidity, drought and wind were prevalent in both instances and both also lacked an effective bushfire early warning system. Portugal has taken the necessary steps to protect its communities from future bushfire disasters.
“With equipment and communication systems on the agenda of the Royal Commission into the Victorian bushfires it is our goal to ensure everyone from community members through to politicians is aware that the Forest Fire Finder technology exists, has already been tested and is currently being implemented on a large scale in Portugal,” said Souchaud.
The Forest Fire Finder employs a state-of-the-art optical spectrometry system for the chemical analysis of the atmosphere combined with a smoke detection algorithm to detect fires up to 15km away within 11 minutes maximum for one unit. Eleven minutes is the time it takes the unit to complete a 360º rotation. Two units working together can reduce detection time to five minutes maximum and can accurately determine the location of a fire.
The system can work day and night and can be powered by a solar panel to be completely autonomous from an external power supply.
“It’s truly clever and will offer bushfire-prone communities peace of mind. As this system actually finds fires it gives fire personnel the opportunity to respond before a fire gets out of hand. It allows fire personnel to make well-informed decisions about deployment of fire crews and increases their efficiency when dealing with bushfire threats,” Souchaud said.