Analysis of the resourcing and containment of multiple remote fires: The Great Divide Complex of fires, Victoria, December 2006

The Great Divide Complex of fires started from 66 lightning strikes across the Great Dividing Range in Victoria on 1 December 2006 and eventually burned 1 048 410 ha over the following two months. This study analysed the resourcing of suppression activities for these fires and the success of containment efforts until 10 December, when severe fire weather conditions across the whole region caused the overall fire area to expand to 355 000 ha. Forty-two of the fires were resourced in this time, and 20 of these were successfully contained. Resourcing was found to be associated with distance to nearest road or track, slope, elevation and fuel hazard. Containment success of the resourced fires was related to slope, overall fuel hazard and fire size at detection. The quantity of firefighting resources required to contain all fires within the first four to six days was determined for comparison with the quantity of resources actually deployed. Fireline suppression and line construction rates were calculated for the prevailing fireline conditions, for both hand crews and aircraft. These rates were used to predict the resources required to contain all fires, given the lengths of fire perimeter during this period. The minimum quantity of resources required was found to be substantially more than that available.