Bushfire Management

CONSULTING

Bushfire & Fuel Load Assessment

Natural Area provides a range of services relating to fire management for clients including local and state government agencies, planners and property developers. Natural Area’s knowledge of the natural environment and Western Australia’s ecosystems enable a greater understanding when preparing bushfire management plans and undertaking fire hazard, fuel load and risk assessments.

Bushfire Planning & Design

The Bushfire Planning and Design (BPAD) accreditation scheme is administered by the Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA). The BPAD scheme was first developed and implemented in 2006 in response to demands from the community, government and industry to establish a recognition program for bushfire planning and design accredited practitioners to assist the community undertaking development on land subject to bushfire impact.
Bushfire Management Plans

Bushfire management plans and hazard assessments are prepared in accordance with the Planning for Bush Fire Protection Guidelines prepared by the Western Australian Planning Commission, the Department of Planning, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and AS 3959 – 2009 Construction of Buildings in Bushfire Prone Areas. The plans include assessment of vegetation type, slope and bushfire attack levels (BAL), as well document acceptable fire management solutions.
Fuel Load Reduction

Fire fuel load maintenance should be undertaken on an annual basis to ensure fuel loads are maintained at the desired level and to minimise the risk of fire. Manual removal of fuel load can involve large scale tree removal, canopy pruning, track pruning, brush cutting and removal of fallen debris and leaf litter.

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Bushfire Assessment & Planning

With increasing capability in this area, Natural Area consider fire management to be an area of specialty.

Bushfire Planning & Design (BPAD)

Natural Area’s Senior Environmental Consultant – is a Level 2 accredited Bushfire Planning Practitioner. Some of the services a Level 2 Bushfire Planning Practitioner is able to provide include :

What We Do

Typical activities involved with preparing a fire management plan include:

Undertaking a site assessments
Determining the vegetation type present and its classification from a fire hazard perspective
Assessing the general topography, distance and slope of the land between vegetated areas and proposed buildings
Classifying the bushfire attack level (BAL) according to vegetation type
Determining appropriate construction requirements according to assigned BAL
Determining appropriate bushfire protection performance criteria
Determining acceptable solutions for the proposed subdivision
Liaising with various stakeholders, including local government fire control officers
Preparing a fire management plan for endorsement by the local government authority.

CONSULTING