This special February Hazardous Webinar will discuss the lessons we can take so far from the devasting Los Angeles bushfires and what they mean for Australia. The webinar is bought to you by Natural Hazards Research Australia and AFAC. 

Speakers

Kelly Martin, Lasair Fire Consulting and US volunteer firefighter
Rob Webb, AFAC
Prof David Bowman, University of Tasmania and Natural Hazards Research Australia
Andrew Gissing, Natural Hazards Research Australia (MC)

Our expert panel will share what it was like to be on the fireground, what the scientific implications are and discuss if bushfires like those in LA could happen in Australia. This webinar will be a panel discussion, and attendees will be encouraged to ask questions.

Kelly Martin – Lasair Fire Consulting and US volunteer firefighter

Kelly’s experience in fire management stretches over 40 years, in the US National Parks Service and US Forest Service across six different states as a fire practitioner, prescribed fire burn boss, fire chief, fire behaviour analyst and incident management, culminating as the Chief of Fire and Aviation in Yosemite National Park, retiring in 2019. With her diverse skill set, Kelly is an advocate for diversity, inclusion and gender parity in the wildland fire services. Kelly now runs Lasair Fire Consulting in the US, is the immediate past president of the International Association of Wildland Fire and was on the fireground in LA with a strike team from Idaho.

Rob Webb – AFAC

Rob is the CEO of AFAC, Australia and New Zealand’s National Council for fire and emergency services. Rob has enjoyed over 30 years of working with emergency managers before, during and after disasters. He’s a former Deputy CEO at the Bureau of Meteorology, leading the Bureau’s national weather, flood and climate forecast and warning operations. At AFAC Rob is joined by a dedicated workforce that oversees the delivery of the sector’s national collaboration network, doctrine delivery, the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, the National Resource Sharing Centre, the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience on behalf of NEMA, an annual conference, and the sector’s contribution to Australian and International Standards Committees. A passionate advocate for disaster risk reduction in all its forms, Rob enjoys connecting innovative ideas in Australia, New Zealand and across the globe.

Prof David Bowman – University of Tasmania and Natural Hazards Research Australia

David is the Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science and the Director of the Fire Centre at the University of Tasmania.  His is a lead researcher for Natural Hazards Research Australia an holds a prestigious Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship. David has over 40 years’ experience and is motivated by a commitment to improving the scientific basis of fire management. His Natural Hazards Research Australia research is highly relevant to the LA fires and is providing a new understanding of how the changing characteristics of vegetation in the high risk rural-urban interface extreme fire behaviour.

Andrew Gissing – Natural Hazards Research Australia (host)

Andrew is the CEO of Natural Hazards Research Australia and in the aftermath of the LA fires provided expert commentary to the media around the why, how and what-if. According to Andrew the fires tell us in Australia that we need to think of the unimaginable, as well as considering our obvious risks that already exist, or are being created, that are underappreciated or may be overlooked. Read more from Andrew on the LA fires.

Contact the host of February Hazardous Webinar - Lessons from the LA fires and implications for Australia

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