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Grassfires: Fuel, Weather and Fire Behaviour is suitable for all rural fire brigade members and rural landholders, students and teachers of courses on landscape and ecological processes, rural and peri-urban dwellers, fire authorities and researchers.Grassfires: Fuel, Weather and Fire Behaviour presents the latest information from CSIRO on the behaviour and spread of fires in grasslands. This second edition follows 10 years of research aimed at improving the understanding of fundamental processes involved in the behaviour of bushfires and grassfires.Grassfires: Fuel, Weather and Fire Behaviour has been extensively revised and new case studies have been added to reflect the latest findings in research and investigations.
It covers all aspects of fire behaviour and spread in the major types of grasses in Australia. It examines the factors that affect fire behaviour in continuous grassy fuels; fire in spinifex fuels; the effect of weather and topography on fire spread; wildfire suppression strategies; and how to reconstruct grassfire spread after the fact. The three fire-spread meters designed by CSIRO and used for the prediction of fire danger and rate of spread of grassfires are explained and their use and limitations discussed. This new edition expands on the historical view of grassfires with respect to extensive Aboriginal burning, combustion chemistry, flame structure and temperature, spotting and spread in discontinuous/eaten out fuels, and the effect of wind in complex terrain.
Phil Cheney is one of the foremost experts on the behaviour of bushfires in the world, with over 40 years’ experience in all aspects of bushfire research. His work forms the basis of operational fire behaviour prediction systems used across Australia and improves the safety of bushfire fighters and the general public.
Andrew Sullivan has been involved in bushfire research since joining CSIRO in 1991 and recently completed a PhD study of the competitive thermokinetics of the combustion of bushfire fuels. He has contributed to the development of fire spread prediction software, models of radiant heat from bushfires and the study of wind and fire interaction.
"I found the writing easy to read, being quite conversational, even when dealing with complex material and data. Grassfires would be useful to a wide audience [...] and it should be a mandatory book for all landholders who own grazing land. It remains the definitive book on grassland fires and their management."
– Greg Fisk, Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Vol 17, March 2010
"The text is supported by numerous well chosen, high-quality photographs and diagrams [...] In summary, Grassfires presents a solid review of the theoretical aspects of fire behaviour, which underpins the practical aspects of fire suppression in a grasslands environment."
– F Patrick Graz, Austral Ecology, Vol 34, 2009
