Bushfire Sacrifice

The magnitude of bushfires is determined by the extent, amount, intensity and impact of a fire upon a natural or cultural environment. In considering this, it is necessary to observe the factors which effect the intensity of a fire and to what scale they impact upon a community or environment. The intensity of a bushfire is measured by the speed at which heat is released from a fire, based on unit per length, this is effected by the quantity of fuel available (as more fuel equals larger fire) and the rate to which the fire advances. The extent to which a community or environment is effected by a fire relates to magnitude, so the level of damage to a city, town i.e. is included in a fires magnitude. A way to categorise the danger of a fire
is the FDI scale(Fire Danger Index) this rates the possible danger of a fire in relation to magnitude and the chances of its actual occurrence. The index is scaled from low-moderate danger to catastrophic describing. High impact fires can be shown by the fire occurring in new south whales in 1994, which was a series of devastating fires in which four people died, more than 200 buildings/homes destroyed, with over 20,000 people having to be evacuated as well as 800,000 hectares of land being burnt. The fire is now thought to be one of the worst fires ever recorded within that territory. The Lake Clifton fire that occurred in western Australia on the 11th of Jan 2011 in comparison was a low scale fire with minimal losses as it only destroyed 10 homes, burned just 2000HA and resulted in no fatalities