In the 2002/2003 round, the Commission identified the following as its research priorities:

National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA)
Daily Weather Sequences and Seasonal Forecasting of Severe Fire Seasons

This project is an extension to the NIWA-led foundation research programme (2003-2003) for the prediction of fire season severity and improved regional fire danger forecasts for New Zealand. Research results have provided an understanding on several key relationships of fire severity and climate. However, the study has recommended that further work is required to clarify the understanding of climate fire severity for several regions. This project will identify the climatic factors that influence fire season severity in regions that experience very high fire danger over the summer months.

This project will deliver:

• Improved understanding of climatic factors influencing fire season severity by relating large scale global and regional climate patterns with known daily, monthly and season fire severity in the regions of Auckland Waikato North Canterbury, McKenzie Basin, Central Otago and inland Southland;
• Identify patterns of climate variation influencing elevated regional fire severity by examining the key sequence of weather patterns that in the past have caused elevated daily and monthly fire severity in the above regions;
• Produce seasonal, long-range forecasts of regional fire danger at key periods in the season by combining the new results from this and the former project on “Integrated Climate and Fire Season Forecasting’ with modern seasonal climate forecasting techniques for the National Rural Fire Authority (NRFA) and Rural Fire Authorities, These forecasts will be quantitatively and qualitatively measure against the actual occurrence in order to assess improvements in accuracy.

Forest Research
Fire Danger Climatology Analyses and Tools

Analysis of historical weather and fire danger data from the National Rural Fire Authority’s network of remote automatic weather stations will provide a better description of New Zealand’s fire climate and enable rural fire authorities to make more informed fire management decisions on prevention, preparedness, and prescribed burning activities. A New Zealand fire danger climatology is presently being produced by analysing daily fire weather and fire danger data for at least 90 weather stations contained in the NRFA’s fire weather network. This climatology database will be used to develop an associated analytical tool for predicting fire season severity by comparison with past seasons, which will lead to more effective and efficient use of equipment, and ultimately a reduction in the incidence and consequences of rural fires.

Report 39: A Fire Danger Climatology for New Zealand [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

Cerno Limited
Assessing and Selecting High Performing Fire Service Recruits of the Future

The New Zealand Fire Service Commission is to conduct a review of firefighter recruitment and selection processes to ensure future recruits have the potential to succeed in the firefighter role. The review will use local and international research findings and the experience and wisdom of a range of Fire Service personnel to identify soundly-based, practical changes to assessment and selection processes. The changes will assist the Fire Service to accurately identify capable recruits who effectively relate to at-risk groups in the community, who can adjust to the future demands of the firefighter role and who will make significant contributions to the Fire Service as they progress through a range of specialist and managerial roles during their career.

Report 43: Assessing and Selecting High Performing Fire Service Recruits of the Future [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 851Kb]

BRANZ Ltd
Improving the fire performance of polystyrene insulted panel in New Zealand

Polystyrene Insulated Panel (PIP) has been used as a building material in New Zealand for over thirty years. The product consists of a core of expended polystyrene (EPS) with light gauged metal skin laminated to opposite faces. PIP has many features which make it ideally suited to applications in the New Zealand building industry such as coolstores, freezing works, lightweight cladding food processing factories, the hospitality industry, etc. There is growing concern, however, about the fire performance of the material within New Zealand and overseas. The primary purpose of this research project is to thoroughly investigate the fire performance of PIP and identify changes to the way that the product is designed and/or constructed in New Zealand, and effective firefighting techniques that will lead to an improvement in the current level of fire performance. The project will include industry consultation, theoretical and experimental research and technology transfer. This project will involve all the key industry stakeholders such as manufacturers, users, designers, fire engineers the Fire Service insurers and regulators. The active participation of the PIP manufacturers in this project will result in very effective implementation of the research outputs to end users in the marketplace.

Report 45: Improving the Fire Performance of Polystyrene Insulated Panel in New Zealand [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

NIWA
Optimal Mapping and Interpretation of Fire Weather Information

Accurate weather information is vital for fire risk management in New Zealand. However, the quality of the weather data being used to gauge fire danger has not been adequately assessed and the current network of climate stations may not sufficiently cover all areas that are susceptible to fire. There are also several methods presently being used to interpolate weather and fire risk variables to locations where there are no measurements. It is important to identify an optimal mapping approach so that fire risk management can be made more efficient and effective.

The current NZ fire weather station network comprises over 140 fire Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS), supplemented with observations from an additional 30 or so MetService stations during the fire season. This project will provide a critical assessment of the current network, and will identify an optimal network of stations and observing practices. Further, to effectively describe and map fire danger, it is necessary to interpolate data from known points to fill in the gaps. As part of this work, we will analyse a number of data interpolation techniques from simple smoothing to numerical models based on physical principles to determine appropriate approaches for different parameters and spatial scales.

Outputs from this project will include a determination of the optimum number and location of stations required for fire danger rating and will indicate likely expenditure on maintenance, new stations, and priorities for location of additional stations, or relocation of existing stations, to give best coverage. In addition, following the overview of mapping methods, we will work with the NRFA towards a system for real-time mapping of fire weather elements and Fire Weather Index (FWI) fire danger, using preferred interpolation techniques combined with Geographic Information System (GIS) display.

Report 49: Final Report Optimal Mapping and Interpretation of Fire Weather Information [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 3Mb]

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research
The NZFS, Fires Safety and the Building Act a Cost Benefit Analysis

One of the core objectives of the NZFS is to reduce the loss of life and destruction of buildings that results from serious fires. However, the action of the NZFS to mitigate against these losses are constrained by the legislative framework under which they operate. This research examines the role of the NZFS in the regulation of fire safety measures in residential community and commercial buildings. It investigates whether the role that the NZFS is permitted to play under existing legislation is economically and socially optimal.

The research comprises two key sections:

• An examination of the current legislative environment in which the NZFS operates regarding fire safety in buildings.. This section looks at what actions NZFS is entitled to take under the Building Act 1991. It then suggests how legislative change could help the NZFS reduce potential losses from fires.
• An analysis of the recent draft NZFS Code of Practice (COP) DZ4509 related to the installation of sprinklers in residential developments. This COP contains provisions for reduced reticulated water requirements (and hence costs) for residential developments that include sprinklers. This section of the research will look at the relative costs and benefits of the COP and discuss under which circumstances enforcing the COP would be most beneficial to developers, the NZFS, councils and the community.

Report 52: Fire Safety Regulation for Non-residential Buildings [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 1Mb]

Report 56: Code of Practice for Fire fighting Water Supplies: An Indicative Cost Benefit Analysis [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 1Mb]

University of Otago
Role of alcohol in serious unintentional domestic fire incidents

The Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences research group will undertake an analytical epidemiological study to investigate the role of alcohol in unintentional domestic fire incidents. Alcohol misuse, judged by excessive blood alcohol level or confirmed eye-witness history of excessive intake, was associated with 65 per cent of fatal unintentional domestic fire-related incidents involving New Zealanders aged 15-64 years from 1991-1997. This alcohol misuse was often associated with social functions, guests in the household or the deceased staying overnight away from home. Information about the role of alcohol in fire incidents which do not result in fatal injury is scant in existing data sources.

The proposed study will compare data from households in the Wellington region who experience a structural residential fire incident in a private dwelling, with data from randomly selected households who do not experience such an incident. Additional information will assist in quantifying the prevalence and relative important of other factors associated with unintentional domestic fire-related deaths and non-fatal injuries.