The Commission determined that its research priorities for 2004-2005 were as follows:

Identifying and influencing vulnerable communities

• impact of targeted programmes on vulnerable groups
• identifying intermediate outcomes for fire safety goals

Cost-benefit studies to support legislative change to improve fire safety in buildings

• analysis of the revised purposes of the Building Act 2004
• measures of building fire risk
• loss reduction in industrial buildings

Incidence and control of vegetation fires in rural areas

• projects in alignment with Rural Fire Research Strategy

Developing and supporting our people

• validation of recently introduced firefighter recruitment programme

Techniques and technology for firefighting and reduction of fire impact

• international approaches to reducing deliberately lit fires
• impact of fire service activity in prevention of property loss
• fire service impact on the environment

The following projects were recommended to the Commission as achieving the required standards and judged to achieve the best value for money.

Meteorological Service of NZ
Evaluating the potential of 14 day forecasts of fire weather indices

A gap exists between forecasts of fire weather indices for the next few days from high resolution weather models, and forecasts for lead times of a month or more from statistical analysis of climate predictors. To target the one to two week period, numerical modelers have begun running multiple instances of a weather model in an effort to deal with the uncertainty that is unavoidable at these timescales. These ensembles of weather models allow an objective assessment both of the most likely and extreme fire weather scenarios.

MetService proposes to develop and evaluate 14-day forecasts of fire weather indices over New Zealand, based on data from the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction’s (NZCEP) 10-member ensemble system. Canonical correlation analysis will be used to seek relationships between weather charts from the NCEP re-analysis project and the observations used to construct the New Zealand Fire Danger Climatology. These relationships can then be applied to output from an ensemble system to produce forecasts of fire weather indices.

The proposed forecast system will be evaluated by comparing predictions from archived model data for the (severe) 2003/04 fire season with observations from the same period.

Report 64: Medium Range Forecasts of Fire Weather Indices [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

Risk Management Limited
Draft Handbook on fire safety in commercial and industrial buildings

This proposal is for the preparation of a draft handbook, written in plain English, that provides business owners and managers (especially in small and medium enterprises) with a workbook that steps them though the fire risk assessment process and the selection of relevant fire risk controls. If accepted, the Handbook can be published by Standards New Zealand

Report 57: Fire Risk Management Hand book [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

Uni Services Ltd (Auckland University)
International approaches to reducing deliberately lit fires

The proposal is for a study examining best practices to reducing deliberately lit fires in New Zealand. The financial and emotional cost of deliberately lit fires are significant and as such, strategies are urgently required to reduce these in New Zealand. We propose a 15-month study that will consist of three phases. The first phase will involve a review of the data and data systems used to collect information on deliberately lit fires in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. The second phase of the study will involve a literature survey and review of the international data gathering techniques on deliberately lit fires, as well as international comparison of international practices. Data will be gathered from international journals, programme manuals and a standardized questionnaire. The final phase will involve the integration of material from phases one and two, resulting in a series of recommendations as to the most appropriate strategies for the New Zealand Fire Service to implement for its arson prevention strategy.

Report 62: International Approaches to Reducing Deliberately Lit Fires: Statistical Data and Fire Investigations [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]
Report 63: International Approaches to Reducing Deliberately Lit Fires: Prevention Programmes [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

Landcare Research
Spatial prediction of wildfire hazard across New Zealand, a significant upgrade

Two major predictive variables in wildfire hazard assessments are fuel load, derived from groundcover type, and ground slope. To assess this hazard on a geographic basis requires detailed spatial information on these two variables and an ability to derive fuel loads from assessments of groundcover.

Spatial information on recent groundcover type across New Zealand can be drawn from the newly released Landcover Database 2 (LCDB2), and updated and significantly improved version of the original (LCDB1).

Slope data is available from Landcare Research’s most recent high resolution digital elevation model of New Zealand developed from the national TOPOBASE data supplied by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). This model is at a 1:50 000 scale, with a resolution of 25m cell size.

In early 2001, Landcare Research produced the “Spatial Prediction of WildFire Hazard Across New Zealand” for the National Rural Fire Authority, drawing on spatial information from the original Landcover Database.

Using LCDB2 and slope information as outlined above, Landcare Research proposes to significantly upgrade and update the 2001 report to yield the best possible picture of relative fire risk across New Zealand.

Report 55: Spatial Prediction of Wildfire Hazard Across New Zealand: A Significant Upgrade [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 3Mb]

NIU Development
“Puipuiaga”: Effective Fire Safety Strategies for Pacific Peoples

The NIU Research Project Team is an initiative by NIU Development inc. We intend to bring together skilled and available researchers to undertake this important study. We will also bring together different expert advisors from various Pacific ethnic backgrounds, community networks and government agencies. It will be the first time that such a group has been brought together to focus on Effective Fire Safety Strategies for Pacific Peoples: A Pilot Study. It will involve the Pacific Communities in their regional areas, working together to ensure the full range of needs and issues for Pacific Fire Safety are identified and to perhaps consider the development of innovative and collaborative approaches to address Pacific Fire Safety.

Report 60: Effective Fire Safety Strategies for Pacific People [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 967Kb]

Uni Services Ltd (Auckland University)
Research on unwanted fire alarm activations

The steady increase in the number of false or unwanted fire alarm activations in New Zealand over the past decade and the associated costs has concerned the New Zealand Fire Service and the business community. According to the New Zealand Fire Service, there was a 40 per cent increase in the number of fire alarm activations between 1996 and 1998 and 96 per cent of these were unavoidable and unwanted. However, in order to develop strategic fire safety policy and practice, there is an urgent requirement to analyse the existing database of fire alarm activations and data from case studies. By analysing such data, it is possible to provide a current estimation of the economic and social costs of unwanted fire alarm activations incurred by both the New Zealand Fire Service and the business community. There is also a need to provide detailed analysis on how frequently unwanted fire alarms occur, the type of unwanted fire alarm activations, and the industry sectors and buildings that are most prone, etc. Therefore, utilising both qualitative and quantitative data, the primary aims and objectives of this research are to provide a detailed and accurate information base that will contribute substantially to the efforts to reduce the number of unwanted fire alarm activations in New Zealand.

Report 59: The Cost Factors and Profile of False and Unwanted Fire Alarm Activations in New Zealand [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 1Mb]

MWH
Fire Service impact on the environment

The project aims to identify aspects of the New Zealand Fire Service (NZFS) operations (other than fire-fighting) which may cause adverse impacts on the environment. The objective is to develop practical guidance on measures that can be taken to identify, monitor and mitigate these environmental impacts, while not compromising the essential safety functions of the Service. The work will comprise a literature survey to identify key areas of environmental risk. Case studies from overseas will be researched. These topics will be reviewed in context of NZFS operations that have potential for significant environmental impact. A strategic approach will be followed with use made of risk management tools and consultation undertaken with interested parties. The study will generate best practice guidelines for inclusion into management practice and with direct linkage to the Service-wide risk management framework.

Report 66: Managing Non-Operational Environmental Impacts of Fire Service Activity [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 1Mb]

BRANZ
Fire loss reduction in industrial buildings – a cost benefit study

This project proposes to develop a cost benefit model that would allow the effects of increasing expenditure on fire protection systems in industrial buildings to be evaluated for cost-effectiveness. Existing buildings codes require a minimal level of fire protection for industrial buildings, beyond ensuring safe means of escape for occupants and protection of neighbouring property. For large single-storey industrial buildings located remote from site boundaries, fire suppression systems and fire rate buildings elements are often not required. In these cases, the buildings owner/operator is exposed to potentially significant losses in the event of uncontrolled fire including loss of buildings structure, contents, and loss of plant production and business profits (business interruption) following a major fire. There are also other costs including the demand on Fire Service resources that should be factored into the model. A cost benefit model, based on net benefit to the community, which can assist in determining an appropriate level of expenditure on fire protection in industrial buildings, would be useful to Fire Service, policy-makers and building regulators.

Report 58: Fire Loss Reduction in Industrial Buildings - Risk Cost Benefit Study [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 2Mb]

BRANZ
Analysis of the revised purposes of the Building Act 2004

This project proposes to analyse the revised purposes of the Building Act, the effect that improved fire safety in buildings could have on meeting the Acts’ purposes, and an analysis of the scope of regulatory impact statements and cost benefit analysis.

The revised Act has four purposes, plus sixteen principles to be considered in achieving the purposes. The new purpose relating to sustainability is likely to have fire safety implications, which it is proposed to analyse. The other purposes and principles retain measures relating to fire safety that were in the old Act, namely means of escape, protection during firefighting, and limiting the effects and spread of fire to other properties. However some principles are new, including the need to consider whole of life costs which implies a role for property protection beyond health and safety measures.

Various formats of cost benefit analysis (CBA) have been use in recent years to justify the changes to the building code and approved documents. It is proposed to review the methods used in these CBA studies to see if there has been any consistency in approach (e.g. in parameters used in fire studies and other building code measures, and the scope of impacts considered), and how these studies conform to the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) guidelines set by the Ministry of Economic Development (MED).

Finally it is proposed to provide recommendations that can be used by NZFSC in submissions on the current building code review.

Report 54: Analysis of the Revised Purposes of the Building Act 2004 [Download PDF, Acrobat 5.0 or later, 1Mb]