Part 2: Responding to fire
Effectively coordinated sustained wildfire management to reduce the risk of uncontrolled fires due to climate change is imperative. In the past, wildfire management was heavily dependent on fire suppression. But as factors such as an increased wildland-urban interface and greater pressure on natural resources have become increasingly significant, more advanced fire management, integrating weather prediction and modelling tools, has come to the fore.
Integrated Fire Management (IFM) has been defined as a series of actions that include: fire awareness and prevention, risk mapping, hazard identification, prescribed burning, resource sharing and coordination with fire detection, fire suppression and fire damage rehabilitation.
IFM is critical to realise a balanced, workable, and sustainable approach to manage wildfires with minimum harm to people and the environment.