Bushfire fight's online update
A new website that offers up-to-date satellite information and images of bushfires was launched in Kununurra this week.
The MyFireWatch website uses information received from satellites to map the location of fires and lightning activity.
It displays fire information in near-real time, usually within 45 minutes of a satellite overpass, and can provide a potential new image roughly every two hours, day and night.
Professional fire and emergency personnel in regional areas have been using the FireWatch map service provided by Landgate since the late 1990s.
The information can be used for fire safety planning as it shows previously burned areas, greenness of vegetation, weather observations and links back to the relevant agencies for further emergency services alerts.
During an emergency, people should continue to seek information from a variety of sources, including their immediate surroundings, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and local media.
The website was developed by Edith Cowan University researchers and Landgate, and launched at Kununurra Community Resource Centre.
Edith Cowan University senior lecturer Danielle Brady said the needs and abilities of ordinary users, particularly those in remote and regional communities, have been built into the design of MyFireWatch.
"Using Kununurra in the Kimberley region as a trial site, interviews and testing with real users have informed the design from the bottom up," Dr Brady said.
"Non-professional users can now use the MyFireWatch map service as easily as an online road directory.
"The new publicly available MyFireWatch has a key role to play in the shared responsibility for bushfire safety between the public and authorities."
