Bushfire Management Plan

ActewAGL

The ACT’s power, gas, and water provider, ActewAGL, had numerous bushfire related policies and procedures, which we have consolidated into a single, concise policy and a comprehensive Bushfire Management Plan.

An innovative risk assessment method was used within a Geographic Information System (GIS) to rank assets and activities according to their bushfire risk. The bushfire risk to and from more than 16,000 powerpoles was used to rank the bushfire risk associated with individual poles and localities. A map was prepared of the ACT identifying the predicted Bushfire Intensity under extreme weather conditions. This map was foundational to much of the risk ranking.

A Bushfire Preparedness Index was also prepared; it provided a simple means to monitor the completion of priority prevention and preparedness activities by ActewAGL executives. In essence, it provided an ongoing measure of the amount of outstanding work required to reach a prescribed state of bushfire preparedness.

A0-sized bushfire operations maps were provided for ActewAGL field staff. The maps provide simple yet detailed information to help staff assess their bushfire risk, including how to identify a suitable place of refuge, an evacuation route, or how to decide when to reschedule work to lower risk times.

The bushfire policy and Bushfire Management Plan we prepared provided clear guidance on bushfire prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery associated with bushfire risk to and from ActewAGL’s assets across the ACT and NSW.


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