Sydney-based risk modeller Risk Frontiers wants government, research and industry stakeholders to collaborate in a “research and innovation blueprint” outlining how technologies will enhance firefighting in both the near term and with “the next generation of capability”.

This blueprint should be focused on “a vision whereby bushfires can be rapidly managed and controlled in a co-ordinated manner informed by advanced predictive intelligence,” new research from Risk Frontiers says.

In a newsletter based on a forum featuring experts in insurance, construction, technology, aviation, risk management, firefighting and information technology, Risk Frontiers says many technologies and systems able to enhance firefighting and disaster management already exist.

Examples are autonomous trucks and robotics used in the mining sector that could be adapted for use in firefighting, along with agricultural monitoring technologies and radio communications systems.

Risk Frontiers says satellites should be evaluated for their ability to improve fire detection, and small UAVs could help provide wireless communications or serve equipment fitted to aircraft.

In the US, UAVs have already provided enhanced imagery over firegrounds and, using infrared sensors, have supported monitoring of fire conditions at night.

By 2030, resources in Australia will be rapidly dispatched and co-ordinated autonomously once a bushfire is detected.

Swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) supported by ground-based drones could be used to suppress bushfires and limit their spread.

Staging of resources will be based on advanced predictive analytics and enabled by unmanned traffic management systems. Drones and other UAVs will contribute to rapid impact assessment, search and rescue, logistics and clearance of supply routes.

“We need to be bold in our thinking,” the latest newsletter says. “Innovation to discover the next generation of firefighting capability should be a priority in any government response to the black summer bushfires.

“Our institutions must think big.”