NRMA Insurance has completed its first operational flight from Cessnock to Sydney using FireScan, a new “bushfire management” tool aimed at mapping areas that may cause potential problems next fire season.

FireScan was developed by the IAG subsidiary and the NSW Regional Fire Service “to help communities mitigate their risk”. Obviously, it will assist in better assessing risks from the insurers’ point of view as well.

NSW Regional Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg says NSW “is setting the world standard in bushfire management. We will be collecting data and mapping vegetation, topography, assets and other factors that influence bushfire risk.”

Rick Jackson, NRMA Insurance’s group executive of personal insurance, says the group is committed to “sharing knowledge of risk and educating people on how to mitigate or minimise the threat of bushfire”.