NSW Rural Fire Service Library
New books, reports, and articles in the library
October 2025
Subjects
Fire Incidents - Australia
Developing an impact index for the Australian Fire Danger Rating System: predicting potential structure loss from wildfires (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol 34 Sept 2025
House loss by wildfire has been associated with the loss of life, with most fatalities associated with wildfires in Australia occurring among people evacuating from, sheltering in, or defending houses. There are clear geographical trends in fatalities around population centres in south-eastern Australia, suggesting population density and/or housing density as key factors. The Australian Fire Danger Rating System improves on previous fire danger indices used in Australia by using current published fire behaviour models, regularly updated fuel maps and weather forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology. In this study, the aim was to extend the predictive capability of the AFDRS to include the likelihood of structure loss in the landscape if a fire were to occur within, or spread to, a given cell.
Use this IJWF link to read the article online.
Extensive fires in Australia’s northern spinifex deserts – investigating the 2023 ‘Black Spring’ and the influence of indigenous fire management (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol 34 August 2025
Climate change is causing extensive fire in some regions. Extensive fires in remote areas receive little attention. In 2023, over 294,000 km2 of Australia’s northern spinifex deserts (41% of the region) burned in spring, after above-average rainfall. Where large-scale Indigenous fire management has occurred since 2019, the fire spread was interrupted.
Use this IJWF link to read the article online.
From Kinglake to Kabul (Young Adult Book)
Kinglake had one day of disaster with far-reaching effects; Kabul has endured thirty years of war. From Kinglake to Kabul is a collaborative anthology created by students from two schools connected by tragedy. In this collection of young people's writing, students from two vastly different countries share their stories of resilience, courage and hope. In doing so they illustrate the remarkable healing quality of words and illuminate what connects us as humans. This is not a book of remembrance or a book that desires to shock, it is a book about what is best about human nature.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Through the flames: celebrating 85 years of Springfield Rural fire Brigade, NSW Rural Fire Service 1939 (Book)
A history and compilation of members' stories from the Springfield Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, commemorating its 85th Anniversary.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
The first 80 years : Middle Dural Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade, 1945-2025 (Book)
A history of the Middle Dural Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade, recalling the stories of the people who made up the Brigade over 80 years and of the fires they fought.
Fire - International
State of Wildfires 2024-2025 (Report)
Earth System Science Data, September 2025
The State of Wildfires 2024-2025 was published last week in Earth System Science Data. This is the second annual global assessment of extreme wildfire events by 'The State of Wildfires Project'. The project is a global endeavour, uniting world-leading experts from more than 60 institutes across 20 countries. The report systematically tracks global and regional fire activity of each annual fire season, analyses the causes of prominent extreme wildfire events, and projects the likelihood of similar events occurring in future climate scenarios.
Use this ESSD link to read the State of Wildfires 2024-2025 (full scientific report). * Note Australia is detailed under the A5 Oceania section.
Wildfire days : a woman, a hotshot crew, and the burning American West
When Kelly Ramsey drives over a California mountain pass to join an elite firefighting crew, she's terrified that she won't be able to keep up with the intense demands of the job. Not only will she be the only woman on this hotshot crew and their first in ten years, she'll also be among the oldest. As she trains relentlessly to overcome the crew's scepticism and gain their respect, megafires erupt across the West, posing an increasing danger both on the job and back home. Kelly takes us on the ground to see how major wildfires are fought and to lay bare the psychological toll, the bone-deep weariness, and the unbreakable camaraderie that emerge in the face of nature's fury.
The Enduring Lessons of Grenfell (US Podcast and Article)
NFPA, August 2025
This podcast considers Grenfell’s enduring lessons with Jose Torero, one of the world’s most prominent fire protection engineers and a key figure in the United Kingdom’s seven-year public inquiry into the tragedy. It’s safe to say that no one has a better technical understanding than Torero of the underlying causes and impactful lessons of Grenfell— lessons that have already reshaped how people across the world think about regulation and building protection.
Use this NFPA link to listen to the podcast
When it all burns : fighting fire in a transformed world (Book)
An anthropologist and hotshot firefighter's gripping firsthand account of a record-setting fire season. Eighteen of California's largest wildfires on record have burned in the past two decades. Scientists recently invented the term "megafire" to describe wildfires that behave in ways that would have been impossible just a generation ago, burning through winter, exploding in the night, and devastating landscapes historically impervious to incendiary destruction. Wildland firefighters must navigate these new scales of destruction in real time. In When It All Burns, Jordan Thomas recounts a single, brutal six-month fire season with the Los Padres Hotshots-the special forces of America's firefighters. As Thomas viscerally renders his crew's attempts to battle flames that are often too destructive to contain, he uncovers the hidden cultural history of megafires. He investigates how a social system that prioritises profit over people and nature has turned humanity's symbiotic relationship with wildfire into a war-and what can be done to change it back.
Aviation and Drones
Conceptual design of a wildfire emergency response system empowered by swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (Journal article)
The frequency and extent of wildfire emergencies have increased globally during the past few decades. Consequently, a large amount of resources are regularly spent on these events in order to protect people, their homes, and the environment. Underpinned by software and hardware technology advancements, particularly concerning sensors, navigation, and artificial intelligence, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have proven valuable in supporting different aspects of a wildfire emergency response. However, their use is ad-hoc and task-specific within already established systems rather than forming an integral part of their design. Furthermore, while UAV swarms are aimed at exploiting the power of self-organisation and collective intelligence to collaboratively solve tasks that would be impossible to solve otherwise, they add complexity to the design. Additionally, regulations are still remarkably restrictive in terms of operations beyond visual line of sight, autonomy, and self-organisation. This paper identifies the tasks for which the use of UAV swarms is deemed beneficial for a wildfire emergency response system, and regulations that hinder their acceptance, adoption, and integration.
Use Elsevier link to read the article online.
Fire Behaviour
Scientists just recreated a wildfire that made its own weather (ScienceDaily article)
Desert Research Institute, 2 October 2025
In 2020, California’s Creek Fire became so intense that it generated its own thunderstorm, a phenomenon called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. For years, scientists struggled to replicate these explosive fire-born storms in climate models, leaving major gaps in understanding their global effects. Now, a new study has finally simulated them successfully, reproducing the Creek Fire’s storm and others like it.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the article online. The research journal article published in the Geophysical Research Letters is online here.
Variability in grassfire rate of spread (Information Bulletin)
This issue presents the results of an analysis quantifying the variability observed in the spread rate of wildfires burning in grassy fuels, including the impact of landscape features on fire propagation. The data were collected from wildfires occurring in Victoria between 2021 and 2023, mostly in improved pasture and winter crops. Rates of spread of segments of each fire run in which conditions were consistent were compared with the overall average rate of spread for each fire run. It was found that peaks in rate of forward spread were on average 2.6 times higher than mean spread values and that discontinuities, such as roads, did not stop fires under moderate burning conditions but reduced the average rate of fire spread.
Use this CSIRO link to read the bulletin.
Prescribed Burning
Fighting fire with fire: How prescribed burns reduce wildfire damage and pollution (ScienceDaily article)
Stanford University, June 2025
Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled fires—can significantly lessen their impact. By analysing satellite data and smoke emissions, researchers found that areas treated with prescribed burns saw wildfire severity drop by 16% and smoke pollution fall by 14%. Even more striking, the smoke from prescribed burns was just a fraction of what wildfires would have produced in the same areas.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the article online. The research journal article published in the AGU Advances is online here.
Fire Management
Interdisciplinary challenges for wildfire futures (Journal article)
Environmental Science & Policy, Sept 2025
Wildfire has shaped many ecosystems across Earth, and humans have in turn shaped fire and its interactions within a range of socio-ecological systems. Climate change is changing fire regimes, and recent major and disruptive fire seasons around the globe have indicated a need to reimagine and redefine how fire research is conducted. One potential path forward is increased promotion and development of interdisciplinary approaches to fire research, yet these are hindered by a lack of a common language and 'framing' of the 'problem'. In this paper, we seek to advance the field of interdisciplinary fire research by bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines to identify the key challenges for understanding and living with wildfires of the future ('Wildfire Futures'). Through an iterative process, we identify seven major interdisciplinary challenges relating to Wildfire Futures in south-eastern Australia: data and understanding of fire; the need to reorientate cultural relationships with fire; recognising diverse tangible and intangible values of fire; exploring different ways to understand fire risk; adaptation pathways to envision alternate ways of living with fire; exploring the uncertainties and trade-offs inherent in decision making around fire; and how inertia in multiple systems hinders transformative change and interdisciplinary progress.
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online.
Can “Fire Safe” Cigarettes (FSCs) Start Wildfires? (Journal article)
Though these cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish, there have been recent studies suggesting that these “fire safe” cigarettes (FSCs) can still ignite mattresses and other furnishings, but there has been no guidance for fire investigators whether FSCs can ignite natural fuels, such as duff and needles, that can be the source of a wildland fire. This work sets out to investigate whether FSCs can indeed be the ignition source of wildland fuels. Experiments were conducted by placing “fire safe” cigarettes burned a fixed length (1 cm) onto fuel beds of two surrogate fuel types placed at the outlet of a wind tunnel and under a halogen lamp to mimic a sunny day. The fuel beds consisted of either a bed of partially chopped pine needles or a layer of whole needles on top of a layer of peat.
Use this Springer Nature link to read the article online
Technology, GIS and AI
Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users (Book)
Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users, third edition, is a comprehensive guide to creating maps that communicate effectively. In Designing Better Maps, renowned cartographer Cynthia A. Brewer guides readers through the basics of good cartography, including layout design, scales, projections, colour selection, font choices, and symbol placement.
Contact the library to borrow the hardcopy or access the eBook.
Evaluation of Key Remote Sensing Features for Bushfire Analysis
This study evaluates remote sensing features to resolve problems associated with feature redundancy, low efficiency, and insufficient input feature analysis in bushfire detection. It calculates spectral features, remote sensing indices, and texture features from Sentinel-2 data for the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Feature separability was evaluated with three measures: J-M distance, discriminant index, and mutual information, leading to an assessment of the best remote sensing features. The results show that for post-fire smoke detection, the best features are the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the B1 band, and the angular second moment (ASM) in the B1 band, with respective scores of 0.900, 0.900, and 0.838. For burned land detection, the best features are NDVI, the B2 band, and correlation (Corr) in the B5 band, with corresponding scores of 1.000, 0.9436, and 0.9173. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of NDVI, the B1 and B2 bands, and specific texture features in the post-fire analysis of remote sensing data. These findings provide valuable insights for the monitoring and analysis of bushfires and offer a solid foundation for future model construction, fire mapping, and feature interpretation tasks.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online
Characterization of the Australia’s 2019 megafires: a remote-sensing perspective. (Journal article)
International Journal of Remote Sensing, Sept 2025
The 2019/20 bushfires in Australia were the most catastrophic event in the country’s history, inflicting extensive damage to ecosystems, infrastructure, and more. Extensive research has been conducted to ascertain the causes, which were exacerbated by a severe 3-year drought and subsequent heatwaves. The current study focuses on analysing satellite data to investigate changes in surface characteristics across large burned areas spanning various land covers in Eastern Australia. Specifically, the study aims to track surface property changes over a period, encompassing 1 month preceding and 1 month following the onset of fire events.
Use this Taylor & Francis link to read the article online.
AI governance in the public sector (Report)
This report provides insights from a CPA Australia webinar on AI governance in the public sector, held on 22nd May 2025, highlighting both the benefits and risks of AI adoption. While AI presents opportunities to increase public value, improve service delivery, and support policymaking, these benefits come with risks. To realise the full potential of AI while safeguarding public trust, the public sector must invest in robust governance frameworks, develop AI literacy amongst staff and reinforce the critical role of professional judgment.
Use this CPA link to read the report online
Emergency Management
Harnessing community perspectives in disaster management (Briefing paper)
This policy insights paper highlights how better integration of local knowledge and participation can improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. The research – focusing on three Local Government Areas in New South Wales (the Blue Mountains, Cabonne, and Hawkesbury) outlines how strengthening community engagement can lead to more coordinated and resilient disaster management across the state.
Use this James Martin Institute link to download the paper
Property value flood risk report: how floods are impacting Australian property values (Report)
PropTrack and Climate Council, October 2025
Extreme weather is reshaping Australia’s housing market. This report analyses more than 20 years of historical residential property data alongside flood risk. It examines what this flood risk means for the individual and collective value of Australia's properties. The analysis isolates a clear value impact – in most regions, flood-prone properties consistently sell at a reduction, while neighbouring homes without such risk retain stronger value.
Police sergeants and disaster management during Australia’s Black Summer bushfire crisis (Journal article)
The police sergeant, or equivalent supervisor, is the glue that binds police units together, assigns workloads, and distributes organisational power from ‘above’ to ensure that those in the field play fairly and by the rules. Yet very little empirical research has been undertaken to examine the work of sergeants or consider how these roles impact the ability of police and their partners to manage critical incidents, including complex disasters. Drawing on a case study of disaster policing during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires, this paper examines how police sergeants with two distinct emergency management roles leveraged their authority, relationships, and knowledge to support the effective management of this incident.
Use this Taylor & Francis link to read the article online
Community organisations, volunteers, and the road to disaster recovery (Report)
Despite substantial monetary and non-monetary investment in disaster recovery support services by community organisations, little is known about their processes and efforts. Even less is known about the impact of community organisations’ efforts on disaster-affected people. This study investigates how a community organisation (CO) in Queensland supports disaster-affected people in disaster recovery, providing deeper insights into Queensland’s disaster recovery system, the CO’s role in supporting recovery, and what recovery looks like in practice. The findings reveal how different disasters need different recovery approaches.
Use this Life Course Centre link to read the report online
Natural disaster-related legal need in Australia : Community Legal Centres and disaster preparedness (Report)
This report presents findings from a study on the ways that Community Legal Centres (CLCs) in New South Wales (NSW) engage in disaster preparedness, the barriers they face, and the enablers that support effective engagement and preparedness. Through insights from legal professionals across NSW, the research highlights the challenges, opportunities, and systemic factors shaping disaster-related legal preparedness. Interviews with 21 people, from 13 different CLCs, revealed that fundamental disaster preparedness approaches such as trauma-informed practice and community engagement are also important in legal contexts. In addition, CLCs are uniquely placed as first responders to legal issues post-disaster and as proactive agents in disaster preparedness and community resilience building.
Use this Law Foundation link to read the report online.
Crisis points : Countering extremism under a state of emergency (Report)
This report presents the finding of a policy stocktake that analysed whether the policies, plans and strategies for Australia’s disaster and emergency management (DEM), disaster response (DR) and recovery, counterterrorism (CT) and countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts take into account the integrated issues of disaster response, disinformation and potential for extremist and malign actor exploitation of natural disasters. In Australia as elsewhere, violent extremist actors have exploited and instrumentalised a contested information environment during concurrent crises in 2020-2021 – including the COVID pandemic and natural disasters like the recent bushfires – to mobilise, plot and commit violent attacks, oppose government emergency responses and challenge or undermine social cohesion. Crises of this nature are likely to persist in one form or another.
Use this CRIS link to read the report and executive summary online.
Budgeting for natural disasters (Briefing paper)
Natural disasters like bushfires, floods and cyclones aren’t rare or unpredictable. They’re inevitable and should be planned and budgeted for accordingly. But currently, the federal budget only includes disaster recovery spending for events that have already happened. This paper reveals the Commonwealth spends around $1.6 billion a year on disaster recovery, but only budgets for $215 million – creating a $6 billion gap over the forward estimates. The paper argues that estimated future disaster costs should be included in existing budget lines.
Use this CPD link to read the paper online.
Emergency Management Certificate Programs (US Report)
The US Emergency Management Institute is growing as the National Disaster & Emergency Management University to meet the changing needs of the emergency management and security field. In this report, the authors use a review of the research literature, a review of emergency management certificates, and program director interviews to identify best practices to support the National Disaster and Emergency Management University (NDEMU) in developing its certificate programs. They offer templates intended to help future NDEMU certificates follow a shared path from creation to development. The report also identifies future topics for NDEMU certificates based on current NDEMU course offerings and potential needs in the field. Certificates are more robust than a single course but less demanding than a full degree.
Use this RAND link to read the research report online
Community Engagement
Preparing to Play With Fire: Exploring Bushfire Preparedness and Risk Communication Among University Students in Australia. (Journal article)
Health promotion journal of Australia, October 2025
Use this Wiley link to read the article online.
Climate trauma from wildfire exposure impacts cognitive decision-making
Climate trauma refers to the chronic mental health sequalae of climate disaster events. We have previously shown evidence for such trauma with accompanying anxiety and depression symptoms after California’s 2018 Camp Fire wildfire. Here, we investigate whether this climate trauma also impacts cognitive decision-making and its neural correlates. Overall, these findings suggest that climate trauma may significantly impact neuro-cognitive processing in the context of value-based decision-making, which may serve as a useful biomarker target for future mental health interventions in climate change impacted communities.
Use this Nature link to read the article online
Where the landscape meets the garden gate: fire risk perception and garden adaptation in Tasmania’s wildland–urban interface (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol 34 Sept 2025
How can homeowners make their gardens safer from wildfire? This study reveals that while residents recognise wildfire risks, they often overlook crucial hazards near their homes. Property-specific assessments help motivate change, but success requires balancing safety measures with homeowners' emotional connections to their gardens.
Community resilience to wildfires: A systematic review of impacts, coping strategies, indicators, and governance challenges (Journal article)
Progress in Disaster Science, Vol 27, Oct 2025
Strengthening community resilience (CR) is essential to reduce and mitigate associated risks and impacts of wildfire. This study conducts a systematic review of global literature and found that the main impacts included environmental degradation and persistent mental health problems. Evacuations and social cohesion emerged as key coping strategies, while social support networks and emergency planning were critical promoters of resilience. Barriers included inadequate disaster risk governance, limited local capacities, and weakened community cohesion.
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online.
Crisis Communication About the Maui Wildfires on TikTok: Content Analysis of Engagement With Maui Wildfire-Related Posts Over 1 Year. (Journal article)
The August 2023 wildfire in the town of Lāhainā on the island of Maui in Hawai'i caused catastrophic damage, affecting thousands of residents, and killing 102 people. Social media platforms, particularly TikTok, have become essential tools for crisis communication during disasters, providing real-time crisis updates, mobilizing relief efforts, and addressing misinformation. Understanding how disaster-related content is disseminated and engaged with on these platforms can inform strategies for improving emergency communication and community resilience.
Use this JMIR link to read the article online
Natural Environment
Wild collections : specimens, stories and science from CSIRO (Book)
By Andrea Wild, 2025
"Wild Collections" explores some of the fascinating, strange and unique stories behind more than 15 million specimens cared for within CSIRO's National Research Collections Australia. More than just pinned insects and pressed plants, these are stories of scientific discovery and cutting-edge research. This book offers us a rare glimpse into the world-class collections and the wonders they contain. Go behind the scenes to discover species lost, found and saved, and the evolving knowledge and techniques it takes to record and understand our unique biodiversity. And meet some of the amazing scientists using this knowledge to protect and conserve our natural world.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
The river : a journey through the Murray-Darling Basin (Book)
Updated after the drought-breaking rain and floods on 2010, Chris Hammer recounts his experiences, his impressions and stories of the people he met during his journey along the Murray-Darling river system. In The River, Chris Hammer takes us on a journey through Australia's heartland, following the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin, recounting his experiences, his impressions, and, above all, stories of the people he meets along the way. It's a journey punctuated with laughter, sadness and reflection. The River looks past the daily news reports and their sterile statistics, revealing the true impact of our rivers' decline on the people who live along their shores, and on the country as a whole.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
A generalised model of rainforest vulnerability to fire in eastern Australia (Journal article)
Journal of Environmental Management, Oct 2025
Fuel load/structure, fuel dryness, ignition frequency and meteorological condition ("fire weather") are universal constraints governing fire activity globally. However, our understanding of how these factors control fire activity in rainforests is limited, especially at landscape scales. We used random forest models to identify key correlates of fire occurrence during Australia's 2019/20 fire season in ecologically important world heritage Gondwanan rainforests of northern New South Wales. Our analyses focused on identifying factors facilitating the occurrence of both fire (burned vs unburned), and high severity fire (high severity tree canopy vs low severity understory fire) across four major rainforest types.
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online.
Impact of wildfires on sediment quality in estuaries in New South Wales, Australia (Journal article)
Chemosphere, Vol 385, Sept 2025
The impacts of wildfires on estuaries and their recovery remain poorly understood. To address this, the authors conducted a large-scale longitudinal survey investigating sediment quality across river-to-estuary systems affected by fire.
Use this ScienceDirect link to read the article online.
Increasing severity of large-scale fires prolongs recovery time of forests globally since 2001 (Journal article)
Ongoing and sharply increased global forest fires, especially extreme large-scale fires (LFs) with their greater destructiveness, have significantly altered forest structures and functions. However, long-term variations in the severity of LFs and corresponding effects on the natural post-LF recovery time of global forests remain unclear. Here, we rigorously identified 3,281 global large-scale (>10 km2) single-time fire events (LSFs) from 2001 to 2021, and used multiple indicators to understand the post-LSF recovery dynamics from different perspectives and comprehensively reveal major driving factors across regions and forests types based on multiple models.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Fire ecology database for documenting plant responses to fire events in Australia
An understanding of fire-response traits is essential for predicting how fire regimes structure plant communities and for informing fire management strategies for biodiversity conservation. Quantification of these traits is complex, encompassing several levels of data abstraction scaling up from field observations of individuals, to general categories of species responses. We developed the Fire Ecology Database to accommodate this complexity. Its conceptual framework is underpinned by a flexible data pipeline enabling links between fire-related trait data and event information at individual, population, and community levels.
Use this Nature link to read the article online
Impacts of Fire-fighting Chemicals on Native Fauna and Ecosystems in Australia: Identification of Key Knowledge Gaps and Research Priorities (Journal article)
There is little information on the impacts of FFCs on native fauna species and ecosystems in an extremely fire-prone country, Australia. We elicited input from a national-level interdisciplinary cohort of experts in fire research and management to identify fundamental gaps in knowledge and research priorities in the use and ecological impacts of FFCs in Australia. Knowledge gaps and research priorities were identified in the areas of (1) the different types of FFCs recommended for use in Australia, (2) short and long-term effects of FFCs on fauna species and ecosystems, particularly in aquatic systems, and (3) interactions between FFCs and other environmental stressors. Addressing these knowledge gaps and research priorities will provide scientific-based evidence and recommendations for FFC use to inform future fire management practice and policy in Australia and can guide similar approaches in other countries requiring extensive FFC use for wildfire management.
Use this Griffith University link to read the article online
Safety and Health
Impact of wildfire smoke, heat stress and sleep deprivation on the brain health of wildland firefighters (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol 34 Sept 2025
Fatigue in wildland firefighting: relationships between sleep, shift characteristics, and cognitive function (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Vol 34 Sept 2025
This study examined how sleep and shift characteristics relate to brain function in wildland firefighters. Our findings showed that firefighters often experience poor sleep and long shifts, which are both associated with declines in brain function. These results highlight the importance of evidence-based fatigue management strategies to support firefighter safety and wellbeing.
Wildfire Smoke Induces Eye Surface Inflammation and Tear Film Changes in a Human Experimental Model. (Journal article)
Translational vision science & technology, Sept 2025
Woody bushfuels were burnt in an enclosed room (Flammability Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Australia) to generate particulate matter and monitored in real time on eighteen participants. The purpose of the research is to investigate the short-term impact of exposure to smoke from vegetation burns on ocular surface symptoms and signs.
Use this TVST link to read the article online.
Field Testing Multi-Parametric Wearable Technologies for Wildfire Firefighting Applications.
In response to the escalating complexity and frequency of wildland fires, this study investigates the feasibility of using wearable devices for real-time monitoring of cardiac, respiratory, physical, and environmental parameters during live wildfire suppression tasks. Data were collected from twelve male firefighters (FFs) from the Italian National Fire Corp during a simulated protocol, including rest, running, and active fire suppression phases. Physiological and physical metrics such as heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory frequency (f R ) and physical activity levels were extracted using chest straps. The protocol designed to mimic real-world firefighting scenarios revealed significant cardiovascular and respiratory strain, with HR often exceeding 85% of age-predicted maxima and sustained elevations in high-stress roles. These findings demonstrate the relevance of wearable technology for real-time monitoring, providing an accurate analysis of key metrics to offer a comprehensive overview of work-rest cycles, informing role-specific training and operational strategies.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online
Non-respiratory health risks and mortality associated with fighting bushfires (wildfires): a systematic review (Journal article)
Whilst the health impacts of structural firefighting have been studied, less is known about the non-respiratory health impacts or risk of mortality amongst bush firefighters, who can be volunteers. Most studies relied on cross-sectional and retrospective designs without comparison groups, limiting the ability to draw robust conclusions. It is essential to conduct higher-quality research using prospective designs and longer-term follow-up to better understand the health outcomes of bushfire fighting, particularly given the anticipated increase in the frequency and severity of bushfires.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Counting the costs of injury and disease to first responders as a result of extreme bushfires(Journal article)
This project investigated emergency responders’ (ER) compensable injury/disease costs associated with extreme bushfire periods compared with the general workforce. Workers’ compensation claims data for Victoria, Australia, were sourced for ER and controls (10% of the general workforce) from January 2005 to April 2021 (encompassing two extreme bushfires). Using generalised linear models, claims from ambulance officers, career firefighters, police, and controls were compared across extreme bushfires, other summers, and all other periods. In total, ER made 749/24,008 (3.1%) claims in extreme bushfire periods, compared to 1254/49,484 (2.5%) in the controls. The study group overall (including both ER and the general workforce control group) experienced significantly higher income compensation costs/claims during extreme bushfire periods, with a 31% increase. ER’ costs/claims were highest for mental illness, burns and cancer.
Use this Nature link to read the article online
Select Committee on PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) (Interim report)
This interim report provides a brief overview of PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in Australia and summarises some of evidence received on the extent, regulation and management of PFAS. It has a focus on the impacts of PFAS contamination on the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, NSW. The report provides three recommendations.
Use this Parliament link to read the report online.
Regulation of different types of PFAS (Report)
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used chemicals often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not readily break down in the environment. Because PFAS have been linked with adverse health effects, cases of drinking water contamination have prompted considerable community concern in New South Wales (NSW). However, the three types of PFAS currently regulated in drinking water in Australia (PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS) represent only a small fraction of the thousands of types of PFAS. Data on the health effects of these other PFAS types are limited, but it is clear that some have the potential to be as harmful as PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, others seem to be less harmful, and all are environmentally persistent.
Use this NSW Parliament link to read the report online.
How Clean is Clean? (US Podcast and Article)
NFPA, Oct 2025
Fire departments around the world are going to great lengths to ensure that their members never have to wear a uniform covered in carcinogens. But to do that, you need to know when it’s actually clean. That isn’t as easy as it sounds. For the past 10 years, PPE expert Jeff Stull has helped lead a Fire Protection Research Foundation project focused on answering those questions. Stull joins the podcast today to discuss the complexities of figuring out how clean is clean, the impacts the project has had on firefighter health, and what further research needs to be done as we move into the next generation of PPE.
Use this NFPA link to listen to the podcast
Mental Health
At some point in life, we will all experience pain, uncertainty and loss. Widowhood, redundancy, a life-changing diagnosis, pregnancy loss, or a global pandemic. So how can we weather the storms, and cope with whatever comes next? No one can answer this better than Lucy Easthope, an emergency planner whose job is to support survivors of major disasters. She has been there after countless earthquakes, fires and floods. Time and again she has watched how people rebuild: the work, the pitfalls and the fragile joy. Here, she distils for us what she has learned about how to carry on during and after terrible times.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
No bad parts: healing trauma & restoring wholeness (Book)
In this groundbreaking international bestseller, Dr Richard Schwartz reveals that we are each born with an 'internal family' of distinct parts within us. Some of our parts can become trapped in destructive patterns, but learning to relate to each of them with curiosity, respect and empathy can vastly expand our capacity to heal. The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model will help you challenge the destructive behaviour of these parts, turn the ego, the inner critic and the saboteur into powerful allies, and allow you to return to a more whole and harmonious 'Self'.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Trauma, resilience, and posttraumatic growth in frontline personnel (Book)
This book examines the history, context, nature, and complexity of working in front-line services. Chapters provide a detailed overview of specific mental health models that are applicable both on a day-to-day basis and to disaster and major event response. The book also details elements of mental health responses that have been proven to facilitate coping, minimise risk, and promote both resilience and posttraumatic growth. These strategies include, but are not limited to, peer support programs, mental health education, and psychological first aid
Contact the library to borrow this book.
A compassionate guide to navigating the complex, emotional and challenging world of care When someone you love becomes seriously ill, disabled, or starts to decline with age, knowing what to do can feel overwhelming. Next of Kin is a heartfelt and practical guide to navigating the complicated world of care. Written by journalist and health communicator Casey Beros, this book offers clear, empathetic advice for tackling the medical, legal, physical and emotional challenges of caring for someone close to you.
While early psychological interventions such as Psychological First Aid and psychological debriefing are widely used for first responders, their shortfalls demand tailored, evidence-based support approaches, writes Erik de Soir
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
First Responder and Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Research Development (US Report)
This US report presents findings from multiple research tasks, including a review of domestic and international literature on first responder wellness programs and interviews with key stakeholders in U.S. Department of Homeland Security about their existing wellness programs, wellness program implementation, and subsequent challenges. Authors conducted an EA of programs identified as potentially ready for evaluation in the stakeholder interviews. The authors of this report synthesised the findings from these tasks to develop a research agenda for future DHS wellness research efforts.
Use this RAND link to read the report.
Long-term mental health trajectories across multiple exposures to climate disasters in Australia: a population-based cohort study (Journal article)
Climate disasters, such as floods, cyclones, and bushfires, present risks to mental health. Tracking populations through increasingly frequent climate disasters and understanding what contributes to mental health risks is crucial for adaption and planning for a climate changed world. Using longitudinal population-based Australian data from 2009 to 2019, This article finds that additional disaster exposures were associated with greater declines in mental health and shifts in some risk factors. Multiple disaster exposures must be urgently considered in public health, welfare and disaster services. Mental health screening, counselling, interventions and disaster service planning should specifically address the history, timing and severity of previous disaster exposures in individuals and communities.
Use The Lancet link to read the article online.
Buildings and Urban Development
Enhancing Residential Building Safety: A Numerical Study of Attached Safe Rooms for Bushfires (Journal article)
Fire, July, 2025
Early evacuation during bushfires remains the safest strategy; however, in many realistic scenarios, timely evacuation is challenging, making safe sheltering a last-resort option to reduce risk compared to late evacuation attempts. However, most Australian homes in bushfire-prone areas are neither designed nor retrofitted to provide adequate protection against extreme bushfires, raising safety concerns. This study addresses this gap by investigating the concept of retrofitting a part of the residential buildings as attached safe rooms for sheltering and protection of valuables, providing a potential last-resort solution for bushfire-prone communities.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online.
Applying the Concept of Verification in Fire Engineering to the Wildland–Urban Interface (Journal article)
Fire, Sept 2025
Despite increased focus on resilient planning and construction design in areas prone to wildfire impacts, recent research has found inconsistent approaches, a lack of evidence-based performance criteria, and limited suitable code-based verification methods for use in wildfire contexts. These limitations serve to reduce the potential effectiveness of measures intended to improve wildfire community and build resilience. The lack of suitable verification methods is particularly problematic in Australia, where complex building code requirements associated with enhanced wildfire resilience have been extended to hospitals, child care facilities, schools, and other assembly buildings. To address this issue, this paper proposes the Wildfire Expected Risk to Life and Property (WERLP) verification method.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online.
Improving coordination of data and actors for disaster-responsive housing and safer communities (Report)
Having access to quality data plays a crucial tool in managing and mitigating natural hazard risks. It enables authorities to make efficient and informed decisions regarding what land is used for housing and development. Good data is essential to inform strategies for reducing risks and enhancing preparedness for disasters. It can also improve coordination of disaster response and post-disaster recovery activities.This research examines how key actors involved in the housing planning and delivery process in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia use data to assess disaster risk associated with flooding, bushfires and cyclones. It explores ways to use and share data better in order to reduce the impact of disasters.
Use this AHURi link to read the report online.
Enhancing housing recovery policy and practice for improving community resilience to future disasters (Report)
The threat to housing in Australia from hazards such as bushfires, floods and cyclones is increasing, with replacement costs escalating. With one in 25 Australian homes (around 500,000 homes) reportedly at high risk of becoming effectively uninsurable by 2030, new short-term relief strategies and longer-term housing recovery solutions need to be developed. This report explores the housing policies that can improve community preparedness and responses to disasters.
Use this AHURI link to read the report online.
At our front door: escalating climate risks for Aussies homes (Report)
Climate change already threatens many people’s greatest asset, their home. This report identifies the suburbs and electorates across Australia where households and businesses face the most acute risk from climate-fuelled extreme weather events in 2025, and reveals the types of hazards that are driving this escalating risk.
Use this Climate Council link to read the report online.
Leadership and Management
How to navigate strategic alliances and joint ventures: a concise guide for managers (Book)
Organisations, large and small, are realising the importance of collaborations to achieve their business objectives. Organisations to create independent and joint values are entering into strategic alliances with their suppliers, customers, and even their competitors. Every alliance follows a lifecycle and decisions have to be taken by executives at each stage. This book is perfect for managerial executives who are contemplating proposing a strategic alliance for their organisations or are part of an organisation juggling various ongoing alliances, alliance managers, and business development professionals.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
The art of clear thinking : a fighter pilot's guide to making tough decisions (Book)
The training to become a fighter pilot is among the most competitive and difficult in the world with fewer than one-in-a-thousand succeeding. Throughout his high-pressure career in the cockpit of the world's most advanced and expensive weapons systems, Hasard Lee learned to master skills at the apex of decision-making theory and practice. Now he shares gripping firsthand accounts from his time as a fighter pilot, and distils what he's learned into a powerful ACE Helix framework that can be used in business and in life, revealing how to: learn better and faster; cultivate mental toughness; develop the skills to quickly assess, choose, and execute; and much, much more.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
High road leadership : bringing people together in a world that divides (Book)
The world's most influential leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, tackles the problem of our divided world in his latest book High Road Leadership. "Everything rises and falls on leadership," says Maxwell. "Today it is causing people to fall-into disputes, frustration, anger, and despair. His solution is to expose the problems of taking the low and middle roads when interacting with others and teach people how to instead take the high road. Leaders who practice high road leadership value all people, do the right things for the right reasons, take accountability for their actions, and place people above their own agenda. In his trademark communication style, Maxwell teaches the principles and practices of high-road leadership that can increase anyone's influence and help them make their world a better place.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Learning to unlearn (Journal Article)
The next generation of leaders must combine strong interpersonal relationships with conceptual skills that connect people, purpose, and performance, write Mostafa Sayyadi, Michael J Provitera & Majid Ghazizadeh
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Riding the wave: applying project management science in the field of emergency management (Book)
Emergency managers and public safety professionals are more frequently being called on to address increasingly challenging and complex critical incidents, with a wider variety and intensity of hazards, threats, and community vulnerabilities. Much of the work that falls into the scope of emergency managers – prevention, preparedness, mitigation – is “blue sky planning” and can be contained and effectively managed within projects. This book provides a foundational project management methodology relevant to emergency management practice, and explains and demonstrates how project management can be applied in the context of emergency and public safety organisations.This book is intended for emergency managers and public safety professionals who are responsible for developing emergency programs and plans, including training courses, job aids, computer applications and new technology, developing exercises, and for implementing these plans and components in response to an emergency event.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Why motivating people doesn't work...and what does: more breakthroughs for leading, energizing, and engaging (Book)
Top trainer and coach Susan Fowler urges leaders to stop trying to motivate people! It's frustrating for everyone involved, and it just doesn't work-not if you want a genuine commitment to excellence. Applying recent, often surprising psychological discoveries, she lays out a tested process for helping people motivate themselves in ways that not only increase productivity and engagement but also give them a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment. Traditional carrot-and-stick techniques may result in temporary gains, Fowler argues, but once the bribe or the threat is gone, people's commitment flags. And these kinds of techniques make people focus more on the reward or the punishment rather than on their jobs.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Penny Wong : passion and principle : the biography (Book)
In this first-ever biography of Penny Wong, acclaimed journalist Margaret Simons traces her story: from her early life in Malaysia, to her student activism in Adelaide, to her time in the turbulent Rudd and Gillard governments, to her key role as a voice of reason in the polarising campaign to legalise same-sex marriage. What emerges is a picture of a leader for modern Australia, a cool-headed and cautious yet charismatic figure of piercing intelligence, with a family history linking back to Australia's colonial settlers and to the Asia-Pacific. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Penny Wong and her Labor colleagues, parliamentary opponents, and close friends and family, this is a scintillating insight into an Australian politician without precedence.
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From values to action : the four principles of values-based leadership (Book)
Harry Kraemer argues that today's business environment demands values-based leaders who, in "doing the right thing," deliver outstanding and lasting results. The journey to becoming a values-based leader starts with self-reflection. He asks, "If you are not self-reflective, how can you know yourself? If you do not know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you cannot lead yourself, how can you lead others?" Kraemer identifies self-reflection as the first of four principles that guide leaders to make choices that honour their values and candidly recounts how these principles helped him navigate some of the toughest challenges he faced in his career.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Enterprise Project Management: a comprehensive guide to successful management by projects (Book)
Enterprise Project Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Successful Management by Projects covers the essential and fundamental topics of Enterprise Project Management and Management of Change by projects. It is written for portfolio, program, and project managers, members of the project community, upper-and middle-level management, functional and operational managers, and all who desire to acquire an understanding of effective change by project management.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Culture renovation : 18 leadership actions to build an unshakeable company (Book)
Culture Renovation explains why efforts to transform corporate culture nearly always fail and identifies 18 proven leadership actions for turning any culture into a driver for long-term success. It's all about keeping what works-and changing what needs to be changed-much like renovating a home. CEO of the world's leading HR research firm, i4cp, Kevin Oakes delivers tangible, tactical insights drawn from a robust data set and informed by CEOs and HR leaders at the world's top companies.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Meteorology and Climate Change
National Climate Risk Assessment (Report)
Australian Climate Service, October 2025
In delivering the National Climate Risk Assessment (National Assessment), the Australian Climate Service has provided an assessment of risk across 8 key systems and 11 regions, prioritising key risks both within each system and across systems. This approach has provided an understanding of who or what might be at risk from a changing climate, across different areas of the country and paints a national picture for decision makers, to help them prioritise adaptation actions. The National Assessment provides new data and analyses assembled in a nationally consistent way that can be used by governments, communities, industries and businesses, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to drive adaption at national, regional and local scales.
Use this Australian Climate Service webpage to access the report.
State of the global climate 2024 (Report)
The report provides a summary on the state of the climate indicators in 2024 including sections on extreme events and impacts. The report underlines the massive economic and social upheavals from extreme weather and the long-term impacts of record ocean heat and sea-level rise. 2024 is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record. Featured articles explore progress towards the Paris Agreement goals and the drivers behind 2024’s record heat.
Use this WMO link to read the report online.
Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires (Journal article)
Science, Vol 390, Oct 2025
Despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially and economically disastrous wildfires, partly due to sparse systematic records. Using a 44-year dataset (1980 to 2023) the authors anaylsed the distribution, trends, and climatic conditions connected with the most lethal and costly wildfires. Disaster risk was highest where highly energetic daily fire events intersected affluent, populated areas. Economic disasters increased sharply from 2015 onward, with 43% of the 200 most damaging events occurring in the last decade. Disasters coincided with increasingly extreme climatic conditions, highlighting the urgent need to adapt to a more fire-prone world.
Use this Science link to read the article online.
The lost men: the harrowing saga of Shackleton's Ross Sea party (Book)
A previously overshadowed maritime mission, this is the extraordinary story of Shackleton's forgotten support party from the Aurora, who desperately continued laying supplies across the Antarctic, unaware that Shackleton had aborted his journey. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first-ever crossing of the Antarctic continent. Yet, all went tragically wrong when the Aurora tore free of its moorings in a storm, leaving ten men stranded ashore with woefully inadequate gear to perform their task. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and rudimentary equipment cobbled together from salvaged materials, the men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile, the crew of the disabled Aurora, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled for survival. With no hope of rescue from civilization, the lost men struggled to save themselves and carry out their mission. come alive in this richly researched chronicle.
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Writing, presenting, and communicating with confidence (Book and ebook)
Effective communication is essential to standing out at work and excelling in your career. But when it comes to making a convincing point in a meeting, crafting the perfect email, or nailing a presentation, there's a lot to navigate. What kind of language do you use with a varied audience? Which channel is best for which message? How much do body language and Zoom backgrounds matter? And what should you not say?
Contact the library to borrow the hardcopy or access the eBook.
The Microsoft Office 365 bible 2025: 9 books in 1: the most updated and complete guide to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive, Teams, Access and Publisher from beginners to advanced (Book)
This in-depth book covers the majority of the most important Microsoft Office programs and helps you understand: Ins and Outs of each program, How to learn the fundamentals fast and use main functions effectively, Different kinds of shortcuts and tips for smart use and speed, Differences between them and when you should choose which program for a specific task
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Microsoft 365 excel formulas & functions for dummies (ebook)
If you're like most people, you've barely scratched the surface of what this powerful tool's hundreds of built-in functions can do. But with a little help from Excel Formulas & Functions For Dummies, you'll soon be organising, analysing, and interpreting data like a pro. For those who don't know the difference between a spreadsheet and a bedsheet, the book gets you up to speed with formula and function basics first. But you can also skip ahead to the fancy stuff and learn about working with probabilities, significance tests, and lookup functions.
Contact the library to borrow the hardcopy or access the eBook.
Microsoft Excel 365 Bible (ebook)
The authoring team with their decades of Excel and business intelligence experience and recognition from the Excel community as Excel MVPs delivers an accessible and authoritative roadmap to Excel 365. Interested in the basics? You’ll learn to create spreadsheets and workbooks and navigate the user interface. If you’re ready for more advanced topics you can skip right to the material on creating visualisations, crafting custom functions, and using Visual Basic for Applications to script automations.
Contact the library to borrow the hardcopy or access the eBook.
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