Bushfire Risk Assmt & Risk Mngt Plan for house at 297 Lawnville Rd, Black Mountain Revision 1 December 2020 ENAM

                         Ecological Natural Area Management


7 Assessment of the Bushfire Attack Level
7.1    Assessment of the Bushfire Attack Level: Methodology
The National Construction Code of Australia references Australian Standard AS3959 Construction
of buildings in bushfire-prone areas for Deemed to Satisfy building requirements for bushfire risk
management construction of buildings. This section assesses the construction Bushfire Attack
Level (BAL) for the house using Method 2 of Australian Standard AS3959 to determine a level of
construction required to achieve the objective of the Standard which is to “prescribe particular
construction details for buildings to reduce the risk of ignition from a bushfire while the fire front
passes” (Standards Australia, 2018). This report uses software developed by Newcastle Bushfire
Consulting which models the Bushfire Attack Level using Method 2 of Australian Standard AS3959.
7.2    Modelled bushfire attacks
The west bushfire attack was modelled using Method 2 of Australian Standard AS 3959:
Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas.




Figure 9: Map showing the modelled bushfire attack




7.3    Assessment of fuel loads
State Planning Policy Natural Hazards, Risk and Resilience Technical Manual: A ‘fit for purpose’
approach in undertaking natural hazard studies and risk assessments (Queensland Deptartment of
Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, 2016) specify potential maximum fuel accumulation
for vegetation communities in Queensland. The vegetation community in the technical manual that is
specific for the subject vegetation is shown on Table 3 below.
Table 3: Excerpt from State Planning Policy Natural Hazards, Risk and Resilience Technical
Manual of potential maximum fuel accumulation for the subject vegetation communities.
 Vegetation Hazard Class                                                   Potential Fuel Load
 3.1 Notophyll vine forest                                              4.5 t/ha
(Queensland Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, 2016, page 21)
From Table 3 above, the vegetation community described in the technical manual has a potential
maximum fuel accumulation no greater than 12 t/ha.

Bushfire Risk Assessment and Management Plan for a house at 297 Lawnville Rd, Black Mountain   December 2020

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