Bushfire behaviour is influenced by many things including temperature, relative humidity, forest type, fuel quantity and fuel dryness, topography and even slope. Wind has a dominant effect on the Rate of Spread (ROS), and also bushfire size, shape and direction. Fuel arrangement is as important as fuel quantity (tonnes/ha). Fibrous and ribbon bark, together with elevated and near-surface scrub fuels act as ladders which lead flames into the tree canopy. But the availability of fuel to burn depends largely on its moisture content. When it exceeds 20-25% not much will burn, whereas 12-15% is generally ideal for fuel reduction burning, but if the moisture content drops as low as 7-10% virtually everything will ignite, and fire behaviour becomes extreme. During the afternoon of the Ash Wednesday bushfires on 16 February 1983 fuel moisture contents were recorded at Stawell as low as 2.7%. Fine fuels like leaves and bark can rapidly absorb moisture after a shower of rain, or from the air when the Relative Humidity (RH) is high, and the temperature is low. Conversely, they can also dry out very quickly. So even though the overall fuel quantity in the forest doesn’t change, the fine fuel availability can increase rapidly from zero after rain to many tonnes per hectare as the fuel dries out. This can happen over a few hours on hot and windy days. Heavy fuels like logs on the ground take longer to dry out. Since the 1930s foresters, firefighters and researchers have been working to develop quick and reliable techniques for measuring fuel moisture content. One of the most accurate methods is slowly drying a sample of fuel in a conventional oven for 24-48 hours to remove all the moisture and measuring the weight difference, but this takes time and is not practical in the field when rapid measurements are needed. But oven drying is often used as a benchmark to compare other methods. Microwave ovens are faster but can cause uneven drying and even char the fuel. They are also not very practical for use in the field. Some mathematical models rely on weather records such as rainfall, wind speed, evaporation, cloud cover, shading, relative humidity, slope, aspect and season of the year to predict soil and fuel moisture. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index of soil dryness is the most common. But complex fuels with leaves, twigs, grass etc make the predictive models often inadequate for fine fuels. The most common technique in Victorian forests until recently was the trusty Speedy Moisture Meter. Originally developed in England during the 1920s for measuring moisture in wheat and other grains it was adapted for Australian forest fuels in the 1950s (I think). Fuel was first ground using a spong mincer, often attached to the bullbar of a vehicle, and a small sample placed into the Speedy together with a measure of calcium carbide and then sealed. A chemical reaction created gas pressure which was read on the external dial. There were important techniques with cleaning, mincing and using the chemicals with the Speedy to give reliable readings, but it was quick, inexpensive, robust, portable and practical in the field. It was used routinely before igniting a fuel reduction burn or measuring fuel moisture differentials on slash burns. But in about 1996, Karen Chatto and Kevin Tolhurst from the Department’s Creswick Research Station developed the Wiltronics Fuel Moisture meter which measured electrical resistance. Wiltronics is an Australian owned company operating from Ballarat. The final result was a kit that was portable, accurate and could reliably measure fuel moisture contents between 3% and 200%. Although expensive, it is now widely used by fire agencies around the world which has virtually relegated the Speedy to the back cupboard.Prototype Fuel moisture meterT-H Fine Fuel Meterforests commission victoria (fcv), bushfire, forest measurement

Photo Album - brown cards covers, containing 12 heavy card sheets bound with a brown cotton cord titled "Types of Passenger Shelters MMTB". Ten sheets have two photos of shelters except for the last one giving location and cost. Sheet 1 - Two shelters at Wattle Park 2 - Batman Ave and Peel St; Flemington Road with cable trams in the background. 3 - Victoria Parade and Smith St; Ballarat Road and Gordon St Footscray 4 - Dandenong Road and Hawthorn Road Caulfield; photos of the standard shelter, 6 Number, for St Kilda Road, Alfred Hospital and Gisborne St East Melbourne. 5 - East Kew terminus; Camberwell Road and Smith Road 6 - Oakover Road and Gilbert Rd Preston, Flemington Road at Abbotsford St North Melbourne 7 - Swanston St and Grattan St Women's Hospital with a Bundy clock and street fire alarm in the view; Victoria Parade Fitzroy opposite Eye and Ear hospital with a W class tramcar and the Eastern Hill fire station in the background. 8 - Two photos of the shelter at the corner of William St and Collins St Melbourne. 9 - Toorak Terminus; Rennie and Nicholson St Coburg 10 - Market St terminus City. Images taken from the website production 16-1-2019 - see - http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/shelteralbum.htm On inside back cover is a Kodak label "Scroll" with "3" entered in ink. Date unknown, thought to be mid 1930's - see Reg item 3361 of the construction of William St shelter post 1933.in black ink "Manager" in top right hand corner.trams, tramways, shelters, mmtb, wattle park, victoria parade, st kilda rd, flemington rd, toorak, camberwell, market st, coburg, footscray, preston, caulfield

This glass kerosene lamp was used at St Peter's Church of England at Cape Bridgewater. From Victorian Heritage Database - St. Peter's Anglican Church (former) is a small sandstone church, located at the end of Bridgewater Fire Station Road. The church was constructed between 1883-1884, as a result of lobbying by the congregation and the Reverend Allnutt to establish an Anglican Church in the area. The area was predominately Presbyterian and Methodist, so such a fine church was somewhat unusual. There was obviously much community support for the establishment of the church; the land was donated by Kennedy, a nearby landholder, and the stone was quarried for free at Mount Pleasant, owned by the Kittson family. The church was designed gratis by the ecclesiastical architect, Mr. Casselli of Ballarat, who designed many significant buildings throughout Victoria in the nineteenth century. The building contractors were a local firm, Messrs. Benson and Hardie. The church retains a high degree of integrity externally, and is in good condition. This item is significant because it demonstrates early methods of storing fuel. It is also connected to St Peter's Anglican Church in cape Bridgewater which is now a visitor accommodationA glass container with a metal sleeve. The top of the glass container has a metal opening and screw top as well as a spout for pouring. There is a metal carry handle with a wooden cylinder in the middle for carrying. This is only fixed to the container on one side as the metal eyelet on one side has broken off. The metal sleeve on the glass container has embossed pattering above and below the word - Dandy. There is an old carboard label attached to the top with string.Metal sleeve - DANDY Label -This kerosene container was used in / St Peter's Church of E / Cape Bridgewaterreligion, church, place of worship, cape bridgewater, st peters church, anglican, glenelg shire, glenelg, portland, fuel, kero, kerosene, light

Certificate of Membership. 1888. This certifies that James Lawson became a member of the Sandhurst Temperance Volunteer Fire Brigade on January 5th 1888 and filled the positions of station keeper and apparatus officer. This certificate being awarded for three years service. Signed. Thomas Reed. Captain. James Walker. Sec. 15-1-91. Top of Certificate: Ever Ready. Ever Willing. Bottom of Certificate: Never Failing. Never Shrinking. Left side: Striving with a will to save. Right side: Always Eager. Always Brave. 6 drawings of Firemen in action.F.W.Niven & Co. Lithos. Ballarat.sandhurst temperance volunteer fire brigade, sandhurst, james lawson