8 Jan 2012 - A new fire prediction system

I went to visit my Aunt this evening and she was watching the news as I entered, I only caught the end of the piece but she filled me in on the high level details. It seems that they have invented a new fire prediction system. Basically what they do is build a model of an area in a sand pit, including the geography and topography, then use computer imaging to map the area out and pick locations where the fire might be located. Then they add in wind and other factors and use it to predict how the fire will react and which direction it will take. I found this fascinating and I wanted to know more but I haven't been able to locate anything on Google or the news online but I hope to have a more in depth look at a later date.


Whilst hearing about this and I am not sure if you thought this too, but one of my first thoughts was how did they come up with this idea. I used to play in my sand pit all the time as a kid and I was thinking, maybe a fireman was sitting watching his kids build a sand castle but thinking about work and hey presto, he thought if my kids could build an exact replica of the ground surrounding this castle I could predict how best to prevent it from being consumed by a fire! I am sure if was a much more mundane thought process than that, but that is how I like to think the idea came about!


I have no further information on this topic and I don't know which station the news broadcast was on, so sorry but I can't add anything further!


Can you believe a whole week has past and I am still learning each day!