Most grass species possess a life cycle where they annually dry out and die or become dormant. This process is referred to as curing and is an important factor in fire behaviour prediction as the amount of dead material in a grassland can have a dramatic effect on the fire danger.
CFA has a network of volunteers across Victoria who, during the fire season, make weekly observations about how dry the grasslands are in their area and provide CFA an overall picture of Victoria's grassfire risk.
Grassland Observations App
(Only trained and registered observers have access to the app. Scroll down to find out more about becoming an observer or email grassland@cfa.vic.gov.au for more information)
Current Grassland Curing Map
(For the latest weekly map you may need to refresh the page or clear your cache.*)
Download image: GIF | JPEG | PNG | PDF | KMZ (image sizes may vary)
Historical Grassland Curing Maps
Grassland curing information is critical for CFA to analyse grassfire risk. The observation network consists of over 150 volunteers, and CFA is seeking more observers across the state.
All that is required is that you can spend 15 minutes each week to observe and report on grassland curing at your field site. A quick online, self-paced training course on CFA Learning Management System will provide you with all you need to take consistent and repeatable observations. You will need to log into LMS with your CFA Online details or register as a new user.
What you need to do:
- First, explore the videos and infographic on this page. Some of these also are part of the training package.
- When you are ready, complete the course on the CFA Learning Management System (click the button below). It takes approximately 30 minutes, self-paced). PC and tablet devices are recommended to complete the course.
- At the end of the module, click on Want to Become an Observer to register.
- Select a grassland curing site where you will take your observations and email grassland@cfa.vic.gov.au the details of the site to be added to the system. Or, you can enter your observation site in the grassland curing app when you first log in.
- Commence your weekly observations! It is that easy!
Training
CFA provides a Grassland Curing training module on our Learning Hub (LMS).
Take the training course
Documents
Printing documents: Not all printers are the same. When making assessments by comparing grassland against reference photos, it is important to use a standard reference guide. To order the field card or field guide, please contact us with your name, address and phone number.
Email: grassland@cfa.vic.gov.au
Phone: 9262 8646
Videos
Click on image below to view an interactive presentation on the science behind grassland curing.
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Page last updated: Wednesday, 20 September 2023 3:24:42 PM