The devastating February 2009 Victorian bushfires resulted in major loss of life, property, and other assets. This report outline the data collected by this major research project on the fire and its impact, and draws some preliminary conclusions and findings.

On 8th February, the Bushfire CRC was asked to establish a research taskforce to undertake the biggest data collection and analysis program ever undertaken in the aftermath of a bushfire disaster in Australia, and quite probably anywhere. Every day over a period of nearly two and half months, the Bushfire CRC placed teams of up to 50 researchers from across Australia, NZ and the USA in the field. This analysis has focused on the Bunyip, Kilmore, Murrindindi, Churchill, and Bendigo (Maiden Gully) fires.
 
The intent of the work was to collect time-critical data that would rapidly degrade because of weather, site clearance or other interference. This data is capable of answering various questions relating to the fire behaviour, human behaviour, and house survival or destruction. 
 
This report contains five major chapters that outline the data collected in the various areas, as well as draw some preliminary conclusions and findings from this data. These four chapters have been authored by the lead researchers in each area. While the Bushfire CRC has provided oversight on the reports, the content remains that created by these authors. 
 
The authors of each have drawn their findings from the individual data sets and have not had the opportunity to cross-reference to the other data sets. The analysis has also not been systematically cross-referenced to any recent evidence presented to the Royal Commission.