Rocky boys design hot new fire danger app
FOUR heads are better than one.
Rockhampton locals Michael O'Rourke, Trent Jones, David Arnold and Ben Wonnocott have created a never-before-seen app called Fahrenheit 4701.
The four friends teamed up after competing together in a government competition.
Scott Brook from National Parks and Wildlife came to the team with the idea of developing the app.
"Our team came together at GovHack which is a competition where the government releases data sets,” Trent said. "We take those data sets and we're able to build an app.
"We developed an app where it gives a seven-day forecast every three hours.”
Trent said controlled back-burning could be planned based on this information.
The app can allow anyone with a mobile phone to log on to the site and type in their postcode to find out if there is a fire danger warning in their area.
"We currently have a working prototype so the app is currently accessible and it pulls data live from the Bureau of Meteorology,” Trent said. Funding is needed to establish data integrity checks.
Trent said there was potential to expand the app which would include additional material for the user to access.
The app will benefit land owners, especially in the dry season.
"This app will allow them to plan out their land management much better,” he said. The prototype is available now.
Sean Fox
