 The term "dead man zone" was coined by members of the CSIRO research team in Australia who were investigating the spread of bushfires (Project Vesta).Project Vesta, headed by scientist Phil Cheney, found that when the wind changes direction, the line of fire will move out at its maximum rate of spread almost immediately, and that that speed was nearly three times what was previously thought.Project Vesta's research into bushfire behaviour makes up the majority of what is known about bushfires today.