1993–94 Australian bushfire season

1993–94 Australian bushfire season
Date(s)	October 1993 – January 1994
Location	New South Wales and Queensland, Australia
Statistics
Burned area	70,000+ ha
Impacts
Deaths	3
Non-fatal injuries	29+

Sydney Bushfire smoke in January 1994

A major bushfire occurred in southern Queensland, Australia, in October 1993, and several major bushfires occurred in New South Wales from December 1993 to January 1994. 3 people were killed in New South Wales by the fires and more than 29 were injured. More than 70,000 ha were destroyed in New South Wales.

State	Start date	Deaths	Injuries	Houses lost	Area (ha)	Local govt.	Impacted communities & destruction	Duration	Ref.
Qld	10 October 1993			3		Somerset	Coominya & Esk 4 caravans destroyed		[1]
NSW	27 December 1993	1	4			Clarence Valley	Maclean		[2] [3]
NSW	30 December 1993			11	15,000 ha (37,000 acres)	Cessnock & Singleton	Bucketty 16 non-residential structures, 4 caravans and 3 vehicles destroyed A tourist railway damaged	17 days	[4] [5] [6]
NSW	1 January 1994			5+	12,500 ha (31,000 acres)	Hornsby	Brooklyn, Canoelands & Wisemans Ferry A garage and several non-residential buildings destroyed		[4] [5] [7]
NSW	3 January 1994			24		Gosford	Cogra Bay, Kariong, Peats Ridge, Somersby & Tascott Several non-residential structures destroyed, including a service station 8 houses damaged	12 days	[4] [5] [8]
NSW	3 January 1994	1		4		Lake Macquarie & Newcastle	Bennetts Green, Charlestown, Glendale & Wallsend A retail property, a wrecking yard and several other non-residential structures destroyed 8 houses damaged	11 days	[4] [5] [9] [10]
NSW	4 January 1994			5	50,000 ha (120,000 acres)	Blue Mountains & Hawkesbury	Hawkesbury Heights 26 non-residential structures destroyed, including a youth hostel 26 houses and 84 non-residential structures damaged	11 days	[4] [5] [11] [12]
NSW	5 January 1994			2	2,000 ha (4,900 acres)	Eurobodalla & Shoalhaven	Sussex Inlet	6 days	[4] [5] [13]
NSW	6 January 1994		5+	17	370 ha (910 acres)	Willoughby & Ku-ring-gai	Macquarie Park, Chatswood West, West Killara & Lindfield Ku-ring-gai College and at least 3 houses damaged		[4] [5] [14] [15] [16]
NSW	6 January 1994			2		Port Stephens	— 8 non-residential structures destroyed, including dog kennels A timber factory damaged	8 days	[4] [5] [17]
NSW	7 January 1994	1	20+	101	480 ha (1,200 acres)	Sutherland	Alfords Point, Bangor, Bonnet Bay, Como & Jannali 14 non-residential structures destroyed, including Como West Presbyterian Church 48 vehicles destroyed 90 houses and 11 non-residential structures damaged, including Como West Public School	6 days	[4] [5] [13] [18] [19] [20]
NSW	7 January 1994			36	11,000 ha (27,000 acres)	Pittwater & Warringah	Bayview, Cromer, Elanora Heights, Elvina Bay, Ingleside, Lovett Bay & Warriewood 4 non-residential structures destroyed, including a service station 16 vehicles destroyed 43 houses and 87 non-residential structures damaged	6 days	[4] [5] [13] [14] [21] [22] [23]

References

1. Clark, Peter (11 October 1993). "Bushfire law to duplicate NSW's". Canberra Times . Retrieved 11 June 2015.
2. "Firefighters bracing for worst as winds pick up". Canberra Times . 5 January 1994. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
3. Harry Woods, Member for Page (3 February 1994). "NEW SOUTH WALES BUSHFIRES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 270–271.
4. Paxton, Gilly; Bell, Anne, eds. (1994). "Table 1; Emergency Appointments". Bush Fire Bulletin. 16 (1). Department of Bush Fire Services: 45. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
5. Paxton, Gilly, ed. (1994). "Corrections to the Last Issue of the Bulletin; Table 3, Losses by Local Government Area". Bush Fire Bulletin. 16 (2). Department of Bush Fire Services: 25. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
6. Fitzpatrick, Eamonn (10 January 1994). "Central Coast optimism". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 4.
7. Phillip Ruddock, Member for Berowra (3 February 1994). "NEW SOUTH WALES BUSHFIRES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 276–277.
8. Tubb, Rochelle (30 January 1994). "Bush houses lost in fire". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 20.
9. Peter Morris, Member for Shortland (3 February 1994). "New South Wales Bushfires". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 278–279.
10. Sandham, Sonya; Nicole Taylor (4 January 1994). "Fires force hundreds to flee". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 1.
11. "At Sydney on Friday, 31 May 2002" (PDF). Joint Select Committee on Bushfires. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
12. Davey, Karen (16 January 1994). "Life's work gone in 2 fatal hours". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 16.
13. "Prayers answered as fires ease". Canberra Times . 10 January 1994. p. 1. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
14. Connell, Jennifer; Keith Gosman (10 January 1994). "Spot fires keep suburbs on alert". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 2.
15. Mullins, G. "The Interface Fire Problem – An Urban Fire Service Perspective" (PDF). New South Wales Fire Brigades. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
16. Cantlon, Gavin; Steve Warnock; Robyn Willis (9 January 1994). "Mates rescue war veterans". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 4.
17. Robert Horne, Member for Paterson (3 February 1994). "New South Wales Bushfires". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 282–284.
18. Mutton, Sheree (9 January 2014). "Shire fire horror still lingers 20 years on". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
19. Scott Morrison, Member for Cook (11 February 2009). "Victorian Bushfire Victims – Condolences". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. p. 1018.
20. Gilmore, Helen; Rochelle Tubb (16 January 1994). "Nature's violence unites a community". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 14.
21. Westbrook, Tom (22 September 2014). "NSW Conservation Council calls for review of 10/50 vegetation clearing code". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 7 June 2015.
22. David Miles Connolly, Member for Bradfield (3 February 1994). "NEW SOUTH WALES BUSHFIRES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. pp. 268–270.
23. Chater, Jenny; Steve Offner (13 January 1994). "'We didn't even know it was close'". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 46.