Smoke from a bushfire in the Yarra Flats, between Heidelberg and Bulleen, that burnt 5 hectares on 12 February
The Australian bushfire season ran from late December 2008 to April/May 2009. Above average rainfalls in December, particularly in Victoria, delayed the start of the season, but by January 2009, conditions throughout South eastern Australia worsened with the onset of one of the region's worst heat waves. On 7 February, extreme bushfire conditions precipitated major bushfires throughout Victoria, involving several large fire complexes, which continued to burn across the state for around one month. 173 people lost their lives in these fires and 414 were injured. 3,500+ buildings were destroyed, including 2,029 houses, and 7,562 people displaced.[1][2][3]
Late 2008 had relatively few bushfires. Victoria in particular experienced higher than average rainfall in December, decreasing the fire danger in many regions of the state. Initial observations in October 2008 predicted an above average fire potential across Australia's coastal regions and a below average potential in Central Australia, where drought has reduced the available fuel.
In late January and early February, the effects of the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave increased temperatures across south-eastern Australia, particularly in Victoria and South Australia, where several locations broke all time temperature records. Various days of high wind speed, combined with the hot dry conditions, created extreme bushfire conditions between 25 January and 7 February 2009.
Predictions and assessments
In October 2008, fire potential in Australia was assessed as being above average around the coast of the continent and below average inland. La Niña conditions were observed during the latter portion of 2007 and early 2008. However, throughout the year the majority of the continent, except for far north Queensland and the northern Northern Territory, experienced much lower than normal rainfall.[4] Central Australia had experienced below average rainfall for several years, reducing fuel and thus reducing the overall fire potential.[4]
In Western Australia, bushfires were started by lightning strikes in the Cape Le Grand National Park, west of Esperance, on Friday, 19 December. Authorities maintained contact with 280 campers in the national park over the weekend and gave them the choice of leaving or staying.[18] By Monday the 22nd, visitors to the park were unable to gain access; over 200 campers were relocated, while 75 campers decided to stay in the park.[19] Crews from other regions of Western Australia were called in to assist local authorities over the weekend of 20–21 December.
January
In late January, Victoria and South Australia experienced extreme fire conditions with temperatures in the low to mid 40s°C (104°F) in Melbourne and Adelaide, higher in the northern parts of the states, and increasing wind speed.
On 28 January, multiple fires started throughout Victoria, the largest in McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula, which burnt 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of land alongside the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, threatening neighbouring houses. Authorities closed the freeway in both directions during the afternoon. The fire was contained by 6 pm with minimal property damage.[20] The same day, a fire also burnt near Mount Disappointment, where smoke posed a danger to road users in the Clonbinane area, and a grass fire 8 kilometres (5.0mi) south of Winchelsea in Wurdiboluc, that burnt 20 hectares (49 acres).[20]
On the night of 28 January, CFA fire crews dealt with a small fire near Delburn in Gippsland which had burnt 30ha (74 acres) of land, and on the afternoon of 29 January, attended two more fires in the same area, one of which threatened a local pine plantation.[21] Also on 29 January, the CFA attended, and soon controlled, two small grass fires near the city of Sale, which were thought to have been deliberately lit.[22]
Late on 29 January and into the following morning, the two fires at Delburn had joined, and were being fought by over 500 personnel; the fires had burnt 10km21,000ha (2,500 acres) in the area near Boolarra and Darlimurra, south of the city of Morwell.[23] Also, a fire in Branxholme, near Hamilton, started, threatening homes in Branxholme, and Byaduk. After burning 603 hectares (1,490 acres) the fire was contained and later controlled the following day.
By 30 January, the Delburn fire had spotted east towards Yinnar and Boolarra, and south towards Mirboo North. 15 different 'urgent threat' messages were delivered to Darlimurla, Yinnar, Boolarra and Mirboo North residents. Almost thirty homes were destroyed in the area.
On the evening of 31 January, fire crews focused on containing the fire's northern flank, which was within 2km of the main power transmission lines supplying electricity to Melbourne from the Latrobe Valley; the fires also threatened the Hazelwood Power Station.[24]
By 1 February, containment lines had been established around the Boolarra fires, although it was not yet under control.[25] The fire had burned through 65km26,500ha (16,000 acres) and destroyed 29 houses, along with various outbuildings and also livestock.[26] On 3 February, authorities had divided the fires into six sectors, five of which were classified as contained, and only one, near Mirboo North, remained uncontained.[27]
On 2 February, twenty-three new fires were lit – mostly due to lightning strikes – including three in the Bunyip State Park, and further fires near Drouin West and Leongatha.[28] However, increased humidity helped contain the fires, according to a DSE duty officer.[28]
Police believed that the fires that formed the Delburn/Boolarra complex were deliberately lit, and offered a A$100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of suspected arsonists.[27]
In the wake of the Gippsland fires, Bruce Esplin, the Victorian Emergency Services Commissioner, proposed a review of building regulations applicable in certain fire-prone areas, saying that "I believe that with the changes and the frequency and the severity of the bushfires we're experiencing, I think the community is going to have a rethink about where we build or if you build in a place like that".[28] Also following those fires, Bob Cameron, the Victorian Minister for Emergency Services, announced that the Victorian government was considering ways to tackle arsonists, including the potential for a register of arsonists accessible to police.[28]
South Australia
A bushfire near Port Lincoln in South Australia destroyed two houses and several other buildings on 13 January. The fire was brought under control by midday on the 14th. The fire was driven by high temperatures (43 degrees Celsius; 109 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong north-westerly winds. A total of 260 hectares (640 acres) was burned by the fire, brought under control thanks to milder conditions on 14 January.[29]
New South Wales
In the Blue Mountains, three bushfires burning on privately owned land were in the process of being contained. Authorities want to ensure that the fires don't enter a nearby national park where they could potentially spread throughout the Blue Mountains National Park.[30]
On 1 February 2009 the New South Wales Rural Fire Service declared a Section 44 for 2 bushfires burning near Tumut, New South Wales and one near Cabramurra, New South Wales after being started by dry thunderstorm overnight on 31 January 2009.[31] The Meadow Creek fire was contained after burning 50 hectares of bushland in the Minjary National Park approximately 8 kilometres northwest of Tumut.[32][33] The Mill Creek fire was burning uncontained which has burnt approximately 20 hectares of bushland approximately fourteen kilometres south east of Tumut.[33] Happy Valley fire is burning in a steep gorge within the Kosciuszko National Park approximately kilometre from Cabramurra and has burnt 60 hectares.[33]
Western Australia
On 16 January 2009 a fire broke out around Bridgetown in the South West and destroyed at least three properties in the area.[34] At the same time a fire that started in Two Rocks north of Perth burned over 8,000 hectares of bushland in and around Yanchep National Park.[34] Also on 16 January, a fire burned 40 hectares of parkland in Kings Park, the most visited tourist attraction in the centre of Perth. The fire is suspected to have been deliberately lit.[35]
February
New South Wales
On 2 February 2009 a lightning strike from a thunderstorm in the area started a bushfire approximately ten kilometres from Barmedman, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service declared a Section 44 for the bushfire at 3am AEDT 3 February 2009. The fire burnt on private property and burnt approximately 320 hectares of scrub.[36]
Victoria
7 February (Black Saturday)
A satellite image of smoke and pyrocumulus cloud over eastern Victoria on 7 February.
On 7 February, Victoria experienced one of the worst fire day conditions on record. Several locations recorded the highest temperatures since records began over 150 years ago, including Melbourne which recorded a temperature of 46.4°C, the hottest ever recorded in an Australian capital city. The dry conditions and high temperatures were paired with strong wind gusts of 100–120km/h and by mid afternoon hundreds of fires were burning throughout the state. Small spot and grass fires burnt in various locations throughout the Greater Melbourne area, with many outlying suburbs/towns being affected by fires, particularly to the east and northeast.
173 people died and 414 were injured. 3,500+ buildings were destroyed including 2,029 houses. 7,562 people were displaced. Areas most affected included Kinglake, Marysville and surrounding areas, many areas in Western Victoria and towns south and southeast of Morwell in West Gippsland. The fires burnt 450,000+ hectares of land across Victoria in total.
Yarra Flats
On 12 February, a small fire ignited near the Main Yarra Trail in the Yarra Flats Park, on the western banks of the Yarra River and south of the Banksia Street Bridge, well within the Greater Melbourne area. The fire burnt between 3–5 hectares of grassland. Smoke from the fires carried north-west over Heidelberg and the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
Belgrave / Tecoma
On 15 February, Ferny Creek, Sherbrooke, Kallista, Tecoma and Belgrave residents were warned by the CFA to remain alert due to a 5-hectare fire in the Belgrave / Tecoma area. This was quickly contained without homes being threatened, though residents in those areas were warned of possible ember attack.[37][38]
23 February bushfires
Smoke from the southern Dandenongs and Daylesford fires over Melbourne on 23 February
On 23 February, precipitated by erratic wind conditions and high temperatures, new fires were ignited at various locations around Victoria. New major fires included:
Upwey / Lysterfield / Belgrave South
Started in the southern Dandenong Ranges on the southern perimeter of Upwey, quickly spreading in a south-easterly direction through the Lysterfield Park and into parts of Belgrave South and Belgrave Heights including part of Birdsland park (where the Ash Wednesday fire had originated in 1983). A CFA fire truck was destroyed, another damaged and several firefighters admitted to hospital with minor injuries. No homes were lost, but at least 1 building and further structures are suspected to have been damaged or destroyed.
A fire began near Yarram and entered the Mullundong forest.
Western Australia
On 23 February fire broke out near Mundijong, which threatened 40 houses and burnt 18 hectares. It was contained in five hours.
March
Victoria
The southern Dandenong Ranges bushfires, 23 February 2009.
On 2 March, in anticipation and to create awareness of the extreme bushfire weather conditions predicted for the following days, many residents around Victoria received an SMS messages warning of the extreme fire danger conditions, from Victoria Police to Victorians with mobile phones as a technology trial. The message that read: Msg from Vic Police:Extreme weather in Vic expected Mon night & Tues. High wind & fire risk. Listen to local ACB Radio for emergency updates. Do not reply to this. The message was sent to around 3–5 million phones throughout Victoria.[39]
On 3 March, despite early rain across several parts of the state and the temperature predictions were downgraded from mid 30s to high 20s, however the wind conditions remained as predicted. Several new fires began around the state, the majority of which were small and able to be contained or extinguished quickly. A fire began near Dereel began sometime around 2-3pm and the CFA subsequently released an urgent threat message for communities in the immediate area as the fire has been fanned by strong northerly winds. The fire rating index was 170 as of 5pm. Emergency services received more than 300 calls, 56% of which were for fallen trees. Over 10,000 residents, particularly in southwestern and southeastern Victoria, lost power.
From 4–6 March, favourable conditions including cooler temperatures and rain, enabled fire crews to contain and control many of the fires, including the major fires that started on 7 February. By mid March, many of the fires were extinguished completely.
On Sunday 22 March, lightning sparked several small fires in Victoria's east, mostly centred around Cann River. These are in mostly remote sections of forest and currently pose no threat to any communities.
Western Australia
On 17 March, an estimated 20 hectares fire, the cause of the fire hasn't been confirmed, occurred in the Dunsborough-Yallingup area, threatening homes and closing roads.[40]
Related Research Articles
The Black Friday bushfires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, were part of the devastating 1938–1939 bushfire season in Australia, which saw bushfires burning for the whole summer, and ash falling as far away as New Zealand. It was calculated that three-quarters of the State of Victoria was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster, while other Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory were also badly hit by fires and extreme heat. As of 3 November 2011, the event was one of the worst recorded bushfires in Australia, and the third most deadly.
The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983, which was Ash Wednesday. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by hot winds of up to 110 km/h (68 mph) caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia. Years of severe drought and extreme weather combined to create one of Australia's worst fire days in a century. The fires were the deadliest bushfire in Australian history until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.
One of the most extensive bushfire seasons in Australia's history. Victoria experienced the longest continuously burning bushfire complex in Australia's history, with fires in the Victorian Alps and Gippsland burning over 1 million hectares of land over the course of 69 days. See Bushfires in Australia for an explanation of regional seasons.
The Australian bushfire season over the summer of 2007–2008, experienced fire occurrence below average for the season as some regions experienced increased rainfall and reduced fuel as a result of extensive fires during the previous 2006–07 season, particularly in Victoria where the fires in the 2006–07 season burnt over 1.1 million hectares of land. Fires in Victoria during the 2007–08 season burnt less than a fifth of the land area usually burnt during an average bushfire season.
A particularly extensive bushfire season in Australia, ran predominantly from December 2002 to March 2003 and involved over 3,000 separate fires in Victoria alone. The 2003 Canberra bushfires were also particularly severe.
The state of Victoria in Australia has had a long history of catastrophic bushfires, the most deadly of these, the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 claiming 173 lives. Legislation, planning, management and suppression are the responsibilities of the Victorian State Government through its departments and agencies including the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).
Bushfires in Australia are a widespread and regular occurrence that have contributed significantly to shaping the nature of the continent over millions of years. Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions of the world, and its predominant eucalyptus forests have evolved to thrive on the phenomenon of bushfire. However, the fires can cause significant property damage and loss of both human and animal life. Bushfires have killed approximately 800 people in Australia since 1851, and billions of animals.
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire, with 173 fatalities. Many people were left homeless as a result.
A bushfire season occurred predominantly from June 2009 to May 2010. Increased attention has been given to this season as authorities and government attempt to preempt any future loss of life after the Black Saturday bushfires during the previous season, 2008–09. Long range weather observations predict very hot, dry and windy weather conditions during the summer months, leading to a high risk of bushfire occurrence.
During the summer of 2010–11, a relative lack of bushfires occurred along Eastern Australia due to a very strong La Niña effect, which instead contributed to severe flooding, in particular the 2010–11 Queensland floods and the 2011 Victorian floods. As a result of these weather patterns, most major fire events took place in Western Australia and South Australia. Some later significant fire activity occurred in Gippsland in eastern Victoria, an area which largely missed the rainfall that lead to the flooding in other parts of the state.
Bushfires were mostly active between September 2011 to March 2012 and caused most damage in the state of Western Australia, particularly in the South West. The state had been prepared and had expected an increased risk of bushfire following heavy spring rains as a result of a La Nina weather pattern.
The summer of 2012–13 had above average fire potential for most of the southern half of the continent from the east coast to the west. This is despite having extensive fire in parts of the country over the last 12 months. The reason for this prediction is the abundant grass growth spurred by two La Niña events over the last two years.
The 2013 New South Wales bushfires were a series of bushfires in Australia across the state of New South Wales primarily starting, or becoming notable, on 13 October 2013; followed by the worst of the fires beginning in the Greater Blue Mountains Area on 16 and 17 October 2013.
The bushfire season in the summer of 2014–15, was expected to have the potential for many fires in eastern Australia after lower than expected rainfall was received in many areas. Authorities released warnings in the early spring that the season could be particularly bad.
The most destructive bushfire season in terms of property loss since the 2008–09 Australian bushfire season, occurred in the summer of 2015–16, with the loss of 408 houses and at least 500 non-residential buildings as a result of wild fires between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016. The season also suffered the most human fatalities since the 2008–09 Australian bushfire season; 6 died in Western Australia, 2 in South Australia and 1 in New South Wales. 8 deaths were as a direct result of fire, and a volunteer firefighter died due to unrelated health complications while on duty.
The bushfire season of the summer of 2017–18, was expected to have above normal bushfire risks with an elevated fire risk for the most of eastern and south Australian coastal areas. Australia had experienced its warmest winter on record and the ninth driest winter on record leaving dry fuel loads across much of southern Australia. Expected warmer weather over the summer period would also increase the risk. Bushfires were also expected to occur earlier, before the end of winter, as a result of the warm and dry winter. Both Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales experienced the wettest October since 1975 leading to a downgrade in bushfire risk.
The bushfires were predicted to be "fairly bleak" in parts of Australia, particularly in the east, by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) chief executive, Richard Thornton, in September 2018. Large bushfires had already burned through southern New South Wales during winter. The outlook for spring was of a higher likelihood of fires with a twice the normal chance of an El Nino for summer. Many parts of eastern Australia including Queensland, New South Wales and Gippsland, in Victoria, were already in drought. Above normal fire was also predicted for large parts of Southern Australia and Eastern Australia by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. The forecast noted that Queensland had recorded the ninth driest and fourth hottest period on record from April to November. New South Wales recorded the fourth hottest period and eighth driest on record, while Victoria experiences the 13th driest and seventh hottest period on record. Authorities in New South Wales brought forward the start of the bushfire season for much of the state from October 2018 to the beginning of August 2018.
The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season or Black Summer was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. In June 2019, it was predicted that an early start to the bushfire season, which usually begins in August, may have been possible due to exceptionally dry conditions, a lack of soil moisture and early fires in Central Queensland. Throughout the summer, hundreds of fires burnt, mainly in the southeast of the country. The major fires peaked during December 2019 to January 2020.
Following the devastating 2019–20 bushfires in Australia, authorities were urged to prepare early for the 2020–21 Australian bushfire season. The bushfire outlook for July to September 2020 was predicting a normal fire potential in Queensland with a good grass growth in many areas giving an increased risk of grass fires, an above normal season in the Kimberley region of Western Australia as a result of good rains from tropical cyclones, a normal but earlier season in the Northern Territory, an above normal season on the south coast of New South Wales and normal seasons elsewhere.
References
↑ "14 dead in Victorian inferno". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC News. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
↑ "Bushfire death toll rises to 208". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC News. 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
↑ Lanigan, Roslyn; Woods, Kim (29 January 2009). "Gippsland faces third fire". Weekly Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
↑ "Gippsland temperatures rising". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
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