The 2006 Junee bushfire, officially referred to as the "Jail Break Inn fire", was a bushfire that burned from 1–6 January and primarily affected the Riverina region in the Australian state of New South Wales. At least 25,200 hectares of farmland and forest reserve in the municipality of Junee Shire were burned during the 6-day duration of the fire. Ten houses, four shearing sheds and numerous other vehicles and non-residential buildings were destroyed, and damage was also caused to the Junee Round House. Rural industry in the Junee area was also significantly affected by the fire; over 20,000 head of livestock perished or were put down due to fire related injuries, 20 hectares of unharvested crops were burned and 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) of fencing was damaged. The fire affected 200 properties in and around the communities of Bethungra, Eurongilly, Illabo, Junee and Old Junee.
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.
Drought in Australia is defined by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as rainfall over period greater than three-months being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns including seasonal variations. Specifically, drought in Australia is defined in relation to a rainfall deficiency of pastoral leases and is determined by decile analysis applied to a certain area. Note that this definition uses rainfall only because long-term records are widely available across most of Australia. However, it does not take into account other variables that might be important for establishing surface water balance, such as evaporation and condensation.
The 1994 eastern seaboard fires were significant Australian bushfires that occurred in New South Wales, Australia during the bushfire season of 1993–1994. Some 20,000 firefighters were deployed against some 800 fires throughout the state, and along the coast and ranges from Batemans Bay in the south to the Queensland border in the north, including populated areas of the city of Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast. The fires caused mass evacuations of many thousands of people, claimed four lives, destroyed some 225 homes and burned out 800,000 hectares of bushland. The firefighting effort raised in response was one of the largest seen in Australian history.
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.
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 one of 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.
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 summer of 2013–14 was at the time, the most destructive bushfire season in terms of property loss since the 2008–09 Australian bushfire season, with the loss of 371 houses and several hundred non-residential buildings as a result of wild fires between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016. The season also suffered 4 fatalities; 2 died in New South Wales, 1 in Western Australia and 1 in Victoria. One death was as a direct result of fire, 2 died due to unrelated health complications while fighting fires on their property, and a pilot contracted by the NSW Rural Fire Service died during an accident.
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 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, or Black Summer, was one of the most intense and catastrophic fire seasons on record in Australia. It included a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, was considered a megafire by media at the time. Exceptionally dry conditions, a lack of soil moisture, and early fires in Central Queensland led to an early start to the bushfire season, beginning in June 2019. Hundreds of fires burnt, mainly in the southeast of the country, until May 2020. The most severe fires peaked from December 2019 to January 2020.
The 1974–75 Australian bushfire season is a series of bushfires, also known around the world as wildfires, that burned across Australia. Fires that summer burned up an estimated 117 million hectares. Approximately 15% of Australia's land mass suffered "extensive fire damage" including parts of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
The 2020–21 Australian bushfire season was the season of summer bushfires in Australia. 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.
The 2021–22 Australian bushfire season was the season of summer bushfires in Australia. The outlook for the season was below average in parts of Eastern Australia thanks to a La Niña, with elevated fire danger in Western Australia. Higher than normal winter rainfall has resulted in above average to average stream flows and soil moisture levels through much of eastern Australia. The outlook to the end of spring was also for above average falls over much of the country apart for Western Australia. The Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and southern New South Wales are expected to have a below normal fire potential as a result of vegetation still recovering from the 2020–21 Australian bushfire season. Areas of south eastern Queensland, northern New South Wales and northern Western Australia expect an above normal fire potential caused by crop and grass growth in these areas.
The 2023–24 Australian bushfire season is the current season of bushfires in Australia. The spring and summer outlook for the season prediction was for increased risk of fire for regions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
