Dalby is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Dalby had a population of 12,082 people.
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally applied to an area approximating to that of the Condamine River catchment upstream of Condamine township but is now applied to a wider region comprising the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi local authority areas. The name Darling Downs was given in 1827 by Allan Cunningham, the first European explorer to reach the area and recognises the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling.
Tara is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Tara had a population of 1,980 people.
Western Downs Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of 37,937 square kilometres (14,648 sq mi), which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 in June 2018, it is over 228 times less densely populated.
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.
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 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 2018 Tathra bushfire was a bushfire that burned between 18 and 19 March 2018 and primarily affected parts of the South Coast region in the Australian state of New South Wales. The fire, understood to have been caused by a failure in electrical infrastructure, began in the locality of Reedy Swamp, near Tarraganda, which spread east towards Tathra in the municipality of the Bega Valley Shire.
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 2018 Central Queensland bushfires were a series of 1,250 bushfires which ignited and moved across areas of the Central Queensland region of Australia in November and December 2018, during the 2018-19 Australian bushfire season.
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.
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 Wooroloo bushfire was a fast moving bushfire that started on 1 February in Wooroloo, 45 kilometres (28 mi) north-east of the Perth central business district, in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia. By 2 February, the bushfire emergency had spread to Shires of Chittering and Northam, and the City of Swan. It had destroyed at least 86 houses and 2 fire trucks. By 6 February, the bushfire had travelled 26 km (16 mi) from its source. The fire coincided with a five day lockdown of the Perth metropolitan region that started at 6pm on 31 January, due to a case of COVID-19 outside of hotel quarantine. In July 2021, WA Police charged a man with a breach of duty and carrying out an activity that could cause a fire, alleging that he used an angle grinder that caused sparks.
The 2016 Waroona-Yarloop bushfire started in the east in the forests of the Darling Scarp before reaching the Swan Coastal Plain and continued westwards until it reached the Indian Ocean. It started as a lightning strike that caused two fires in the Lane Poole Reserve state forest near Dwellingup, Western Australia on 5 January 2016 and then burnt close to Waroona and then through the historical town of Yarloop, destroying it, before continuing southwards towards the outskirts of the town of Harvey and westwards to Preston Beach. Around 70,000 ha of land was burnt, two people died and at least 166 buildings were destroyed in Yarloop alone with only ninety buildings surviving. In total 181 buildings and structures were lost with the total cost of fighting the fire and the cost of the damage and the loss resulting estimated at $155 million.
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 2021 Beechina bushfire was a bushfire that began on 26 December 2021 in Beechina, 46 kilometres east-north-east of the Perth central business district, in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia. The bushfire began less than five kilometres from the 2021 Wooroloo bushfire, and coincided with a COVID-19 outbreak and associated public health measures in the Perth metropolitan region. One house was destroyed as a result of the fire, along with six outbuildings and a number of vehicles.
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.
The 2023 Wanneroo bushfire was a bushfire that began on 22 November 2023 in Wanneroo, 36 kilometres north of the Perth central business district, in the City of Wanneroo, Western Australia.
