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 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 became the deadliest bushfire in Australian history until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.
Aerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing aircraft, or rappelling from helicopters. Chemicals used to fight fires may include water, water enhancers such as foams and gels, and specially formulated fire retardants such as Phos-Chek.
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 districts, and shares responsibility for fire services with Fire Rescue Victoria, which employs full-time paid firefighters in major urban areas; and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), which manages fire prevention and suppression on Victoria's public lands. CFA operations and equipment are partly funded by the Victorian Government through its Fire Services Levy, and supplemented by individual brigades' fundraising for vehicles and equipment.
The South Australian Country Fire Service is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and hazardous materials and inland waterways in the country regions of South Australia. Its official mission is "To protect life, property and the environment from fire and other emergencies whilst protecting and supporting our personnel and continuously improving."
Hoyleton is a former railway town in South Australia, west of the Clare Valley, halfway between Leasingham and Halbury. At the 2006 census, Hoyleton had a population of 283.
Mungalalu Truscott Airbase or Truscott-Mungalalu Airport, which during World War II was known as Truscott Airfield is today a commercial airport in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The DC-10 Air Tanker is a series of American wide-body jet air tankers, which have been in service as an aerial firefighting unit since 2006. The aircraft, operated by the joint technical venture 10 Tanker Air Carrier, are converted wide body McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 passenger jetliners, and are primarily used to fight wildfires, typically in rural areas. The turbofan-powered aircraft carry up to 45,000 Liters of water or fire retardant in an exterior belly-mounted tank, the contents of which can be released in eight seconds. Four air tankers are currently in operation, all DC-10-30 aircraft, with the call-signs Tanker 910, 911, 912 and 914. The original Tanker 910, a DC-10-10, was retired in 2014.
Country Fire Service appliances used by the South Australian Country Fire Service in the state of South Australia are provided and funded by the Government of South Australia, and by donations from the public. As the funding model of government funding is relatively new, the standard for SACFS appliances is still only new, and many appliances still exist that were built by the individual brigades. Because of this, almost all appliances are unique, and hence cannot be described simply. However, the SACFS has managed a standard naming convention of all SACFS appliances, and also a basic standard stowage of equipment that can be found on all appliances. The Country Fire Service operates 784 appliances including tankers, urban pumpers, pumper/tankers, bulk water carriers, rescue and command vehicles.
The Mount Lofty Fire Tower sits on top of Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills just to the east of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The 34m high tower has a commanding view over a huge area of the rural areas surrounding Adelaide, and on a clear day the view can extend to as far as Kangaroo Island to the southwest, Monarto to the east, the Fleurieu Peninsula to the south, and the grassy plains beyond Two Wells to the north. The tower is used to spot fires in the Adelaide Hills and surrounds on days of very high or extreme fire danger during summer. The spotting crew determine the location of a smoke sighting by taking a bearing and then calculating distance using topographic maps. Details of the sighting are then passed to the 'Adelaide Fire' Communications Centre who despatch the nearest fire brigade.
Tuscola Area Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Caro, a city in Tuscola County, Michigan, United States. It is owned by the Tuscola Area Airport Authority. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local general aviation facility. Many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA. However, this airport is assigned CFS by the FAA but has been assigned TZC from the IATA. Note that CFS was assigned to Coffs Harbour Airport in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
Coffs Harbour Airport is the only airport located in and serving the regional centre of Coffs Harbour, Australia. The airport is located near Boambee, south of Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour Regional Airport is one of the largest and busiest regional airports in New South Wales, handling numerous types of aircraft. The airport is currently serviced by three airlines Link Airways, QantasLink and Virgin Australia. Coffs Harbour is one of the only regional airports in New South Wales to have an Air Traffic Control tower. The airport has the capacity to handle any aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 767 or Boeing 777-200. Coffs Harbour Airport is located right at the doorstep of the Pacific Highway which links all of Coffs Harbour and surrounding areas to the airport.
The Eyre Peninsula bushfire of 2005, an event also known locally as Black Tuesday and by South Australian Government agencies as the Wangary bushfire, was a bushfire that occurred during January 2005 on the lower part of the Eyre Peninsula, a significant part of South Australia's wheat belt, where most of the land is either cropped or grazed. The fire resulted in 780 square kilometres (301 sq mi) of land being burnt, the loss of nine lives, injury to another 115 people, and huge property damage. It was South Australia's worst bushfire since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Heat from the fire reached 1,000 °C (1,830 °F), with speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).
Brukunga is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Adelaide and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the town of Nairne.
Al Taqaddum Airbase, or Al Taqaddum AB, , is an airbase that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. Since 2004, it has been known as Camp Taqaddum. It was formerly known as Tammuz Airbase.
The 2015 Sampson Flat Fire was a bushfire in the Australian state of South Australia, the area affected was predominantly the northern Adelaide Hills and the outer Adelaide metropolitan area. The fire began on 2 January 2015 during a day of extreme heat and lasted until 9 January 2015; and burnt more than 20,000 hectares.
The 2015 Pinery bushfire was a bushfire that burned from 25 November to 2 December 2015, and primarily affected the Lower Mid North and west Barossa Valley regions immediately north of Gawler in the Australian state of South Australia. At least 86,000 hectares of scrub and farmland in the council areas of Light, Wakefield, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, and Mallala were burned during its duration.
The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, colloquially known as Black Summer, was a period of unusually intense bushfires in many parts of Australia.
Claremont Airbase is a private airport near Brukunga in the Adelaide Hills east of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the main base used for aerial firefighting support of the South Australian Country Fire Service.
Following the devastating 2019–20 bushfires in Australia, authorities were urged to prepare early for the 2020–21 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.
Scott Creek Airport also known as Cherry Gardens Airstrip is an airstrip in the northeastern corner of the locality of Clarendon, South Australia in the Adelaide Hills. Scott Creek and Cherry Gardens are smaller villages closer to the airstrip than the larger town of Clarendon. It has one unsealed runway 1127 metres long.
