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Bushfires - Get the Facts

Every summer Australia is in danger of bushfires that devastate lives, eucalypt forests and rage into the suburban fringes of major cities.

There are a few bushfires that come under the 'disaster' banner. Some of these were in:

Victoria, 2009 in which 173 lives were lost and is now referred to as Black Saturday
South Australia and Victoria in 1983, which claimed 76 lives and was named Ash Wednesday
Southern Victoria, 1969 when 23 passed away
New South Wales, 1968 in the Blue Mountains and coastal region, where 14 lives were lost during this fire
Hobart and Southern Tasmania, 1967, which left 62 dead, and
Victoria, 1939 and was named Black Friday, when 71 lives were lost.

Bushfires in Australia occur either as a grass fire or forest fire.

Grass fires

These usually occur on grazing and farm land. Although it may take place in remote scrub country, it often destroys fences, livestock, buildings and can claim lives.

Forest fires

Australia’s forests are largely made up of eucalyptus trees that once caught alight are very difficult to control and extinguish due to the high amounts of flammable vapour from its leaves. This causes large fireballs in the upper storey of the forest. Large clouds of smoke blanket the ground and make any aerial observations that need to be made difficult.

Causes of bushfires

Bushfires can be caused deliberately or accidentally. Some of these causes are:

leaving a fire unattended (at a camp, barbeque)
having an open fire on a dry windy day
the glass from a bottle or mirror can cause a small flame to become a raging wildfire
a cigarette or match that has not been put out, and
flammable chemicals that are left in hot areas or in the sun.

Ways to control bushfires

A water-bombing plane

Bushfires are fought by numerous trained volunteer firefighters and Emergency Service people who have access to the appropriate equipment. Helicopters and light aircrafts are used to make observations about the fire. Some observations they could make are:

determining the direction the fire may take
where to make firebreaks
locating nearby homes, businesses, other buildings and livestock.

All of these observations allow the State and Territory Emergency Services to devise useful plans of evacuation and to better understand the fire.

Planes using water-bombing techniques are also used to control and extinguish spot fires, which are smaller fires ahead of the main fire front.

Bulldozers are another effective piece of equipment used to create emergency firebreaks. Back-burning an area just before the hot and dry season is an effective strategy to minimise the chances of a bushfire.

Did you know?

South-eastern Australia includes areas which are prone to the most severe and frequent wildfires in the world.
A fire front is the leading edge of a moving fire.
Most firefighting deaths have occurred following a sudden change of wind direction.
In drier seasons the fire danger is much higher.
In 1982/83 South-east Australia experienced severe drought conditions. On 16 February 1983, Victoria and South Australia experienced a very windy hot, dry day. In Melbourne the temperature reached 43°C with relative humidity of 6%. The Ash Wednesday bushfires erupted on this day. These fires claimed 76 lives and had a total estimated cost of $975 million.
The 1994 eastern seaboard fires in New South Wales burnt about 800,000 hectares of land including sections of Sydney suburbs and 40 national parks.
On January 21, 1997, over 250 bushfires burnt areas of Victoria, on a 41.2°C day. Over 40 homes were destroyed in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne.
The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria are Australia's most damaging bushfires with 173 people dying and total estimated costs of $1 billion.
In bushfires, radiant heat from flames, dehydration and asphyxiation from smoke are the major killers.