INTERNATIONAL WILDFIRES (21ST CENTURY)

2002

ECOCIDE
noun
destruction of the natural environment,
especially when deliberate.

INTERNATIONAL WILDFIRES

(Largest Fires of the 21st Century)

Australian Bushfire
Season (2002-03)

(Mount Stromlo Observatory, ACT)

(Original Image)

#1

LARGEST FIRE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

The Official Story

2002–03 AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE SEASON
(The Largest Fire of the 21st Century)

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 developing drought in Australia and well below-average rainfall through winter and spring of 2002 established conditions conducive to above-average bushfire potential. During the 2002–03 season, there were 5,999 bushfires attended by the relevant agency Australia-wide and 7 fatalities, 4 of those from the January Canberra fires.Perhaps the most well known fire of the season was the Eastern

Victorian alpine bushfires that burnt in north-eastern Victoria, the Victorian Alps and Gippsland. This fire was ignited in several locations by multiple lightning strikes and burnt 1.12 million hectares of land over the course of 2 months. Over 15,000 personnel were directly engaged with this fire complex.

2003 Canberra Bushfires

The 2003 Canberra bushfires caused severe damage to the suburbs and outer areas of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during 18–22 January 2003. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) pastures, pine plantations, and nature parks were severely damaged, and most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed. After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003. Over the next ten hours, four people died, over 490 were injured, and 470 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction effort.

Mount Stromlo

Perhaps the most notable cultural and scientific loss caused by the fires was the damage to the scenic and renowned Mount Stromlo Observatory (headquarters of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics of the Australian National University), which is estimated to be the source of a third of Australia’s astronomical research. Five historically significant telescopes were destroyed. Instrumentation and engineering workshops, the observatory’s library, and the main administration buildings were consumed. The visitors’ centre or “Exploratory” housing public exhibits and cafe escaped the fires unscathed, despite being on the edge of a steep gradient, which fires had roared up, and being only metres from the 74-inch (1.88 m) telescope, which was completely destroyed.

The insurance payment sought by the Australian National University (ANU), amounting to 75 million Australian dollars, could have become the largest insurance claim in Australian history. However, in August 2009, during trial in the ACT Supreme Court, the three insurance companies settled out of court, paying the ANU an undisclosed sum. A related claim against ANU’s insurance broker, Aon Risk Services Australia Ltd, for failing to renew insurance coverage on some structures, was also settled for an unstated amount in June 2011.

Canberra artist Tim Wetherell was commissioned by ANU to produce a sculpture from the ruins of the Mount Stromlo telescopes. The finished sculpture was named “The Astronomer” and installed in the Parliamentary Triangle, outside Questacon.

Source: Wikipedia

2002–03 Australian Bushfire Season Statistics

Dates(s):	Winter 2002 – Spring 2003
Burned Area:	540,000 square kilometres (21,241,000 ha)
Cost:	$350+ million AUD
Cause:	Various, predominantly lightning
Buildings Destroyed:	646+ houses, 213 other structures, 3 bridges
Deaths:	7 humans (and ~15,000 livestock)
Non-fatal injuries:	490