INTERNATIONAL WILDFIRES (21ST CENTURY)

2009

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

INTERNATIONAL WILDFIRES

(Largest Fires of the 21st Century)

Australian Black Saturday
Bushfires (2009)

(Lake Mountain, Victoria)

(Original Image)

#5

LARGEST FIRE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

The Official Story

BLACK SATURDAY BUSHFIRES
(5th Largest Fire of the 21st Century)

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.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on Saturday 7 February; the day has become widely referred to in Australia as Black Saturday.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, headed by Justice Bernard Teague, was held in response to the bushfires.

Lake Mountain (Victoria)

Lake Mountain is a 1,433-metre-high (4,701 ft) mountain peak on a plateau that hosts a cross-country ski resort that is known by the same name. It is located in Victoria, Australia, approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The 1,483-metre-high (4,865 ft) Mount Bullfight, which is within the Mount Bullfight Nature Conservation Reserve, is the highest peak that can be reached by a cross-country ski trail from Lake Mountain. Access to Lake Mountain’s summit is restricted to a snow shoe track in winter. The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, located near Lake Mountain, is the most popular ski resort in Australia when measured in terms of total visitor numbers, including sightseers, due to its proximity to Melbourne.

The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort is surrounded by the Yarra Ranges National Park into which its ski trails lead. The resort is an unincorporated area under the direct administration of the government of Victoria, and is surrounded to the west, north & east by the Shire of Murrindindi and Yarra Ranges Shire to the south.

There is no lake at Lake Mountain. It is claimed that the mountain was named after George Lake, who was the surveyor-general of the area. Contradicting this, VICNames says that it is named for the “tarns, ponds and bogs near the summit”.

Impact of 2009 bushfires

The bushfires on 7 February 2009 caused considerable damage at Lake Mountain. Much of the forested area was burnt, and almost all buildings except the main Day Visitor Centre/Ski Hire/Bistro were destroyed. Extensive work was undertaken to enable the resort to open for 2009 winter season. Temporary buildings were delivered to serve as toilets, Ski Patrol and kiosk. Damaged wooden trail features and bridges were rebuilt.

Source: Wikipedia

2009 Black Saturday Bushfires Statistics

Dates(s):	7 February – 14 March 2009
Burned Area:	450,000 hectares (1,100,000 acres)
Cause:	Various confirmed sources including: Power lines, Arson, Lightning, Machinery
Buildings Destroyed:	3,500+ (2,029 houses)
Deaths:	173
Non-fatal injuries:	414