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)

(Fire Locations Map)

(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.

Major fires

Kinglake–Marysville fires

The Kinglake fire complex was named after two earlier fires, the Kilmore East fire and the Murrindindi Mill fire, merged following the wind change on the evening of 7 February. The complex was the largest of the many fires burning on Black Saturday, ultimately destroying over 330,000 ha (820,000 acres). It was also the most destructive, with over 1,800 houses destroyed and 159 lives lost in the region.

Beechworth fire

In Beechworth, a fire burnt over 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) and threatened the towns of Yackandandah, Stanley, Bruarong, Dederang, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Coralbank, Glen Creek, and Running Creek. The fire ignited from a felled power line at around 6:00 pm on 7 February, 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Beechworth, before being driven south through pine plantations by hot northerly winds.

Source: Wikipedia

Damage by Locality

Area	Area (ha)	Fatalities	Buildings Destroyed	Ignition Source	Fire Name / Origin
Kinglake Area	180,000+	120	1,244 houses, many commercial buildings	Power lines	Kilmore East fire
Marysville Area	150,000+	39	590 houses, many commercial buildings	Unknown	Murrindindi Mill fire
Central Gippsland	32,860+	11	247 houses	Arson	Churchill-Jeeralang fire
Beechworth	30,000+	2	29 houses	Power lines	Mudgegonga fire
Bunyip State Park	24,500	0	24 houses, several other buildings	Arson / lightning suspected	Bunyip State Park fire
Wilsons Promontory	11,000+	0	None	Lightning	–
Redesdale	10,000	0	12 houses, several outbuildings	Unknown	–
Horsham	5,700	0	8 houses, several other buildings	Power lines	Remlaw fire
Weerite	1,300	0	Several outbuildings	Power lines	–
Coleraine	770	0	1 house, several outbuildings	Power lines	–
Maroondah / Upper Yarra	505	0	None	Spotting	Maroondah /Yarra complex
Bendigo	384	1	61 houses, 125 sheds and outbuildings	Arson	Maiden Gully/Bracewell Street fire
Dandenong Ranges	5+	0	–	Unknown, machinery	Upper Ferntree Gully fire
TOTALS	450,000+	173	3,500+ (2,029+ houses)

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