Ash Wednesday fires

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Ash Wednesday fires
Location	South Eastern Australia: Victoria & South Australia
Date	February 16, 1983
Burned area	513,979 acres (2,080 km²) in South Australia and 518,921 acres (2,100 km²) in Victoria on one day. 1,284,000 acres (5,196 km²) burnt throughout the 1982/83 season. [1] [2]
Ignition source	Faulty powerlines, arson, and negligence after years of extreme drought
Land use	Urban/Rural Fringe Areas, Farmland, and Forest Reserves
Fatalities	Victoria: 47 South Australia: 28 Death Toll: 75
Injuries	2676 [1]

The Ash Wednesday fires were a natural disaster that occurred in south-east Australia on February 16, 1983. Within 12 hours more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km (68 mph) per hour caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia.^[3] Extreme weather and severe drought conditions combined to create one of Australia’s worst fire days in a century. ^[4] The fires remain the worst bushfire disaster in Australian history, claiming 75 lives.

In Victoria 47 people died, while in South Australia there were 28 deaths. This included 14 CFA and 3 CFS volunteer firefighters who died across both states that day. ^{[5] [6]} Many fatalities were as a result of firestorm conditions caused by a sudden and violent wind change in the evening which rapidly changed the direction and size of the fire front. ^{[7] [8]} The speed and ferocity of the flames aided by abundant fuels, and a landscape immersed in smoke made fire suppression and containment impossible. ^[9] In many cases residents fended for themselves as fires broke communications, cut off escape routes and severed electricity and water supplies. ^[10] Up to 8000 people were evacuated in Victoria at the height of the crisis and a state of disaster was declared for the first time in South Australia’s history. ^{[5] [7]}

Ash Wednesday is one of Australia’s costliest natural disasters.^[11] Over 3,700 buildings were destroyed or damaged and 2,545 individuals and families lost their homes. Livestock losses were very high, with over 340,000 sheep, 18,000 cattle and numerous native animals, either dead or having to be destroyed. ^[12] A total of 4,540 insurance claims were paid totaling A$176 million with a total estimated cost of well over $400 million (1983 values) for both states or $1.3 billion in adjusted terms (2007). ^{[1] [13]}

The emergency saw the largest number of volunteers called to duty from across Australia at the same time – an estimated 130,000 firefighters, defence force personnel, relief workers and support crews. ^[14]

Contents 1 Background 1.1 El Nino 1.2 Early fire season 1.3 Dust storm 2 Events of February 16th 3 Aftermath 4 Legacy 5 Areas affected in Victoria 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Background

[edit] El Nino

As 1982 came to a close, large areas of eastern Australia lay devastated by a prolonged drought caused by the El Niño climatic cycle. In many places, rainfall over winter and spring had been the lowest on record, and severe water restrictions were imposed in Melbourne in November. On November 24, the earliest Total Fire Ban in forty years was proclaimed in Victoria. By February 1983, summer rainfall for Victoria was up to 75% less than in previous years. The first week of February was punctuated by intense heat, with record high temperatures experienced on February 1 and February 8. This combination further destabilised an already volatile fire situation in the forested upland areas surrounding the Victorian and South Australian capitals Melbourne and Adelaide.

[edit] Early fire season

Victorian Government firefighting agencies employed extra staff and organised for additional equipment and aircraft to be ready for firefighting over the summer. The first big bushfire occurred on November 25, 1982 and was followed by large fires on December 3 and December 13, 1982. Even before February 16, fires were already causing destruction in Victoria. An ongoing fire near Cann River in the state's east had been burning uncontrolled for almost a month. Prior to that, a major bushfire on January 8 had taken hold north of Bacchus Marsh in the Wombat State Forest where two Forest Commission workers lost their lives defending Greendale. On February 1, a fire burnt the north face of Mount Macedon and areas of state forest.^[15] Fifty houses were destroyed. These fires were already creating a strain on firefighting resources. In the 1982/83 season, 3500 fires were reported to the CFA in Victoria alone. ^[8]

[edit] Dust storm

An ominous sign of things to come occurred on the afternoon of 8 February, when Melbourne was enveloped by a giant dust storm. The dust cloud was over 300 metres high and 500 kilometres long and was composed of thousands of tonnes of topsoil from the drought-ravaged Wimmera and Mallee areas of northwest Victoria. Leading a dry cool change and preceded by record temperatures, the dust storm cut visibility in Melbourne to 100 metres, creating near darkness for almost an hour.^[16]

[edit] Events of February 16th

Wednesday February 16th — coincidentally Ash Wednesday on the Christian calendar — dawned as another unrelentingly hot, dry day. The weather early on Ash Wednesday was complex and did not signify how the day would develop. A front separated hot, dry air coming in from the landmass to the north, from cooler air moving eastwards from the Southern Ocean. Ahead of the front was hot, turbulent, gale force northerly winds. Temperatures around Melbourne and Adelaide quickly rose above 43°C, with winds gusting over 50 km/h and relative humidity plunging to as low as 6 per cent. From mid-morning McArthur's fire danger index was in excess of 100 in several places in Victoria and South Australia. It would be one of the worst fire weather days in southeast Australia since the disastrous Black Friday bushfires in 1939.^[17]

The first reports of smoke, in South Australia's Clare Valley, came just after 1:00pm. Multiple reports of breaking fires quickly began to deluge Victoria's and South Australia's emergency services. In Victoria alone, 180 fires were reported, eight of which became major fires. Outer metropolitan areas of both Melbourne and Adelaide were threatened. At one stage, the entire Melbourne metropolitan area was encircled by an arc of fire. Property loss began early in the afternoon, particularly in the Adelaide Hills and Otways.^[18]

Murray Nicoll, a journalist from radio station 5DN and resident of the Adelaide Hills, reported live from his local area where five people died:

“

At the moment, I'm watching my house burn down. I'm sitting out on the road in front of my own house where I've lived for 13 or 14 years and it's going down in front of me. And the flames are in the roof and -- Oh, God damn it. It's just beyond belief - my own house. And everything around it is black. There are fires burning all around me. All around me. And the front section of my house is blazing. The roof has fallen in. My water tanks are useless. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.[19]

”

The most disastrous factor in the Ash Wednesday fires occurred when a fierce and dry wind change swept across South Australia and Victoria. This abruptly changed the direction and increased the intensity of the fires. The long corridors of flame that had been driven all day by the strong northerly were suddenly hit by gale force south-westerly winds and become enormous fire fronts, many kilometres wide, reportedly moving faster than 100 km/h^[20]. The near-cyclonic strength of the front created an unstoppable firestorm which destroyed whole townships in minutes. It is estimated that the bulk of the deaths and destruction occurred in the hour after the change. The freakish conditions spawned unique effects: one survivor reported seeing a burning mattress hurtling through the air.^[21]

In the Dandenong Ranges, east of Melbourne, the townships of Cockatoo and Belgrave Heights were devastated. An estimated 90% of homes in Upper Beaconsfield were razed, with twelve volunteer firefighters losing their lives after being trapped by a wall of flames as the wind change struck. Most of Macedon and much of historic Mount Macedon to the north west of Melbourne was destroyed, including many significant 19th century mansions and famed gardens. The morning after Ash Wednesday, popular coastal towns along the Great Ocean Road such as Aireys Inlet, Anglesea and Lorne resembled barren moonscapes. The fire here had been so intense that firefighters were forced to abandon all control efforts and let it burn until it reached the ocean, destroying everything in its path.^[22]

The total land area burnt was approximately 2,100 km² (518,921 acres) in Victoria and 2,080 km² (513,979 acres) in South Australia. The summer bushfires of 1982/1983 razed approximately 5,200 km² (1,284,000 acres). ^[12]

[edit] Aftermath

Many of the Victorian fires were thought to have been caused by sparks between short-circuiting power lines, and tree branches connecting with power lines. A systematic review of fire safety was undertaken; areas under high tension pylons were cleared and local domestic lines considered to be at risk were replaced with insulated three-phase supply lines.

In South Australia, an inquest into the fires found that the communication systems used by the Country Fire Service were inadequate and, as a result, the Government radio network was installed, although this did not happen until almost 20 years later.^[23] Improvements in weather forecasting, with particular reference to wind changes and fronts, was undertaken by the Bureau of Meteorology. An emergency disaster plan was also legislated known as Displan. Many of the lessons learned in building better homes for fire survival, bush management and emergency response efficiency in analysis of the fires conducted by the CSIRO were to prove vital in later crises, including the 1994 Eastern seaboard and 2003 Canberra fire outbreaks.^[24]

A study was conducted into the 32 fatalities (excluding firefighters) that occurred in Victoria. It revealed that 25 were outside their homes, several of whom died in vehicles while attempting to escape the conflagration. It was found that delaying evacuation until the last minute was a common failing.^[25]

[edit] Legacy

Along with Cyclone Tracy, Ash Wednesday is arguably the natural disaster to have had the greatest impact on the Australian national psyche. It continues to be used as the measure for all bushfire emergencies in Australia, most notably the 2003 Canberra bushfires, which experienced very similar severe fire weather. The disaster is the highest bushfire on the list of disasters in Australia by death toll, with 75 deaths. ^[2]

Over two decades have passed since the disaster yet victims and their families still suffer the effects of that day. Many psychological studies were undertaken in the months and years after the fire and found that the events left many in the affected communities with the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).^[26]

The lasting impact of the Ash Wednesday disaster was highlighted in 2008, when its 25th anniversary received much public and media attention.^[27] Commemoration sites have been set up in areas that were hit worst by the fires, with museums hosting exhibits inviting survivors to tell their stories.^[28]

[edit] Areas affected in Victoria

Area/town	Area (km²)	Fatalities	Buildings destroyed
Cudgee & Ballangeich	500	9	872
East Trentham & Mount Macedon	295	7	628
Otway Ranges	410	3	782
Belgrave Heights & Upper Beaconsfield	92	21	238
Cockatoo	18	6	307
Moniaive	31.81	0	many (total not known)
Branxholme	2	1	10
Warburton	400	0	57
Source: Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment

[edit] See also

• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• Country Fire Service (South Australia)
• Country Fire Authority (Victoria)
• Mount Lofty (South Australia, location of one of the SA fires)
• Black Friday (1939)
• 1967 Tasmanian fires

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Further information from the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment
• Emergency Management Australia
• 'Coming to grips with the price of flames' Newspaper article The Australian.
• Anglesea Online: Remembering Ash Wednesday
• 3AW Drive plays a special archive audio package of 3AW's 1983 Ash Wednesday coverage
• Ash Wednesday in the Macedon Ranges

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