imported>Kaltenmeyer: Changing short description from "History of fires in Victoria, Austrailia" to "History of fires in Victoria, Australia"

2025-01-15T22:07:27Z

Changing short description from "History of fires in Victoria, Austrailia" to "History of fires in Victoria, Australia"

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{{Short description|History of fires in Victoria, Australia}}
[[File:Bushfires in Victoria.png|thumb|Map of all of the bushfires in Victoria in the last 50 years]]
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Victorian 2009 Bushfires - Steels Creek 1.jpg|thumb|Black Saturday bushfires at Steels Creek in 2009]]

The state of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] in [[Australia]] has had a long history of catastrophic [[Bushfires in Australia|bushfires]].

The most deadly of these, the [[Black Saturday bushfires]] of 2009 claiming 173 lives. Legislation, planning, management and suppression are the responsibilities of the [[Government of Victoria (Australia)|Victorian State Government]]
== By number of fires ==
[[File:CFA controlled burn signage.JPG|thumb|Signage indicating to motorists that smoke from controlled burns may be in the area]]
*[[Lightning]] - 26%
*Deliberate - 25%
*Agricultural - 16%
*Campfire - 10%
*Cigarettes/Matches - 7%
*Unknown Causes - 6%
*Misc - 5%
*Machinery/Exhausts - 3%
*Planned burn escapes - 2%
*Public Utilities - 1%

== By area burnt ==
*[[Lightning]] - 46%
*Public Utilities - 14%
*Deliberate - 14%
*Misc - 9%
*Agricultural - 7%
*Planned burn escapes - 5%
*Unknown Causes - 3%
*Machinery/Exhaust - 2%
*Campfire - 1%
*Cigarettes/Matches - less than 1%

==Major Victorian Bushfires==
[[File:2003 Bushfires aftermath, Big River near Anglers Rest.jpg|right|thumb|Intense fires can seriously impact the environment, such as here by the [[Big River (Victoria)|Big River]], near Anglers Rest, [[Gippsland]], after the [[2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires|2003 fires]]]]

===Most extensive fires===
*'''1851''' - 6 February "[[Black Thursday bushfires|Black Thursday]]" (5 million hectares)
*'''1938-39''' - December - January "[[Black Friday (1939)|Black Friday]]" (2 million hectares)
*'''2020''' - 3 January "[[Victoria/NSW Mega Blaze]]" (1.5+ million hectares)
*'''2003''' - January - March "[[2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires]]" (1.3 million hectares)
*'''2006-07''' - 1 December - 6 February "[[Eastern Victoria Great Divide bushfires]]" (1.2 -1.3 million hectares)
*'''1944''' - January - February (1 million hectares)
*'''1983''' - 16 February "[[Ash Wednesday fires|Ash Wednesday]]" (510,000 hectares)
*'''2009''' - 7 February "[[Black Saturday bushfires|Black Saturday]]" (450,000 hectares)
*'''1965''' - [[1965 Gippsland Bushfires|Gippsland]] (300,000 hectares)
*'''1898''' - 1 February "[[Red Tuesday]]" (260,000 hectares)

===Deadliest fires===
*'''2009''' - 7 February - March "[[Black Saturday bushfires|Black Saturday]]" ('''173''' deaths)
*'''1939''' - December - January "[[Black Friday (1939)|Black Friday]]" ('''71''' deaths)
*'''1926''' - 14 February - March "[[1925–26 Victorian bushfire season|Black Sunday]]" ('''60''' deaths)
*'''1944''' - [[1943–44 Victorian bushfire season|December - February]] ('''51''' deaths)
*'''1983''' - 16 February "[[Ash Wednesday fires|Ash Wednesday]]" ('''47''' in Victoria)
*'''1962''' - 14–16 January ('''33''' deaths)
*'''1969''' - 8 January ('''23''' deaths)
*'''1942''' - Western Victoria ('''20''' deaths)
*'''1905''' - 1 December ('''12''' deaths)
*'''1898''' - 1 February "[[Red Tuesday]]" ('''12''' deaths)
*'''1851''' - 6 February "[[Black Thursday bushfires|Black Thursday]]" ('''12''' deaths)
*'''1943''' - 22 December ('''10''' deaths)
*'''1952''' - January - March, Central Victoria ('''10''' deaths)
*'''1977''' - 12 February, Western Victoria ('''8''' deaths)
*'''1965''' - 17 January ('''7 deaths''') Longwood, Northern Victoria
*'''1998''' - 2 December ('''5 deaths''') Linton, Western Victoria
*'''1985''' - 14 January ('''3 deaths''') Avoca, Central Victoria
*'''1997''' - 21 January ('''3 deaths''') Dandenong Ranges

==See also==
*[[Wildfire]]
*[[Bushfires in Australia]]
* [[2015–16 Australian bushfire season]]
*[[2019–20 Australian bushfire season]]
*[[Aerial firefighting and forestry in southern Australia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080803182440/http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfoe.nsf/LinkView/E20ACF3A4A127CB04A25679300155B04358FFCDA5CA1F43FCA256DA6000942C9 DSE Major Bushfire in Victoria]
*[http://www.theage.com.au/national/anatomy-of-a-firestorm-20090225-8hvi.html?page=-1 Anatomy of a firestorm, The Age]

==External links==
*[http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/bushfires/ State Library of Victoria's Bushfires in Victoria Research Guide] Guide to locating books, government reports, websites, statistics, newspaper reports and images about Victorian bushfires from 1851 to the present.
*[http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au Country Fire Authority]
*[http://delwp.vic.gov.au/fire-and-emergencies Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning: Fire & emergencies]
*[http://www.emergency.vic.gov.au VicEmergency (Incidents and warnings)]

{{Bushfires in Australia}}
{{Australian Fire Services}}

[[Category:Bushfires in Victoria (state)| Bushfires]]
[[Category:Environment of Victoria (state)]]

Bushfires in Victoria - Revision history

imported>Kaltenmeyer: Changing short description from "History of fires in Victoria, Austrailia" to "History of fires in Victoria, Australia"