Victorian 2009 Bushfires - Steels Creek 1

The state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in Australia has had a long history of catastrophic

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

, the most deadly of these, the

Black Saturday bushfires 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 among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

of 2009 claiming 173 lives. Legislation, planning, management and suppression are the responsibilities of the

Victorian State Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

through its departments and agencies including the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel Andr ...

(DELWP).

Fire districts

Victoria is divided into nine fire districts as follows: *Central (includes

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Geelong and Ballarat) *

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (St ...

* Mallee * North Central *Northeast *Northern Country *

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

South Gippsland South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promon ...

* Western District *

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...

The districts were reconfigured together with weather forecast districts so that they share common alignments. The revised alignments follow Local Government Authority boundaries, except in Yarriambiack Shire. The new alignments came into effect on 3 November 2010. Total Fire Bans & Fire Danger Ratings maps reflect predictions of the relative danger of bushfire conditions in each district and are communicated to the general public through weather forecasts and the Country Fire Authority and Department of Environment and Primary Industries internet sites during the fire season. The ratings are Low-Moderate, High, Very High, Severe, Extreme and Code Red. Fire activity swifts creek 2007 edit

Fire management

Suppression

A number of agencies are responsible for bushfire suppression in Victoria - the Country Fire Authority (CFA) which is a statewide volunteer-based organisation, the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) who are responsible for public land, covering one third of the state and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), which covers the metropolitan area of

. Parks Victoria is a government agency which also assiduously maintains the majority of Victoria's wetlands, national parks, marine parks and parklands. Parks Victoria takes part regularly in planned burning and fuel reduction burns which aim to reduce the potential impact of bushfires. Around 70% of Parks Victoria's staff are trained in specific fire fighting roles. Many of those staff are deployed each summer in Victoria to assist in fighting fires. Parks Victoria openly states that it supports the

(DELWP).

Bushfire warnings

Once fires have started, the Country Fire Authority give graded warnings through various means to areas of settlements that may be affected by the fire. These warnings are distributed as messages detailing the status of the fire, its potential movements and give advice to residents in areas that may be affected. They are as follows:

Emergency Alert An emergency communication system (ECS) is any system (typically computer-based) that is organized for the primary purpose of supporting one-way and two-way communication of emergency information between both individuals and groups of individuals. T ...

telephone warnings may be sent in extreme circumstances. Landlines in the emergency area receive voice messages and mobile phones (with a billing address in the emergency area) receive text messages. Emergency broadcasts are made on local

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and commercial radio stations and Sky News television. Information can also be sought by telephone from the Victorian Bushfire Information Line. During an emergency, the Standard Emergency Warning Signal is played via television, radio and public address systems. Current bushfire incidents and warnings are listed on the VicEmergency website launched in December 2013, Information is also available through the CFA's

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and

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sites as well as the FireReady app. A 90-second siren at a CFA fire station indicates that CFA members are attending an emergency incident. A prolonged, 5-minute siren is targeted at the local community, indicating that there is an emergency in the area and further information should be sought.

Fuel-reduction burning

Planned burning is carried out by the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning at certain times of year to reduce fuel levels in parks and reserves throughout the state.

Planning

Bushfire Management Overlays

Bushfire Management Overlays are areas identified in planning schemes within each of the

Local Government Areas of Victoria This is a list of local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria, sorted by region. Also referred to as municipalities, the 79 Victorian LGAs are classified as cities (34), shires (38), rural cities (6) and boroughs (1). In general, an urban or su ...

that are deemed to have high fire risk. These areas are subject to particular planning and building controls.

Vegetation removal

Following the

of 2009, interim measures were introduced by the State Government to permit vegetation removal in bushfire prone areas. The exemptions include removal of vegetation (including trees) within 10 metres of existing residences as well as all vegetation (excluding trees) within 30 metres. The measures expire on 1 March 2012.

Building standards

The Victorian Government has adopted the residential building

Australian Standard Standards Australia is a standards organisation established in 1922 and is recognised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian government as the primary non-government standards development body in Australia. It is a ...

to cover the location, design, construction of new dwellings in bushfire prone areas. The new standard includes consideration of Bushfire Attack Levels which are based on a number of factors including slope, proximity of vegetation and Fire Danger Index. New interim regulations have also been introduced for the construction of private bushfire shelters or bunkers.

Community Information Guides

The CFA, in consultation with councils and stakeholder groups, have developed Community Information Guides for locations in Victoria that are deemed to be in high risk areas. These are mailed to residents and are available on the CFA website. The guides provide emergency contact details, a map and information on preparations, planned emergency service actions and bushfire survival options. Some of these guides include designated Neighbourhood Safer Places which are sanctuaries of "last resort" during a bushfire emergency.

Common causes

Common causes of bushfire, figures for Victoria over a 20-year period.Victorian DSE
Lightning is the most common cause, igniting the highest number of bushfires, which subsequently account for nearly half of the area burnt by bushfires in the state. Deliberately lit fires are the next most common, although burn much less area than fires ignited by lightning. Public utilities, such as powerlines, ignite relatively few fires, but these subsequently burn similar area to that of deliberately lit fires. Cigarettes, matches and such, ignite a fair few fires, mostly in and around urban areas, and thus burn small areas of land as they are attended to more easily in the more accessible terrain. Many fires are caused by many other less common ignition sources or have unknown causes.

By number of fires

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

- 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

- 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

2003 Bushfires aftermath, Big River near Anglers Rest

Most extensive fires

*1851 - 6 February "

Black Thursday Black Thursday is a term used to refer to typically negative, notable events that have occurred on a Thursday. It has been used in the following cases: *6 February 1851, bushfires in Victoria, Australia. *18 September 1873, during the Panic of ...

" (5 million hectares) *1938-39 - December - January " Black Friday" (2 million hectares) *2020 - 3 January " Victoria/NSW Mega Blaze" (1.5+ million hectares) *2003 - January - March "

2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires were a series of bushfires in 2003 that burnt in the Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The bushfire started with eighty-seven fires that were started ...

" (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" (510,000 hectares) *2009 - 7 February " Black Saturday" (450,000 hectares) *1965 -

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

(300,000 hectares) *1898 - 1 February "

Red Tuesday The Red Tuesday bushfires occurred on 1 February 1898 in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of ...

" (260,000 hectares)

Deadliest fires

*2009 - 7 February - March " Black Saturday" (173 deaths) *1939 - December - January " Black Friday" (71 deaths) *1926 - 14 February - March " Black Sunday" (60 deaths) *1944 - December - February (51 deaths) *1983 - 16 February " 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 "

" (12 deaths) *1851 - 6 February "

" (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

References

DSE Major Bushfire in Victoria

External links

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.
Country Fire AuthorityDepartment of Environment, Land, Water & Planning: Fire & emergencies VicEmergency (Incidents and warnings)
{{Australian Fire Services Bushfires Environment of Victoria (state)