Black Saturday bushfires

Black Saturday bushfires, series of bushfires in 2009 that killed 173 people, injured 500, and destroyed thousands of homes in the Australian state of Victoria. They are among the deadliest wildfires in recorded history.

With its abundant forests and hot dry climate, Australia has often suffered from deadly bushfires, notably the 1939 “Black Friday” blaze in Victoria, in which 71 people were killed, and the 1983 “Ash Wednesday” fires in Victoria and South Australia, where 75 people perished. The scale of the 2009 fires—attributed to extreme weather conditions coupled with a severe and protracted drought that had created tinder-dry vegetation across Victoria—was unprecedented, leaving the country in a state of shock. February 9 would subsequently be dubbed “Black Saturday.”

On February 7 Victorians were told to brace for the “worst day” in the state’s history: weather forecasters warned of a record heat wave with temperatures soaring to 115.5 °F (46.4 °C), combined with gale-force winds of up to 56 miles (90 km) per hour. That day more than 47 major fires erupted across the state, 14 of them claiming lives or causing significant damage. The most deadly conflagration, known as the Kilmore East fire, which claimed 121 lives, was sparked by a faulty power pole near the township of Kilmore East, 37 miles (60 km) north of Melbourne. The flames quickly jumped a major highway and roared into a forest, where they turned into a giant fireball, dwarfing the resources of local firefighters, who could only flee in its path. Aided by steep slopes and powerful winds, this fire raced through a series of townships, including Kinglake (where 38 people died), Strathewen (27 perished), and St. Andrews (12 were killed), catching residents by surprise and trapping many in their homes. Some sought to escape by car as the fires approached, but dozens died on the roads as they were overtaken by the fire, which leapt 330 feet (100 meters) above the tree line and was powerful enough to kill with radiant heat from nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) away.

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Disasters of Historic Proportion

Late in the afternoon a sudden change in wind direction pushed the fire to the northeast, bringing new towns into its path. A parallel fire, known as the Murrindindi fire, also blew to the northeast, swallowing the unsuspecting tourist town of Marysville, where 34 people lost their lives. Fire experts said that these two fires alone released energy equivalent to that of 1,500 atomic bombs like the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

Fires also ravaged other parts of the state, including the eastern region of Gippsland, where 11 people were killed. In some townships there was no more than a handful of survivors after the fires swept through. The township of Flowerdale, 40 miles (65 km) north of Melbourne, was cut off from the world for almost 48 hours as its residents huddled in the local pub after their town was razed to the ground. Across the state a massive rescue effort was undertaken in which thousands of volunteers helped shelter and provide for the survivors and the families of the victims.

The government immediately announced that a Royal Commission would be formed to look into the disaster but declared that the emergency services had done the best that they could in the face of an unprecedented natural phenomenon. When the Royal Commission released its 360-page interim report in August 2009, however, it was highly critical of many aspects of Victoria’s emergency service agencies. In particular, the report disclosed that the public warnings given by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to the communities in the fire’s path were inadequate and in some cases nonexistent. It revealed that the CFA personnel in charge of managing the fires failed to issue timely warnings, so that many people did not know they were in danger until the fire was upon them. In addition, serious deficiencies were pinpointed in the command and control systems of the emergency services agencies, a problem that led to confusion, inertia, and poor decision making at crucial times. Among the 51 recommendations included in the report were changes to the “stay or go” policy that before February 7 had advised residents to choose between remaining and defending their property against a fire or leaving the property early.

The report concluded that, since 113 people had died in their homes on Black Saturday, many homes could not be defended against a major bushfire, and it recommended that in future fires residents evacuate their homes rather than try to save them. The Victorian government pledged to implement all of the Royal Commission’s interim recommendations in time for the beginning of the 2009–10 fire season.

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The commission’s final report, released in July 2010, included further refinements of the interim report, such as the recommendation that the “stay or go” policy be reinstituted, albeit with more-specific directives in place. The report also suggested a comprehensive revision of fire evacuation procedures and a reorganization of the chain of command that would be observed in the event of future bushfires. Additional proposals included repair work on Victoria’s power lines—which had caused several of the 2009 fires—and the government-sponsored relocation of people living in areas particularly vulnerable to fire. The former was accepted in principle, and the latter was rejected outright in the official response from the Victorian government in August 2010. The government agreed to implement the remaining 65 recommendations in full or in part and claimed to have made substantial progress on the interim recommendations.

The emotional scars from Black Saturday continued to resonate for years after the disaster. Many affected families refused to rebuild their homes, saying that the risk of another fire was too great. The tragedy reminded Australians that the notion of living in the bush might still hold romantic appeal for many city dwellers, but it carried with it the very real threat of deadly bushfires.