Major Fires

Major Fires

Black Saturday - 7th February 2009 was a unique and devastating event that changed Victoria and CFA forever. Some of the most affected communities were deeply scarred by those events and CFA will continue to share the pain and grieve with those who lost family, friends and colleagues.

On each anniversary of that date, our hearts and our feelings are with those who were involved in those fires, and particularly those who lost loved ones.

List of Major Fires
Year	Date	Name/Location	Losses/Summary
2009	23 February	Muskvale / Daylesford, Upwey	3,000 hectares
2009	13 February	Wilson's Promontory	5,000 hectares
2009	7 February	Black Saturday Churchill, Kilmore and Murrundindi, Vectis (Horsham), Coleraine, Weerite, Redesdale, Harkaway, Upper Ferntree Gully, Maiden Gully / Eaglehawk, Lynbrook / Narre Warren, Beechworth. More detailed information >>	173 people 2056 houses 239,637 hectares
2009	4-6 February	Bunyip State Park	31 houses 26,200 hectares
2009	29 January	Branxholme	40 hectures
2009	28 January	Delburn	44 houses 6,534 hectares
2007	1 March	Food Warehouse Fire - Wattle St, Springvale	About 50 firefighters took one hour to contain the blaze, preventing spread to a neighbouring school. 15 people in a nearby block of flats were evacuated as a precaution.
2007	17 January	DTM Logistics - Dandenong South	By the time the brigade arrived, the building was fully involved. Losses were extensive including contents and vehicles.
2006	December to February 2007	Great Divide Complex	33 houses 13 houses damaged 255 other buildings 1334 animals and livestock Fencing: 1,357km 1,154,828 hectares
2006	12 October	Morwell Open Cut Mine	Spontaneous Ignition
2006	19 January	Grampians	2 people 41 houses 9 houses damaged 231 other buildings 65,598 animals and livestock Fencing: 1,973 116,380 hectares
2003	8 January - 19 March	North East and Gippsland fires 71 days duration	41 houses 3 bridges 213 other structures 10,000 livestock 1.2 million hectares
2002	March	Glenaroua	1 house 6,100 hectares grass and scrub
2001	December to Januray 2002	Deployment of CFA to NSW and ACT fires	80 trucks and 2794 CFA personnel were committed for 14 days
2000	18 December	Dadswells Bridge	1 house damaged 14,500 hectares of crop and pasture 8000 livestock (mainly sheep) 500km of fencing
1998	2 December	Linton	5 CFA firefighters 1 CFA tanker 780 hectares
1998	25 September	Longford Plant	2 people 8 Injured Gas Plant exploded due to leaking vapours.
1997	21 January	Dandenong Ranges, Creswick, Heathcote, Teddywaddy, Gough's Bay.	3 people 41 houses 1 CFA fire truck
1990	27 December	Strathbogie	1 person 17 houses More than 12,000 livestock
1985	14 January	Maryborough, Avoca, Little River.	3 people 182 houses 400 farms 46,000 livestock
1983	16 February	Ash Wednesday Monivae, Branxholme, Cockatoo, East Trentham, Mt Macedon, Otways, Warburton, Cudgee, Upper Beaconsfield. More Detailed Information >>	47 people More than 27,000 livestock Over 2000 houses/shops
1978	15 January	Bairnsdale	2 people 1 house 6500 livestock
1977	12 February	Penshurst, Tatyoon, Streatham, Creswick, Pura Pura, Werneth, Cressy, Rokewood, Beeac, Mingay, Lismore, Little River.	4 people 108 houses/shops More than 236,000 livestock
1969	8 January	Lara, Daylesford, Bulgana, Yea, Darraweit, Kangaroo Flat, Korongvale.	22 people 230 houses 21 schools/church/halls More than 12,000 livestock 800,000 acres
1968	19 February	The Basin, Upwey	64 houses
1965	21 February - 13 March	Gippsland Fires burned for 17 days	More than 60 houses/shops More than 4000 livestock 750,000 acres of forest 40,000 acres of grassland
1965	17 January	Longwood	7 people (all from one family) 6 houses
1962	14 January	The Basin, Christmas Hills, Kinglake, St Andrews, Hurstbridge, Warrandyte, Mitcham	8 people 454 houses
1944	14 January / 14 February	Central & western districts, Morwell, Yallourn	32 people 700 houses Huge livestock losses
1943	22 December	Wangaratta	10 people Thousands of acres of grass country
1942	3-4 March	Hamilton, South Gippsland - Yarram (burning on a 60 mile front)	1 person More than 20 houses 100 sheep 2 farms
1939	13 January	Black Friday Rubicon, Woods Point, Warrandyte, Noojee, Omeo, Mansfield, Dromana, Yarra Glen, Warburton, Erica. Find out more on a special ABC website >>	71 people More than 650 houses/shops
1926	n/a	Noojee, Kinglake, Warburton, Erica, Dandenong Ranges.	People and property
1851	6 February	Black Thursday Wimmera, Portland, Gippsland, Plenty Ranges, Westernport, Dandenong districts, Heidelberg.	12 people 1,000,000 plus livestock

Storyboard

Created in response to the 2009 Victorian bushfires, STORYBOARD provides you with a creative space to share your photos, videos, artworks and stories with others who have been affected by this devastating event.

More information about major fires can also be found on the Emergency Management Australia Disasters Database