1996–97 Australian bushfire season
1996–97 Australian bushfire season | |
---|---|
Location | Australia |
Statistics | |
Date(s) | October 1996 – January 1997 |
Buildings destroyed | 44+ |
Injuries | 40 |
Fatalities | 3 |
The 1996–97 Australian bushfire season was the season for bushfires in Australia over the summer of 1996–1997. The most prominent fires during the season were in the Dandenong Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula in the state of Victoria.
Fires of note
State | Start date | Deaths | Injuries | Houses lost | Area (ha) | Local govt. | Impacted communities & destruction | Duration | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Western Australia | 8 January 1997 | 16 | 10,500 ha (26,000 acres) | Mundaring | —Wooroloo & Wundowie
|
[1][2][3] | |||
Victoria | 19 January 1997 | 2 | Mornington Peninsula | —Mount Eliza
|
3 days | [4] | |||
Victoria | 21 January 1997 | 3 | 20 | 41 | 3,700 ha (9,100 acres) | Yarra Ranges | —Ferny Creek, Kalorama, Mount Dandenong & Upwey
|
2 days | [5][4][6][7][8][9] |
Timeline
October 1996
In October 1996, 1 house was destroyed in a bushfire near Ravensbourne in southeast Queensland.[10]
January 1997
From 19–21 January 1997, fires burnt over 400 hectares through much of the Dandenong Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula, precipitated by over forty degree Celsius dry heat and strong northerly winds. Three people were killed and forty injured. Forty-three houses were destroyed and another 45 damaged.[11] Fires began at all locations except the Dandenongs on the 19th, the Dandenongs fires began on the morning of the 21st in the foothills of the western face of the ranges. It was suspected that the fires in the Dandenongs were deliberately lit.
The areas most affected by these fires included:[11]
- Creswick
- Dandenong Ranges – three deaths
- Dutson Downs
- Gippsland
- Heathcote
- Mornington Peninsula
References
- ↑ "Bushfires". www.bom.gov.au. Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ↑ Jones, Trevor. "Cities Project Perth" (PDF). Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ↑ Joe Courtney; Miriam Middelmann (June 2005). "2.7 Bushfires – a meteorological perspective". The Natural Hazard Risk in Perth (PDF). Geoscience Australia. pp. 56–60. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Dandenongs and Mornington Peninsula, Vic: Bushfires" (PDF). royalcommission.vic.gov.au. 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ↑ Webb, Carolyn (26 January 1997). "Anatomy of a Fire Storm". Sunday Age. Fairfax Media. p. 16. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ↑ Coxhill, Richard (2012). "Chapter 8: The Basin Fire Brigade". History of The Basin (PDF). p. 15. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ Buttler, Mark (17 April 2008). "Fresh police appeal on 1997 Dandenong Ranges fires". Herald Sun. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ↑ Wositzky, Helen (Winter 1998). "Out of the Ashes, a Community Responds: The Dandenong Ranges Bushfires, January 1997". The Australian Journal of Emergency Management. 13 (2): 17–20. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ↑ Hayes, Lyn (1998). "Recovery: A Local Government Response". The Australian Journal of Emergency Management. 13 (2): 22-25. ISSN 1324-1540. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ↑ "Understanding bushfire: trends in deliberate vegetation fires in Australia: Queensland" (PDF). Australian Institute of Criminology. p. 11. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- 1 2 EMA.gov.au