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Recurring History of Bushfires in Victoria
Image: Digital Photograph - Man with Burned out Strezlecki Ranges Behind Him, Won Wron, 1914
Source: Museum Victoria
In February 2009 Victoria experienced the most deadly bushfires in Australia’s recorded history. The fires reached their peak on Black Saturday, 7th February, and took an unprecedented toll: 173 people lost their lives and 414 were injured.
The Black Saturday chimney documents the impact of the February 2009 bushfires. It also witnessed the Black Sunday bushfires that burnt through Kinglake on 1st February 1926, and so represents the long and recurring history of bushfires in Victoria.
While bushfires occur every year, some have a devastating impact on communities and landscapes. The most catastrophic of these bushfires have been named after the day of the week in which they occurred; for example: Black Thursday 1851, Black Monday 1865, Black Sunday 1926, Red Tuesday 1898, Black Friday 1939, Ash Wednesday 1983 - and now Black Saturday 2009.
Bushfires threaten life and property but also regenerate Victoria’s eucalyptus forests. They are a natural and essential feature of our ecosystem. The fire-dependent eucalypt forests of Victoria, together with drier and more extreme weather conditions, make this the one of the most fire-prone places on earth.
As climate is becoming more variable and more people are living closer to bushland, fire will continue to impact our lives and shape our history.
Related Narratives:
Collecting & Rebuilding the Black Saturday Chimney
'The Uplands' Homestead, Kinglake, 1890s-2009
Stories Revealed Through Bricks & Mortar
Victorian Bushfires Collection
Healesville Primary School Bushfire Artworks Collection
References:
The Romsey Australia website, Summary of major Bushfires Since 1851, http://home.iprimus.com.au/foo7/firesum.html, viewed 25-11-2009.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 42 items
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Letter - Nell to Leading Aircraftman Howard Kellehear, Personal, 5 Jan 1942
Two-page letter to Howard from Nell, written on letterhead paper inscribed: A.C.F., RSL, THE SALVATION ARMY, AND Y.M.C.A. Nell thanks Howard for the locket. She has just returned home ...
From: Wingham, Australia Images: 4 -
Artwork - Richard, Stonnington Primary School to Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Feb 2009
Child's drawing with a message for the survivors of the Black Saturday bushfires, specifically the patients at The Alfred Burns Unit, Melbourne. In the days after Black Saturday in F ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - `U Loot I Shoot', Devon North, Gippsland, Victoria, 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires, ...
Home made sign with the slogan 'U Loot I Shoot'. It was collected from the burnt-out home of Harry & Norma Coomber, Tarra Valley Road, Devon North, which had been destroyed by the Devon ...
Images: 1 -
Sinter - Black Saturday Bushfires, Vectis, 2009 (Bushfire Damaged)
Three pieces of sinter, found below ground under the base of burnt fence posts on Alan and Cynthia Peterson's property in Vectis, Victoria, after the Black Saturday Bushfires on 7th Feb ...
Images: 1 -
Interview - Mr Charles Trevor Coleman, Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works, Victoria, ...
Part of a collection of oral histories commissioned by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) in the lead up to the organisation's centenary in 1991. The oral histories wer ...
From: Lilydale, Australia Images: 1 -
Letter - Personal, From RS (Rebecca Sarah) Greaves, Plenty River, Victoria, 1851
Letter written by 23 year old Rebecca Sarah Greaves in 1851, which reveals the complex feelings of loss and separation, as well as excitement and adventure, felt by newly arrived migran ...
Images: 9 -
Negative - Tarilta, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria, circa 1914
The Warmbrunn family at their home, 'Tarilta', in Upper Beaconsfield. The house was of wattle and daub construction and was lost in the Ash Wednesday bushfires.
From: Beaconsfield Upper, Australia Images: 1 -
Page Fragment - Flight Training Manual, Mount Disappointment, 07 Feb 2009 (Bushfire Damage ...
Fragment of a book from Bill Coppinger's home at Mount Disappointment lost in the Kilmore East Bushfire on 7 February 2009. Bill had over 1,000 books in his home. This page is the only ...
From: Mt Disappointment, Australia Images: 1 -
Soup Bowls - Set of Four, Mount Disappointment, 07 Feb 2009 (Bushfire Damaged)
These four soup bowls were found stacked together, unbroken, in the wreckage of Bill Coppinger's home at Mount Disappointment destroyed in the Kilmore East Bushfire on 7 February 2009. ...
From: Mt Disappointment, Australia Images: 2 -
Tape Measure - Mount Disappointment, 07 Feb 2009 (Bushfire Damaged)
Found in the wreckage of Bill Coppinger's shed, this is the remnants of a standard 8-metre Stanley builder's tape measure. It has been transformed by fire into a fragile ribbon of burne ...
From: Mt Disappointment, Australia Images: 2
