The Black Christmas bush fires were fires that burnt for almost three weeks from 24 December 2001 to 7 January 2002 across New South Wales.
On the day of Christmas Eve, firefighters from the Grose Vale Rural Fire Service (RFS) brigade attended a blaze in rugged terrain at the end of Cabbage Tree Rd, Grose Vale, believed to have been caused by power lines in the Grose Valley.
Counting the losses
Remarkably, there were only 12 known deaths – owing no doubt to the relatively small population in 1851. Some who had lost their houses managed to survive in the bush or in creeks.
1974–75 bushfire
In the summer of 1974-1975 (southern hemisphere), Australia suffered its worst recorded bushfire, when 15% of Australia's land mass suffered "extensive fire damage". Fires that summer burnt an estimated 117 million hectares (290 million acres; 1,170,000 square kilometres; 450,000 square miles).
The catastrophic fire caused the loss of human life, cattle, and land for miles and affected many regions including Portland, Plenty Ranges, Western Port, the Wimmera and Dandenong districts, Gippsland, and Mount Macedon.
Eight fires were unable to be contained and joined to form the largest fire in Victoria since the 1939 Black Friday bushfires. The fires burned for 59 days before contained. The Alpine fires burned more than 1.3 million hectares, 41 homes, and 9,000 livestock, with thousands of kilometres of fencing destroyed.
On February 7, 2009, the “Black Saturday Bushfires” became the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
The largest known area burnt was between 100–117 million hectares (250–290 million acres), impacting approximately 15 per cent of Australia's physical land mass, during the 1974–75 Australian bushfire season.
One hundred and seventy three people died, thousands of homes and other dwellings were destroyed and over 400,000 hectares were burnt. More than 78 communities across Victoria were directly affected.
Panic selling began on “Black Thursday,” October 24, 1929. Many stocks had been purchased on margin—that is, using loans secured by only a small fraction of the stocks' value. As a result, the price declines forced some investors to liquidate their holdings, thus exacerbating the fall in prices.
Where can we find hope and connection? The black summer bushfires in 2019-20 saw almost 20m hectares of land burnt and 34 lives lost directly. One analysis estimated 417 excess deaths resulted from longer-term consequences of the fires and smoke exposure.
The original title of the film was initially planned to be Stop Me. Clark has stated in an interview that he came up with the film's official title, saying that he enjoyed the irony of a dark event occurring during a festive holiday. According to Clark as well, Warner Bros.
Eventually 34 fatalities were confirmed in the Marysville area, with all but 14 of over 400 buildings destroyed. Other localities severely affected included Buxton and Taggerty. To the south of the fire complex, visitors and residents were stranded at Yarra Glen when fire surrounded the town on three sides.
More than 11,000 people were evacuated from their homes, but there were no deaths or major injuries.
The hottest temperature in Australia for 2020 was 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded at the height of the wildfire emergency at Penrith in New South Wales state on Jan. 4. It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Sydney area. Australia's other hottest years were 2013 and 2005.
A coal seam-fueled eternal flame in Australia known as "Burning Mountain" is claimed to be the world's longest burning fire, at 6,000 years old. A coal mine fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.
During the 2019-2020 season, known as Black Summer, 24 million hectares of land was burnt, 3000 homes destroyed and three billion animals were killed or displaced. Thirty-three people died, including six Australian firefighters and three American aerial firefighters killed when their aircraft collided with terrain.
In terms of the total area burnt, the largest fires are in the Northern Territory and northern areas of Western Australia and Queensland. Most loss of life and economic damage occurs around the fringes of cities where homes are commonly in close proximity to flammable vegetation.
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.
This is due to Victoria's terrain, naturally flammable vegetation and frequent exposure to hot, dry, windy weather.