User talk:Gazwan istephan

Name: Gazwan Istephan.

Natural Hazard: Bushfires in Australia

A bushfire is a wildfire that occurs in the bush (collective term for forest, scrub, woodland or grassland of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia). In southeast Australia, bushfires tend to be most common and most severe during summer and autumn, in drought years, and particularly in El Niño years. In the north of Australia, bushfires usually occur during winter (the dry season), and fire severity tends to be more associated with seasonal growth patterns. In the southwest, similarly, bushfires occur in the summer dry season and severity is usually related to seasonal growth. Fire frequency in the north is difficult to assess, as the vast majority of fires are caused by human activity, however lightning strikes can cause bush fires too.

Bushfire is a natural and devastating part of the Australian summer landscape, with communities across our country regularly struggling with the loss of lives, loss of property and huge financial costs of bushfires.

Victoria's devastating fires of 1983, for example, cost the community $138 million while the 2003 Canberra bushfires cost $342 million. The human impact of such disasters simply cannot be calculated.

The south-east region of Australia is particularly defenseless to bushfire - along with southern California and southern France it is identified as one of the three most fire-prone areas in the world. It is therefore critical increased fire risk associated with the hotter and drier years in the future.

The average summer temperature increase, there will also be an increase in the frequency of very high and extreme fire danger days, especially in inland areas. At most places an increase in fire danger in spring, summer and autumn is also likely, which will move the periods suitable for prescribed burning towards winter.

More than 100 bushfires raged across NSW from 25 December 2001 - January 8 2002, requiring over 20,000 regular and volunteer firefighters and 85 aircraft. Vast stretches of forests were destroyed, including more than 60% of the Royal National Park. More than 11,000 people were evacuated from their homes and 560,000 hectares were burnt out.

Fire Cause	Average number of fires each year	Percentage of total fires Lightning	149	26% Deliberate	145	25% Agricultural	96	16% Campfires	59	10% Cigarettes/ Matches	41	7% Miscellaneous	26	5% Machinery/ Exhausts	15	3% Prescribed Burn Escapes *	9	2% Public Utilities	7	1% Cause Unknown	37	6%

Event Details Event Title	 	Victorian bushfires Event Category	 	Bushfire GLIDE Number	 	WF-2005-0057-AUS Event Start Date	 	31/12/2005 Event End Date	 	31/01/2006 Duration of Event	 	31 day/s Location Zone	 	Victoria Region	 	Melbourne, Mount Gambier (Vic), Warrnambool, Wilson's Promontory Map Human Casualties People Killed	 	4 People Injured	 	6 People Affected	 	0 People Homeless	 	0 People Evacuated	 	0 Property Damaged	 	Damaged	Destroyed Home	 	 	57 Buildings	 	 	359 Livestock	 	64,265 Financial Cost Insured Cost	 	$22,400,000.00 Loss Assessment Cost	 	$0.00 Commercial/Industry Cost	 	$100,000,000.00 Total Cost	 	$122,400,000.00 Cost Source	 	IDRO, 2006 Report from the Ministerial Taskforce on Bushfire Recovery Cost Type	 	Provisional Information Sources Source/s	 	Business Or Professional Association - Insurance Disaster Response Organisation (IDRO) Government Agencies - DSE VIC Printed Press - Major Daily Newspapers Printed Press - Melbourne Herald Sun Printed Press - Sydney Daily Telegraph Printed Press - The Age Printed Press - The Australian 2006 report from the Ministerial Taskforce on Bushfire Recovery – Victorian Government - Available on Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment website http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/ AAP General News Wire Description Severity/ Impact	 	Nil Impact Range	 	Victoria Details The following information is predominately extracted from the 2006 Report from the Ministerial Taskforce on Bushfire Recovery. The complete report is available on the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment website http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/ Across Victoria more than 500 fires broke out in January 2006 (including the Deep Lead fire that started near Stawell on New Year’s Eve). The fires were fuelled by strong winds and extreme temperatures, including many days with temperatures above 40 degrees. The fires with greatest impact on the Victorian community occurred in the Stawell (Deep Lead), Yea, Moondarra, Grampians, Kinglake and Anakie areas. The fires caused the following losses and damage: •	Fatalities:              4 •	Houses destroyed: 57 (19 of principle residence) •	Buildings:              359 farm buildings lost, including 39 woolsheds and 22 haysheds •	Stock losses:        64,265 (63,243 sheep, 557 cattle and 464 other stock) and over 2,500 commercial beehives •	Area burnt:           160,000 hectares (60% public land, 40% private land - Approximately 98,000 hectares of national parks and conservation areas and 6,000 hectares of State forest were burnt) •	Fencing:               364km of crown land boundary fencing and 2281km of other boundary or internal fencing More than 5000 volunteers and paid personnel were involved in the suppression of the fires, with considerable interstate assistance. There were also considerable government, volunteer, business and community organisations involved in supporting suppression activities and facilitating recovery efforts. Deaths and injuries A man and his 12 year old son were killed on 22 January when their car was engulfed by flames near Moyston. A Campbell’s Creek volunteer firefighter was killed on 23 January near Yea when his tanker rolled during mopping-up operations. Three other CFA members were injured in the accident. Another firefighter lost her life on 17 February after being struck by a fire truck while suppressing a grassfire in Barnawartha west of Wodonga. Two men were taken to Stawell Hospital with minor injuries on 1 January after falling into a mine shafts while fighting the Deep Lead fire that started near Stawell on New Year’s Eve. This fire destroyed or badly damaged seven houses. A water-bombing helicopter crashed and caught fire while positioning for refuelling at Latrobe Regional Airport in Victoria. The pilot was taken to Latrobe Regional Hospital with minor injuries. Community impact Communities and towns within the following municipalities were impacted by the significant fire events: •	Ararat Rural City •	Baw Baw Shire •	Glenelg Shire •	Golden Plains Shire •	Greater Geelong City •	Horsham Rural City •	Latrobe City •	Moorabool Shire •	Moyne Shire •	Murrindindi Shire •	Northern Grampians Shire •	South Gippsland Shire •	Southern Grampians Shire Local governments established a number of emergency relief centres to provide initial support and shelter to evacuees, followed by the establishment of recovery centres in Anakie, Ararat and Stawell after the fires had passed. There were 101 community meetings undertaken, both pre-fire and during the fire events, which were attended by 16,000 people showing a significant level of community engagement. The fires resulted in many displaced persons, including tourists, and even disrupted the start of the school for some students. Many areas had to cope without power for extended periods of time. The tourism industry was extremely hard hit by the fires, particularly in the Grampians region, with a survey of tourism related Grampians businesses showing at least 112 staff were laid off as a result of the fires. The Wimmera Development Corporation estimated that tourism downturn resulting from the bushfire devastation will cost the Grampians regional economy up to $100 million. The agriculture sector affected by the fires consisted of sheep, cattle, horticulture (vines, orchards, olives and nursery), forestry and apiary enterprises. Forty-four per cent of affected properties were of a commercial nature with the remainder classed as lifestyle or hobby farms. There was a range of diverse environmental impacts resulting from the fires including the impact on water quality catchments and the impact on road networks. The Grampians and Gippsland fires had the greatest impact on water quality. Water authorities commenced both short-term and long-term risk management activities. The Grampians fires also affected over 240 km of roads across the local and state road network. More than 3000 roadside guideposts were destroyed on the Northern Grampians road from Halls Gap to the Horsham Rural City Council boundary. Most of the significant damage to the road network occurred on the forest road system, including 1200km of Forestry roads affected in the Grampian’s National Park. Reduced visibility from the widespread smoke also impacted the road networks. The opportunity will be taken to undertake works to control weeds and animal pests and futher opportunities exist to conduct erosion and broad land management works. The Victorian Government offered a range of financial support measures to individuals, farmers and businesses directly affected by the bushfires and local governments to assist recover from the fires, and to support economic and social renewal projects in fire affected communities. The Government is also supporting restoration of public assets and rehabilitation of the environment and ecological and cultural heritage.

On the 16th of February 1983, bushfires killed 72 people and destroyed over 2000 homes across parts of South Australia and Victoria, causing $300 million worth of damage to property and stock. The fires were all separate so it was difficult for firefighters to keep them under control.