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1967 Tasmanian fires

 

 
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1967 Tasmanian fires
 
 
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The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
n natural disaster
Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard which affects human activities. Human vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, environmental or human losses....
 which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which became known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfire
Bushfire

A bushfire is a fire that occurs in The Bush . In south east Australia, bushfires tend to be most common and most severe during summer and autumn, in drought years, and particularly severe in El Ni?o years....
s that Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 has ever experienced, leaving 62 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand homeless.

separate fire fronts burnt through some (264,000 ha) of land in Southern Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 within the space of five hours.






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The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
n natural disaster
Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard which affects human activities. Human vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, environmental or human losses....
 which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which became known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfire
Bushfire

A bushfire is a fire that occurs in The Bush . In south east Australia, bushfires tend to be most common and most severe during summer and autumn, in drought years, and particularly severe in El Ni?o years....
s that Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 has ever experienced, leaving 62 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand homeless.

Extent of the fires

125 separate fire fronts burnt through some (264,000 ha) of land in Southern Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 within the space of five hours. Fires raged from near Hamilton
Hamilton, Tasmania

Hamilton is a small rural town north west of Hobart in Tasmania on the Lyell Highway. At the 2006 Census in Australia, the town and surrounding area had a population of 300....
 and Bothwell
Bothwell, Tasmania

Bothwell, Tasmania is a small town with a population at the 2001 Census in Australia of 337. Situated in central Tasmania on the Clyde River , it is notable for hunting and being a lake district....
 to the D'Entrecasteaux Channel as well as Snug
Snug, Tasmania

Snug is a small coastal town located on the Channel Highway south of Hobart, Tasmania in Tasmania. At the 2006 Census in Australia, Snug had a population of 881....
. There was extensive damage to agricultural property near the channel, the Derwent Valley
Derwent Valley

The Derwent Valley Council is a Local Government Areas in Australia of Tasmania, Australia. As its name suggests, it covers the upper part of the Derwent River , from the major town of New Norfolk, Tasmania to the remote south-west Hydro Tasmania town of Strathgordon, Tasmania....
 and the Huon Valley
Huon Valley

The Huon Valley Council is a Local Government Areas in Australia of Tasmania. It is the southern-most local government area in Australia.It encompasses the town of Huonville, Tasmania, on the Huon River, some surrounding towns, and many Protected areas of Tasmania and forestry plantations....
. Fires also destroyed forest, public infrastructure and properties around Mount Wellington
Mount Wellington (Tasmania)

Mount Wellington is a mountain on whose foothills is built much of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is often referred to simply as 'the Mountain' by the residents of Hobart, and it rises to 1271 m Australian Height Datum over the city....
 and many small towns along the Derwent
Derwent

Derwent derives from the Brythonic term Derventio, meaning "valley thick with oaks". It may refer to:...
 estuary and east of Hobart
Hobart

Hobart is the List of Australian capital cities and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1803 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney....
.

Death toll and damage


The worst of the fires was the Hobart Fire, which encroached upon the city of Hobart
Hobart

Hobart is the List of Australian capital cities and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1803 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney....
. In total, the fires claimed 62 lives in a single day. 52 people died in the Hobart
Hobart

Hobart is the List of Australian capital cities and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1803 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney....
 area. Property loss was also extensive with 1293 homes, and over 1700 other buildings destroyed. The fires destroyed 80 bridges, 4800 sections of power lines, 1500 motor vehicles and over 100 other structures. It was estimated that at least 62,000 livestock were destroyed. The total damage amounted to $45,000,000 in 1967 Australian dollar values.

Causes

The late winter and early spring of 1966 had been wet over southeastern Tasmania, giving a large amount of growth by November. However, in November, Tasmania began its driest eight-month period since 1885, and by the end of January 1967 the dryness had dried off the luxuriant growth provided by the early spring rains in the area. Though January was a cool month, hot weather began early in February, so that in the days leading up to 7 February, 1967, several bushfires were burning uncontrolled in the areas concerned. Some of these fires had been deliberately lit for burning off despite the extremely dry conditions at the time. Reports into the causes of the fire stated that only 22 of the 110 fires were started accidentally.

Shortly before midday on the 7th, a combination of extremely high temperatures, (the maximum was 39 °C (102°F)), very low humidity and very strong winds from the north-west led to disaster.

Interestingly, although this fire was by far the worst in terms of loss of life and property in Tasmanian history, the meteorological conditions are not totally uncommon there. McArthur's report on the fire notes that 'very similar conditions have occurred on three or four occasions during the past 70 years'.

Comparison with other major Australian bushfires

If considered in terms of both loss of property and loss of life, in 1967 this represented one of the worst disasters to have occurred in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. It is comparable in scale with the 1939 Black Friday bushfires
Black Friday (1939)

The Black Friday fires of January 13, 1939, in Victoria, Australia, are considered one of the worst natural bushfires in the world, and most certainly the single worst in Australian history as a measure of land affected....
  in Victoria (where the loss of 72 lives was nevertheless spread over several days) and the subsequent 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires
Ash Wednesday fires

The Ash Wednesday bushfires were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires fanned by winds of up to 110km per hour caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia....
 in Victoria and South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
, which claimed 75 lives and razed over 2,000 homes.

2009 Victorian bushfires. Sharing the same incept date of February 7. Virtually entire towns were burnt. As of February 24, 2009, 210 lives were lost. This information was only updated on this date, with searches of the affected areas still being conducted, so this number is predicted to increase over the coming weeks.

See also

  • List of disasters in Australia by death toll
    List of disasters in Australia by death toll

    This is a list of disasters in Australia sorted by death toll. It generally excludes incidents attributed to the impact of European colonisation on the indigenous population....
  • Bushfire
    Bushfire

    A bushfire is a fire that occurs in The Bush . In south east Australia, bushfires tend to be most common and most severe during summer and autumn, in drought years, and particularly severe in El Ni?o years....


Further reading

  • Chambers, D.M. and Brettingham-Moore, C.G. (1967) The bush fire disaster of 7 February, 1967 : report and summary of evidence (excluding appendices) ( Solicitor-General (Mr. D. M. Chambers) and the Master and Registrar of the Supreme Court (Mr. C. G. Brettingham-Moore) Office of the Solicitor-General. Hobart,Tasmania.
  • Wettenhall, R. L. (1975) Bushfire disaster : an Australian community in crisis Sydney : Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0207129215