Ash Wednesday 1983

Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983

On Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983, over 180 flames, fuelled by winds of up to 110 km/h, inflicted severe havoc across Victoria and South Australia during their 12-hour rampage.

There were 47 deaths in Victoria, and another 28 in South Australia. Many people died as a result of firestorm conditions induced by a sudden and intense wind change in the evening, which quickly changed the direction and size of the fire front.

Major flames broke out at:

East Trentham/Macedon – 29,500 hectares
Warburton/ Powelltown – 44,500 hectares.
Otways-Deans Marsh, Lorne, Great Ocean Road, and Anglesea cover 41,200 hectares.
Belgrave Heights/Upper Beaconsfield – 9,200 hectares
Cockatoo — 1,833 hectares
Cudgee/Ballangeich – 50,000 hectares
Moonlight Head covers 1,440 hectares.

The flames’ speed and intensity, combined with ample dry fuels and a smoke-filled terrain, rendered suppression and containment nearly impossible.

Residents were often left to fend for themselves as bushfires disrupted communications, blocked off escape routes, and damaged power, telephone, and water supplies.

It was impossible to outrun them. Spot fires just leapfrogged across the parched landscape, and there was frequently no clear fire front, but rather hundreds of fast spreading spot fires that finally merged.

In most cases, efforts to control the firestorms were too risky and ineffectual, so they were mostly abandoned, and the emphasis moved to protecting lives and property, as well as notifying and evacuating people ahead of the advancing fire.

The fires burned roughly 2,090 homes in Victoria, as well as another 807 buildings, and numerous businesses, stores, equipment, machinery, stock, and other private assets were lost.

The entire cost of property destruction in Victoria was anticipated to exceed $200 million.

The majority of Victoria was damaged as a result of the enormous number of fires blazing on Ash Wednesday, with 9 of the fires covering more than 150 hectares.

As a result, eight localities and townships in Victoria were badly affected, as shown in the table below.

More than 16,000 firefighters responded to the Ash Wednesday fires. They included representatives from the FCV, the National Park Service (NPS), Crown Lands, and the Survey Department.

These institutions ultimately amalgamated in mid-1983 to form the Department of Conservation Forests and Lands (CFL), which evolved into the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action (DEECA) and FFMVic.

Firefighters also came from the Melbourne and Metropolitan Boards of Works, the State Electricity Commission, the Country Roads Board, the Post Master General, interstate forest services, private forestry companies, sawmillers and logging contractors, individual forest workers, adjoining landowners, and local governments. They worked with thousands of CFA volunteers and employees.

There were more than 400 vehicles (fire trucks, water tankers, and bulldozers), 11 helicopters, and 14 fixed-wing aircraft used. 1,000 Victoria Police officers and 500 Australian Defence Force members from the Navy, Army, and Air Force also helped.

The Victorian State incident Service, the Australian Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the St John Ambulance Brigade, and many other volunteer groups, as well as countless individuals, made significant contributions to the welfare of firemen, particularly following the Ash Wednesday incident on February 16.

There was astonishment, sadness, wrath, blame, and confusion. This was followed by months of clean-up and relief efforts, as well as years of rehabilitation and reconstruction of lives, homes, and communities.

South Australia

The fires also spread to South Australia, destroying 208,000 hectares in the Adelaide Hills and farmland country in the state’s southeast. In addition, they damaged 21,000 hectares of pine plantation.

The fires in South Australia claimed 28 lives and damaged 383 homes. The projected cost of the damage exceeded $200 million.

Review

Following the Ash Wednesday bushfires, Police Commissioner Mick Miller conducted a procedural assessment of Victoria’s firestorm catastrophe preparedness and response.

The State Coroner also conducted separate investigations into the killings at Greendale and on Ash Wednesday. The new State Premier, John Cain, has decided against a Royal Commission.