7 February 2009

Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history.

The bushfires that ravaged Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009, are famously known as the Black Saturday bushfires. This catastrophic event was one of the worst natural disasters in Australian history. The fires were fueled by extreme weather conditions, including high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds, creating a perfect storm for widespread devastation.

On that fateful day, several fires ignited across the state of Victoria due to a combination of factors, including lightning strikes and arson. The most devastating of these fires occurred in the rural areas around Melbourne, the state capital. The intensity of the fires was unprecedented, with flames reaching heights of over 100 meters (330 feet) and traveling at speeds of up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour.

The Black Saturday bushfires claimed the lives of 173 people and injured hundreds more. Thousands of homes and buildings were destroyed, and countless hectares of land were scorched. The impact on communities, families, and wildlife was profound, and the recovery and rebuilding efforts took years.

In addition to the human toll, the Black Saturday bushfires sparked widespread debate and scrutiny over issues such as land management practices, emergency preparedness, and climate change. The Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires was established to investigate the causes and responses to the disaster, leading to various recommendations aimed at improving fire safety and prevention measures in Australia.

The memory of the Black Saturday bushfires remains etched in the collective consciousness of Australians, serving as a sobering reminder of the destructive power of nature and the importance of resilience, preparedness, and community support in the face of such disasters.

7 February 2009

Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia.

The road into the Victorian town of Kinglake is treacherous at the best of times. It is absurdly narrow and winding, with a maximum speed of 20km/h and grim signs saying “Sheer Drop: No Safety Barriers” as you circumnavigate your way to the township on the mountain peak at the northern end of the Yarra Valley.

If the road into Kinglake is scary on a sunny afternoon, God knows what it would have been like on that most awful day, February 7, 2009, when 173 people died in Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires, the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history.

The majority of them died in and around Kinglake and Kilmore East, many meeting their fate on that shocking road as they tried to escape when it was far too late, their cars colliding with trees, other fleeing vehicles, or rolling into the burning ravine in the afternoon darkness.

I attended two weddings over summer, both of which said something about Australia and its ongoing relationship with bushfire.

The first was in the Yarra Valley, which took us to Kinglake. The second was on top of Adelaide’s tallest hill, Mt Lofty, on January 3, the day that the Sampson Flat bushfire was burning out of control to the city’s northeast.

That fire was truly terrifying. It was burning out of control in every direction. It was stinking hot and the northerly wind was blowing a gale by 1pm, right across town.

As I was putting my tie on there was an almighty crash at the back of our suburban home; a 5m-long branch had fallen off the neighbour’s gum tree and smashed his back fence. There were lightning forecasts for late afternoon, prompting warnings that more fires could start across the ranges.

The fire ended up burning out 125,000ha, destroying 27 homes, and came so close to the city that residents were evacuated in Golden Grove, a place so urban and so typical of Australian suburbia that no-one who lives there had ever dreamt of drawing up a fire plan.

Every cat and dozens of dogs at a boarding kennel died when the premises burnt to the ground.

But not one person lost their life.

Why the difference between what happened in Victoria in 2009 and in South Australia last month, on a day which authorities were validly likening to SA’s Ash Wednesday disaster of 1983, when 75 people died?

A major investigation is underway into how the Sampson Flat fire was fought and, crucially, how the affected communities responded to it. The investigation involves experts from across Australia, men and women who have studied bushfires from WA to Canberra and Tassie to NSW. The anecdotal and media reports so far suggest one clear difference between Victoria in 2009 and SA in 2015.

Almost everybody got the hell out of there.

The so-called “stay and defend” policy was the subject of much debate after Victoria in 2009. This week I read a report by the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authority Council, which was based on interviews with 1914 people who survived the Victorian fires. The survey found that 50 per cent of people intended to stay and defend their property that day, and 19 per cent intended to leave early or before they came under threat.

The remaining 31 per cent were undecided or had no strategy, with 17 per cent saying they intended to stay and defend but leave if they felt threatened, 9 per cent saying they intended to wait until the fire arrived and then come up with the plan, and 5 per cent not citing a plan.

Talk about a margin for error. The only group that had what I would regard as a viable plan was the 19 per cent who got out in advance.

One leading Australian fire expert, Dr Richard Thornton, said in an interview during the week that 2009 demonstrated so tragically that many people were simply cutting it way too fine. He also questioned whether people who intended to stay and defend were psychologically and physically prepared for the onslaught.

The wedding at Mt Lofty was almost cancelled that day. It wasn’t until late morning that we got confirmation that it was still going ahead. It started at 4pm. It was a creepy drive up the hill, so much wind and electricity in the air, to the very mountain that was left black by the big blaze of 1983.

After nightfall, I was standing on the lawn at the back of the function centre, looking over the escarpment to the northeast of the ranges. A thick red line of fire stretched across the horizon. It was 40km away but it was so vast and so intense that, every so often, the red would glow deeper as the wind blew, reaching higher into the air.

“Our house is over there,” a bloke called Luke told me over a beer. He and his wife live in Lobethal, one of several towns where residents had been advised to leave the day before as the fire intensified.

They had taken their kids to the grandparents and, figuring that there was nothing they could do, decided to come to their mate’s wedding anyway and have a good time. At that stage they thought it would be days before they got to enter the fire zone to see if their house was still standing.

“Still,” Luke said, “it’s only a f—ing house.”

It was a laconic Australian way of putting it, and one which makes a hell of a lot more sense than stay and defend.

7 February 1935

The board game Monopoly is invented.

On this day 81 years ago Charles Darrow’ popular board game, Monopoly, based on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey, was first marketed, becoming a cultural phenomenon, having been licensed in over 103 countries and released in more than 37 languages, featuring cities from all over the world.

Last year, the 80th anniversary edition of Monopoly came out, featuring one iconic token from each of the 8 decades: bathtub, locomotive, money bag, cat, cannon, cavalry and Monopoly World Championships trophy. Read more here.
landlord’s game,However, there is some controversy involving the game since, despite Charles Darrow being generally credited with the invention of Monopoly, it all started some decades before when Elizabeth Magie Phillips created Landlord’s Game. Find out more at Monopoly’s Inventor: The Progressive Who Didn’t Pass ‘Go’.

Apparently, this was this game that Charles Darrow first saw and played. He became infatuated with the game and developed his own version. His modifications included adding icons and graphics, the corner symbols and the color bands at the top of each property. Previously there were no pictures on the game board. These modifications gave the game more appeal and greatly increased its popularity.