Slide 1:VICTORIA’S WORST BUSHFIRES ON RECORD FEBRUARY 7, 2009 BLACK SATURDAY Victoria’s Bushfire Disaster


Slide 2:Weather predictions forecast for February 7, 2009 were horrendous with Temperatures predicted to be above 40c with Winds in excess of 100 km/h. Victorian’s were warned to prepare for possibly the states worst fire weather day in history.


Slide 4:“Tomorrow (7 February 2009) is shaping up as one of the worst days in Victoria's history for fire. The state is on high alert with all emergency services and support agencies on standby. Extensive planning has us well placed to confront the challenges tomorrow may bring”. A message to CFA Staff & Volunteers from CFA Chief Officer Russell Rees


Slide 5:No one could imagine how the day of Saturday February 7, 2009 was going to change the lives of Victorian’s forever.


Slide 6:The devastation wreaked by the Black Saturday fires of February 7, 2009, has marked this horror as our worst natural disaster in more than a century.


Slide 7:- 209 dead - 1834 homes lost - 413,000 hectares of land destroyed - 4000 firefighters in the battle - $120 million funds donated - 595 fires statewide


Slide 9:Over 4000 fire fighters battle the bushfires around Victoria


Slide 10:Kinglake area 38 dead in Kinglake 7 dead in Kinglake West 2 dead in Whittlesea 2 dead in Toolangi 1 dead in Mittons Bridge   Home to about 3000 people, Kinglake and Kinglake West were at the epicentre of the devastating blaze which killed dozens of people and destroyed hundreds of properties. Nestled on the edge of the Kinglake National Park, about 55km north of Melbourne, the town suffered heavy losses with at least 39 people killed, more than 750 homes destroyed along with schools, businesses. The fire, which started in Kilmore, was pushed south of the towns by raging northwesterly winds before the southwesterly wind changed bringing the inferno to Kinglake.


Slide 13:Scorched Earth in Kinglake


Slide 14:With a population of about 400, Flowerdale sits below the Kinglake National Park about 130kms northeast of Melbourne.  Fire hit the town on the evening of Saturday February 7 killing at least eight people and destroying four in every five houses.  Residents fled to the safety of the local Flowerdale Hotel where the publican and locals had decided to stay and fight.  Armed with hoses, mops and buckets to fight the fires, saving the pub and nearby hall and the lives of those huddled inside. Flowerdale area 8 dead in Flowerdale 1 dead in Reedy Creek 2 dead in Strath Creek


Slide 16:Heathcote Junction area 1 dead in Heathcote Junction 1 dead in Upper Plenty 1 dead in Tooborac The community of about 880 people, 3km from Wandong where three people were killed, lost one of their own in the February 7 bushfires. The township - on the Hume Freeway and home to many people who commute to Melbourne for work - was caught in the path of the devastating Kinglake/Whittlesea blaze, with many properties destroyed. Dozens of families were forced to flee the inferno. It is close to the western edge of the Mount Disappointment State Forest.


Slide 18:Humevale 7 dead The tiny settlement of Humevale sits between Whittlesea and Kinglake West northeast of Melbourne.  At least seven people died when the Kinglake Complex fire roared through the town on Saturday February 7.  The fires were started after an initial blaze at Kilmore was pushed was pushed towards the area by northerly winds before a southwesterly change turned the fire towards nearby Kinglake and Kinglake West.


Slide 20:Strathewen 42 dead The farming and tree change hamlet of Strathewen, nestled near the Kinglake National Park north of Melbourne, had a population of about 200.  But fires that raged through the town on Saturday afternoon wiped out 15 per cent of its population with about 42 deaths recorded in the town. The town's primary school, community hall, football club rooms and old fire station were destroyed in the blaze along with a number of houses.


Slide 22:St Andrews 22 dead With a population of about 1500, St Andrews is about 35km northeast of Melbourne on the edge of the Kinglake National Park.  The town was devastated by the February 7 bushfires when embers from the Kilmore fire rained down on the town.  Homes in Ninks Rd, Jacksons Rd, Bald Spur, Rankins Rd and Bowden Spur were among the worst hit.  St Andrews hosted one of the dozens of bushfire relief centres set up after the fires. St Andrews Church


Slide 24:Steels Creek area 10 dead in Steels Creek 1 dead in Yarra Glen Nestled in the Yarra Valley & wine growing region, Steels Creek is just a short drive from Yarra Glen, northeast of Melbourne.  The hamlet of about 100 people sits just of the Melba Hwy in the hills surrounding Kinglake National Park to the west.  At least ten people died when the Kinglake fire roared up steep gullies and into the area on Saturday February 7.  A number of homes were lost in the area.


Slide 26:Narbethong 4 dead Established as a timber town, Narbethong sits on the Maroondah Hwy between Healesville and Marysville, about 90 minutes from Melbourne.  At least four people, out of the towns 200 residents, died when fire swept through the town on February 7.  A fire which began at Murrindindi about 3pm roared towards the town, fuelled by northerly winds and mountain ash forest.  Numerous houses were destroyed along with local businesses.


Slide 29:Marysville area 45 dead in Marysville 1 dead in Cambarville Nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, Marysville was a popular tourist town situated between Healesville and Alexandra.  The historic town, with a population of about 500, was formed in the 1830s when gold was discovered and later thrived on a timber industry that supported four mills in the town.  It took less than half an hour on Saturday February 7 to destroy all that.  The fire started at Murrindindi, about 30km northeast of Marysville.  Strong, hot northerly winds pushed the flames towards Narbethong, where at least four people died, before swinging around to the southwest sending flames towards Marysville about 5pm.  By 6.30pm Saturday night most of the town had been wiped out.


Slide 32:Callignee area 11 dead in Callignee 1 dead in upper Callignee 4 dead in Koornalla 2 dead in Churchill 1 dead in Jerralang Junction The tiny Gippsland hamlet of Callignee, south of Traralgon, is home to about 500 people.  The town came under attack from the deliberately lit Churchill Jeeralang fire about 6.30pm on Saturday February 7.  The blaze claimed the lives of 21 people in the area including 11 in Callignee, one in Upper Callignee, one in Jeeralang to the west and four in Koornalla to the north of Callignee.  About 80 homes in Callignee were reduced to rubble when the deliberately lit fire roared through the area, with the wider toll hitting 151.  Police have charged a man over the fire.


Slide 34:Bendigo 1 dead A grass fire which started about 12.30pm roared across the Bendigo suburbs of Eaglehawk and Long Gully about 5.30pm fanned by high winds and temperatures of up to 45C.  With a combined population more than 8000, Eaglehawk and Long Gully are located about 6km west of central Bendigo.  Long Gully resident Kevin 'Mick' Kane, 48, died in the blaze which swept through the suburbs of Eaglehawk and Long Gully on Saturday afternoon. Mr Kane's family tried desperately to save him but were forced to turn back because of the fires intensity.


Slide 37:Coleraine 1 house destroyed 1 person severely burnt A Grass Fire at Coleraine in Victoria's South West left a man aged in his 40’s with Burns to half of his body and claimed an uninhabited house, several haystacks, fences and livestock. The fire burnt about 770 hectares of land.


Slide 39:A fire at Pomborneit, east of Camperdown burnt 1,280 hectares of land and claimed two hay stacks and a number of outbuildings. The CFA operations manager for region six, Malcolm Fallin, says it is a miracle that homes were not destroyed in the blaze. "No houses were lost at all, which was quite remarkable," he said. Pomborneit 1800 Hectares of Land


Slide 40:Horsham 8 houses 1 Golf Club 1 Fire Truck 3000 Hectares On February 7 a Fire which is believed to have been ignited by a fallen power pole, burnt about 3,000 hectares after it started three kilometres west of Horsham and raced through Haven and McKenzie Creek before being pulled up on the eastern side of the city. Eight homes, the Horsham Golf Club, a large workshop and several sheds and cars were destroyed in the fire


Slide 42:The Nation shows their support to a devastated Victorian Community


Slide 46:CFA Volunteer Region 5 Mathew Deans Produced by: Music by: Enya – Only Time 3AW ABC CFA Herald – Sun The Age The Australian Photographs obtained from: