In Victoria, the bushfire was said to be several different bushfires, from different areas, being picked up and expanded throughout Victoria by winds of up to 100 km per hour (62mph). 400 different bushfires were recorded on February 7th. Since this, the particular Saturday is known as black Saturday. Victoria is the most bushfire prone, with more fatalities, then any state in Australia. Over 4, 500 km2 (450, 000 hectares, 1. 1 million acres) is the burned area of Victoria. North-east of Melbourne, a pyrocumulus cloud had been sighted through a picture rom a satellite.
Causes for this disaster: It was (under the circumstances) that the reasons for these fires were various confirmed ignitions including: power lines, arson, and lightning and machinery failure. The Victorian bushfire was made up of more then 10 major bushfires. The most severe of these, the Kinglake/Marysville, had separately been two different fires, which crossed over, creating the largest fire on Black Saturday. This fire had destroyed over 330, 000 ha. It also had destroyed over 1800 homes and 1 59 people lost their lives.
Geographical Processes: Brushfires occur in climates that are dry and hot. Occasional strong winds and summertime cold fronts can lead to extreme fire danger. Dangerous areas also include large areas of dry grass and trees, which burn easily and are common in the summer. Impacts of this Disaster: Several environmental and geographical factors help bush fires progress, these are high winds which provides more oxygen, amount of fuel (grass, trees, shrubs, etc. ), low humidity, the terrain (hills helps bushfires spread) and high air temperature.
Approximately 50 claims were made to insurance industries. The cost was an astonishing 1. 02 billion dollars. Industry analysts suggested that the fires would lead to rises in insurance premiums, so that insurers may recover some of their losses. A class action lawsuit was initiated in the Supreme Court of Victoria. Against electricity distribution company SP AusNet, in relation to the Kilmore East fire. Millions of animals are estimated to have been killed by the bushfires. Additionally, of the surviving wildlife, many more have suffered from severe burns.
Forested catchment areas supplying five of Melbourne’s nine major dams were affected by the fires, with the worst affected being Maroondah Reservoir and O’Shannassy Reservoir. As of 17 February, over ten billion litres of water had been shifted out of affected dams. These waters filled most of the other dams. Responses: Responses to the Black Saturday bushfires included immediate community response, donations and later, international aid efforts, Government inquiries, recommendations and discussions from a wide variety of bodies, organisations,
