Bushfires in Australia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Bushfires in Australia happen often during the warmer parts of the year. This is because Australia has a mostly hot and dry climate. Every year, these fires burn huge areas.

On one hand, bushfires can destroy homes and cause people to lose their lives. On the other hand, some native Australian plants actually need bushfires to reproduce and grow. Fire has always been a natural and important part of Australia's environment. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians used fire to help grow grasslands for hunting and to clear paths through thick plants.

Very big and dangerous fires that cause many deaths are often named after the day they happen. Examples include Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. The most intense and deadly bushfires usually happen during droughts and heat waves. For example, the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people. Other big fires include the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires and the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires.

Global warming is making bushfires happen more often and become more severe.

What are Bushfires?
How Bushfires Have Changed
Bushfire Warnings
Managing Bushfires
Staying Safe During Bushfires
Bushfire Seasons
Climate Change and Bushfires
Major Bushfires in Australia
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

What are Bushfires?

The word "bushfire" comes from "the bush", which means wild, less populated areas. In Australia, bushfires are usually defined as uncontrolled fires burning in grass, scrub, or forests. Australia has many different types of bushfires because its land and weather vary a lot. There are two main types, depending on the land's shape:

Hilly/Mountainous Fires: These fires burn in hilly, mountainous, or alpine areas. These places are usually covered in thick forests. The land is hard to reach, so many of these forests are protected parks. Steep land makes fires spread faster and become more intense. If towns are in these areas, bushfires can be very dangerous to people and property.
Flat/Grassland Fires: These fires burn on flat plains or slightly wavy areas, mostly covered in grass or scrubland. They can move very quickly, pushed by strong winds on flat ground. They burn up the small amount of plants very fast. These fires are usually less dangerous to towns. They rarely get as intense as major fires in hilly areas. Also, flat land is easier for firefighting teams to access and predict fire paths. Many flat areas in Australia have been cleared for farming, which means less fuel for fires.

Common causes of bushfires include:

Lightning
Sparks from power lines
Arson (fires started on purpose)
Accidental fires during farm work
Grinding and welding activities
Campfires
Cigarettes and dropped matches
Sparks from machines
Fires that escape from controlled burns (fires set on purpose to reduce fuel)

How Bushfires Have Changed

Epicormic shoots growing from a Eucalyptus tree after a bushfire. This helps the tree survive.

Forest damage in East Gippsland, Victoria, two years after the 2003 fires. You can see how trees are starting to recover.

When humans first arrived in Australia, they changed how often natural fires happened. Fires became more frequent, and plants that love fire, like eucalypts, spread much wider. It's believed that early humans deliberately set fires to clear undergrowth or to help with hunting.

Australian plants have evolved many ways to survive (or even need) bushfires. Some have special buds that sprout after a fire. Others have seeds that only open when heated by fire. Some plants, like eucalypts, even encourage fire by having flammable oils in their leaves. This helps them get rid of other plants that can't handle fire as well.

Some native animals are also very good at surviving bushfires.

Bushfire Warnings

In 2009, all Australian states started using a standard Fire Danger Rating (FDR). During the fire season, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) provides fire weather forecasts. Fire agencies then use this information, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and how dry plants are, to decide the Fire Danger Rating.

These ratings are shown in weather forecasts and tell people what to do to prepare. They are broadcast in newspapers, on radio, TV, and the internet.

Fire Danger Rating
Category	Fire Danger Index
Catastrophic / Code Red	Forest 100+ Grass 150+
Extreme	Forest 75–100 Grass 100–150
Severe	Forest 50–75 Grass 50–100
Very high	25–50
High	12–25
Low to moderate	0–12

Managing Bushfires

The Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) is the main group that represents fire, emergency services, and land management agencies in Australia and New Zealand.

Queensland

The Rural Fire Service (RFS) is a volunteer firefighting group. It is part of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

New South Wales

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) is a volunteer firefighting group and a government body in New South Wales.

South Australia

The Country Fire Service is a volunteer fire service in South Australia. It is part of the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM).

Victoria

Major bushfires in Victoria in the 2000s

In Victoria, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) provides firefighting and other emergency services to country areas and regional towns. It also covers large parts of outer Melbourne that are not covered by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade.

Western Australia

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia (DFES) and the Department of Parks and Wildlife (P&W) share responsibility for managing bushfires in Western Australia. DFES supports many volunteer groups, including the Bush Fire Brigade volunteers and the Volunteer Fire Service.

Staying Safe During Bushfires

Local authorities teach people living in bushfire-prone areas about current fires. They also provide information on how to protect lives and property, and when it's safest to leave by car.

Bushfire Seasons

Bushfires can happen all year in Australia, but how severe they are and when the "bushfire season" is, changes by region. These seasons are often grouped by year, like the "2006-07 Australian bushfire season", and usually run from June one year to May the next.

In southeast Australia, bushfires are most common and severe during summer and autumn (December–March). They are especially bad in drought years and during El Niño events. Warm and dry conditions make fires much more likely.

In northern Australia, bushfires usually happen during the dry season (April to September). How severe they are depends more on seasonal weather patterns. In the southwest, fires also happen in the summer dry season. Fire frequency in the north is hard to measure because most fires are started by humans. However, lightning strikes are just as common a cause as human-started fires and arson.

Climate Change and Bushfires

Boy looks at the burnt trees on his property after the South Australian bushfires in 2019

Australia's weather has been getting more prone to bushfires over the last 30 years. The Climate Commission found that big bushfires in southeast Australia seem to be changing in how strong they are and when they happen. Climate change is likely a reason for this.

A 2006 report noted that much of Australia's plant life has a long history with fire. Fire has been part of these environments for tens of thousands of years, and many native plants and animals depend on it. In 2007, a study by the CSIRO (Australia's national science body) found that climate change will lead to more days with very high and extreme fire danger. It will also cause the fire season to start earlier. Other studies show big changes in Australia's bushfire season due to human activity.

Major Bushfires in Australia

Bushfires have caused over 800 deaths in Australia since 1851. In 2012, the total cost was estimated at $1.6 billion. However, in terms of money, they cause less damage than droughts, severe storms, hail, and cyclones. This is perhaps because they usually happen outside big cities. But the severe fires of the summer of 2019–2020 affected many populated areas, including holiday spots. The NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, said it was "absolutely" the worst bushfire season ever.

Here are some of the most severe Australian bushfires (single fires and fire seasons) in order:

Date	Name or description	State(s) / territories	Area burned (approx.)		Fatalities	Properties damaged			Notes
Date	Name or description	State(s) / territories	ha	acres	Fatalities	Homes (destroyed)	Other buildings	Other damage	Notes
6 February 1851	Black Thursday bushfires	Victoria	5,000,000	12,000,000	approx. 12	0	0	1 million sheep thousands of cattle
9 September 1895	Upper Blue Mountains fires	New South Wales	150	370	0	24	Sheds	Main Western Railway Line at Mount Victoria
1 February 1898	Red Tuesday bushfires	Victoria	260,000	640,000	12	0	2,000
February – March 1926	1926 bushfires	Victoria	390,000	960,000	60	1,000	0
13 January 1939	Black Friday bushfires	Victoria	2,000,000	4,900,000	71	3,700	0
14 January – 14 February 1944	1944 Victorian bushfires	Victoria	1,000,000	2,500,000	15–20	approx. 500	0
18 November 1944	1944 Blue Mountains bushfire	New South Wales			0	approx. 40	0
November 1951 – January 1952	1951–52 bushfires	Victoria	4,000,000	9,900,000	11	0	0
2 January 1955	Black Sunday bushfires	South Australia	39,000–160,000	96,000–395,000	2	40	0
30 November 1957	1957 Grose Valley bushfire, Blue Mountains	New South Wales			4	0	0
2 December 1957	1957 Leura bushfire, Blue Mountains	New South Wales			0	170	0
January – March 1961	1961 Western Australian bushfires	Western Australia	1,800,000	4,400,000	0	160	0
14 – 16 January 1962	1962 Victorian bushfires	Victoria			32	450	0
16 February – 13 March 1965	1965 Gippsland bushfires	Victoria	315,000	780,000	0	more than 20	60	4,000 livestock
5 – 14 March 1965	Southern Highlands bushfires	New South Wales	251,000	620,000	3	59	0
7 February 1967	Black Tuesday bushfires	Tasmania	264,000	650,000	62	1,293	0
1968 – 69	1968-69 Killarney Top Springs bushfires	Northern Territory	40,000,000	99,000,000	0	0	0
29 November 1968	1968 Blue Mountains Bushfire	New South Wales			4	approx. 120	0
8 January 1969	1969 bushfires	Victoria			23	230	0
1969 – 70	1969-70 Dry River-Victoria River fire	Northern Territory	45,000,000	110,000,000	0	0	0
1974 – 1975 summer fire season (defined as October 1974 to February 1975 in Queensland only)	1974-75 Australian bushfire season	New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Western Australia	117,000,000	290,000,000	6	unknown	unknown	15% of Australia was burnt. The damage was mostly in central Australia and so it did not impact many communities. 57,000 farm animals approximately 10,200 kilometres (6,300 mi) of fencing
12 February 1977	Western Districts bushfires	Victoria	103,000	250,000	4	116	340
17 December 1977	Blue Mountains Fires 1977	New South Wales	54,000	130,000	2	49	0
4 April 1978	1978 Western Australian bushfires	Western Australia	114,000	280,000	2	0	6
December 1979	1979 Sydney bushfires	New South Wales			5	28	0
3 November 1980	1980 Waterfall bushfire	New South Wales	1,000,000	2,500,000	5	14	0
9 January 1983	Grays Point bushfire	New South Wales			3	0	0
16 February 1983	Ash Wednesday bushfires	South Australia Victoria	418,000	1,030,000	75	approx. 2,400	0
25 December 1984	1984 Western New South Wales grasslands bushfires	New South Wales	500,000	1,200,000	0	0	0	40,000 livestock A$40 million damages
Mid-January 1985	1985 Cobar bushfire	New South Wales	516,000	1,280,000	0
1984 – 1985 season	1984 - 85 New South Wales bushfires	New South Wales	3,500,000	8,600,000	5
14 January 1985	Central Victoria bushfires	Victoria	50,800	126,000	3	180	0
27 December 1993 – 16 January 1994	1994 Eastern seaboard fires	New South Wales	400,000	990,000	4	225	0
8 January 1997	Wooroloo bushfire	Western Australia	10,500	26,000	0	16	0
21 January 1997	Dandenongs bushfire	Victoria	400	990	3	41	0
2 December 1997	Lithgow bushfire	New South Wales			2	0	0
2 December 1997	Menai bushfire	New South Wales			1	11	0
2 December 1997	Perth and South-West Region bushfires	Western Australia	23,000	57,000	2	1	0
2 December 1998	Linton bushfire	Victoria			5	0	0
25 December 2001 – 7 January 2002	Black Christmas bushfires	New South Wales	753,314	1,861,480	0	121	0
August – November 2002	2002 NT bushfires	Northern Territory	38,000,000	94,000,000	0	0	0
19 October 2002	Thurlgona Road Bushfire	New South Wales			0	10	Numerous Sheds
20 October 2002	Abernathy Bushfire	New South Wales	1,400	3,459	1	13	Numerous Sheds
4 December 2002	2002 NSW Bushfires	New South Wales			1	20		Significant damage to Holsworthy Army Base
18 – 22 January 2003	2003 Canberra bushfires	Australian Capital Territory	160,000	400,000	4	approx. 500	0
8 January – 8 March 2003	2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires	Victoria	1,300,000	3,200,000	0	41	213	10,000 livestock
December 2003	Tenterden	Western Australia	15,000	37,000	0	2	0
10 – 12 January 2005	2005 Eyre Peninsula bushfire	South Australia	77,964	192,650	9	93	0
New Years Day 2006	Jail Break Inn Fire, Junee	New South Wales	30,000	74,000	0	7	4	20,000 livestock 7 headers 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) of fencing
December 2005 – January 2006	2005 Victorian bushfires	Victoria	160,000	400,000	4	57	359	65,000 livestock
January 2006	Grampians bushfire	Victoria	184,000	450,000	2	0	0
6 February 2006	Pulletop bushfire, Wagga Wagga	New South Wales	9,000	22,000	0	0	2	2,500 livestock 3 vehicles 50 kilometres (31 mi) of fencing
1 December 2006 – March 2007	The Great Divides bushfire	Victoria	1,048,000	2,590,000	1	51	0
September 2006 – January 2007	2006–07 Australian bushfire season	New South Wales South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia	1,360,000	3,400,000	5	83	approx. 20
4 February 2007	Dwellingup bushfire	Western Australia	12,000	30,000	0	16	0
6 – 14 December 2007	2007 Kangaroo Island bushfires	South Australia	95,000	230,000	1	0	0
30 December 2007	Boorabbin National Park	Western Australia	40,000	99,000	3	0	0	Powerlines Great Eastern Highway was closed for 2 weeks
7 February – 14 March 2009	Black Saturday bushfires	Victoria	450,000	1,100,000	173	2,029	2,000
4 January 2013	Tasmanian bushfires	Tasmania	20,000	49,000	1
18 January 2013	Warrumbungle bushfire	New South Wales	54,000	130,000	0	53	118	Agricultural machinery and livestock Infrastructure at Siding Spring Observatory
17 – 28 October 2013	2013 New South Wales bushfires	New South Wales	100,000	250,000	1	208	40
27 December 2011 – 3 February 2012	Carnarvon bushfire complex	Western Australia	800,000	2,000,000	0	0	0	11 pastoral stations (fences, watering systems, water points, stock feed)
2 – 9 January 2015	2015 Sampson Flat bushfires	South Australia	20,000	49,000	0	27	140
29 January – 20 February 2015	2015 O'Sullivan bushfire (Northcliffe – Windy Harbour)	Western Australia	98,923	244,440	0	2	5	Thousands of hectares of production forests (karri and jarrah) or national parks
January 2015	2015 Lower Hotham bushfire (Boddington)	Western Australia	52,373	129,420	0	1	1	1 bridge Thousands of hectares of production forest (jarrah) or national parks
1–9 August 2015	2015 Wentworthfalls Winter Fire	New South Wales	800	2,000	0	0	0
October – November 2015	2015 Esperance bushfires	Western Australia	200,000	490,000	4	10	0	15,000 livestock 5 Nature Reserves Most of Cape Arid National Park
15 – 24 November 2015	Perth Hills bushfire complex – Solus Group	Western Australia	10,016	24,750	0	0	0	Jarrah production forest and Conservation Park
25 November – 2 December 2015	2015 Pinery bushfire	South Australia	85,000	210,000	2	91	0
January 2016	2016 Murray Road bushfire (Waroona and Harvey)	Western Australia	69,165	170,910	2	181	Yarloop Workshops	Thousands of hectares of Lane Poole Reserve Production forest (jarrah)
11 – 14 February 2017	2017 New South Wales bushfires	New South Wales	52,000	130,000	0	35	0
Early February 2019	Tingha bushfire	New South Wales	23,419	57,870	0	19
5 September 2019 – 2 March 2020	2019–20 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer)	Nationwide	18,626,000	46,030,000	34	approx. 2,600	approx. 6,000	At least one billion wild animals are estimated to have died (not including frogs and insects) with some species thought to be facing extinction.	Area Other
1 June 2020 – 1 June 2021	2020–21 Australian bushfire season	Nationwide	250,000	617,763	0	85	Dozen outbuildings and 1 Service Station in Lucindale and dozens of out buildings in Bradbury. Outbuildings, sheds and a nursery destroyed in Oakford. Outbuildings lost in Wooroloo and surrounds.	1 house in Northmead north west of Sydney was severely damaged.

Images for kids

Smoke from bushfires can cover a large area. This is eastern Victoria.
The city of Melbourne covered in smoke during the 2006-2007 bushfire season.
An Australian bustard searching for food behind a bushfire.
Ladysmith NSW RFS fire fighting tanker
Wildfire near Yosemite National Park, United States, in 2013. The Rim Fire burned more than 250,000 acres (1,000 km²) of forest.
A surface fire in the western desert of Utah, United States
Charred landscape following a crown fire in the North Cascades, United States
Forest fires visible from a distance in Dajti National Park, Tirana, Albania
Experimental fire in Canada
A dirt road acted as a fire barrier in South Africa. The effects of the barrier can clearly be seen on the unburnt (left) and burnt (right) sides of the road.
Lightning-sparked wildfires are frequent occurrences during the dry summer season in Nevada.
A wildfire in Venezuela during a drought.
Global fires during the year 2008 for the months of August (top image) and February (bottom image), as detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.
Ecological succession after a wildfire in a boreal pine forest next to Hara Bog, Lahemaa National Park, Estonia. The pictures were taken one and two years after the fire.
A Pyrocumulus cloud produced by a wildfire in Yellowstone National Park
National map of groundwater and soil moisture in the United States. It shows the very low soil moisture associated with the 2011 fire season in Texas.
A prescribed burn in a Pinus nigra stand in Portugal
Dry Mountain Fire Lookout in the Ochoco National Forest, Oregon, circa 1930
Wildfires across the Balkans in late July 2007 (MODIS image)
Global map of fire alerts on April 13, 2021. Available from Global Forest Watch. Live updates.
A Russian firefighter extinguishing a wildfire
Wildfire fighters cutting down a tree using a chainsaw
Wildland firefighter working a brush fire in Hopkinton, New Hampshire
2003 Canberra firestorm
Sediment off the Yucatan Peninsula
Charred shrubland in suburban Sydney (2019–20 Australian bushfires).
Smoke from the 2020 California wildfires settles over San Francisco
Elk Bath, an award winning photograph of elk avoiding a wildfire in Montana
Aerial view of deliberate wildfires on the Khun Tan Range, Thailand. These fires are lit by local farmers every year to promote the growth of a certain mushroom