"[524][525] Metallica donated A$750,000; and donations of A$500,000 were received from Nicole Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban,[526] Kylie and Dannii Minogue and their family,[527] and Bette Midler. Moreover, the fires caused widespread phytoplankton blooms by causing oceanic deposition of wildfire aerosols, enhancing marine productivity. The impact on NSW communities, farmers, local businesses, wildlife and bushland was unprecedented. In an attempt to protect the Blue Mountains from the Gospers Mountain bushfire, firefighters commenced a large backburn on 14 December in the Mount Wilson and Mount Irvine areas. A C-130 Air Tanker made several fire retardant drops, saving the suburb. A Woolworths employee asked for four days off work in April 2023 to perform the solemn task of spreading his father's ashes with family was knocked back without explanation by a manager. Residents and visitors to the Kosciuszko National Park were evacuated and the national park was closed. Buses were called in early to take students home before the fire threat became too dangerous. [162] As temperatures were forecast to reach 41C (106F) on the South Coast, Premier Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency on 2 January 2020 with effect from 9am on the following day, including an unprecedented[163] 14,000-square-kilometre (5,400sqmi) "tourist leave zone" from Nowra to the edge of Victoria's northern border. See the report for further information on the incident. The following day, 66 more emergency warnings were issued as community relief centres continued to operate in Bairnsdale, Sale, Morwell, Wangaratta, Corryong, Tallangatta and Wodonga. The Black Summer fires produced huge weather systems known as pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which pumped record-breaking amounts of smoke and aerosols directly into the stratosphere between 10 and 30 kilometres above Earth. [43], Numerous interstate agencies deployed firefighting resources into New South Wales, including several hundred firefighters from the Victorian Country Fire Authority,[313] along with crews from the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade,[314] the South Australian Country Fire Service,[315] the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service,[315] the South Australian Department of Environment and Water,[315] and the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service. [160] On 2 January, the fire hit the popular and historic Jenolan Caves area, destroying multiple buildings including the local fire station. Climate change fuelled Australia's devastating Black Summer. create tells the stories behind the latest trends, innovations and people shaping the engineering profession. [424] The Australian Academy of Science stated "The scientific evidence base shows that as the world warms due to human induced climate change, we experience an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Such challenges were compounded by worsening drought conditions and an unprecedented number of fire initiated thunderstorms. The smoke plume from the 2019-2020 fires circled the mid-latitude regions of the southern hemisphere at least twice. They burnt 278 hectares (687 acres) before they were brought under control. [533] Shane Warne and Jeff Thomson, retired Australian cricketers, donated their baggy green Test cricket caps and Thomson also donated a playing vest for online auction. The following two days saw the fire reach Tinonee and Taree South, threatening the Taree Service Centre. A fire burnt in wilderness areas on the Carrai Plateau west of Kempsey. Several thousand people were isolated in the town and more than 60 homes were destroyed. Author Christopher R Dickman 1 Affiliation 1 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. [199] On 3 January, Andrews said two people were confirmed dead from the East Gippsland fires. Is that correct? A total of 5,595,739 hectares were burned, 2,475 houses and 25 lives lost in 10,520 bushfires in NSW ( Fig. From 1 July to 31 December, the Greater Sydney and mid-north coast regions experienced approximately 11 declared bushfire emergencies and 26 total fire bans. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the national capital Canberra was blanketed by thick bushfire smoke on New Year's Day from bushfires burning nearby in New South Wales. Additionally, Defence announced that it would deploy HMAS Adelaide to support other Navy ships in evacuations and relief, as well additional Chinook helicopters and military transport aircraft to RAAF Base East Sale. [213] At 8am the air quality in Brisbane reached unprecedentedly poor levels (Woolloongabba PM2.5 238.8 g/m3). [302], Due to the extremely dry conditions, some remnant areas of rainforest thatunlike most Australian vegetationhave not evolved and adapted to fire, were burnt in 20192020. While the proportion of high-severity fires hasn't changed, the enormous range of the 2019-2020 bushfires meant 44% of the total area burned by . "[438][444] In the lead up to another Federal inquiry into state land management, Professor of Bushfire Behaviour and Management Trent Penman added "If there was a silver bullet on bushfires we'd have found it by now, after the 51 [bushfire] inquiries since 1939," and that "blindly putting money into prescribed burning won't stop the problem". [60] The Illawarra and Greater Hunter areas also experienced catastrophic fire dangers, and so did other parts of the state, including the already fire ravaged parts of northern New South Wales. It was in this edge environment that the Black Saturday bushfires inflicted the damage that made them some of the most destructive in Australian history. The false claims are, in some cases, used to undermine the link between the current bushfires and the longer, more intense fire seasons brought about by climate change." The major fires peaked during DecemberJanuary. Recent projections of fire weather (Lucas, et al., 2007)[8] suggest that fire seasons will start earlier, end slightly later, and generally be more intense. This increased criticism of the conservative government's climate policy. [519] Footballer Mathew Ryan, goalkeeper for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Australia national team announced he'll donate $500 for every registered save by an English Premier League goalkeeper on the weekend of 1112 January 2020. The RSPCA estimated that up to one million wild and domesticated animals died in the disaster. [321] On 29 December 2019, it announced that volunteer firefighters who have been called out for more than 10 days would be able to receive financial compensation. ", "We are seeing the very worst of our scientific predictions come to pass in these bushfires", "The truth about Australia's fires arsonists aren't responsible for many this season", "Media reaction: Australia's bushfires and climate change", "Final-Report-of-the-NSW-Bushfire-Inquiry", "NSW Bushfire Inquiry - Premier & Cabinet", "Legal action taken against 183 people this bushfire season", "Separating Fact From Fiction: A Breakdown Of The Small Role Arson Played This Bushfire Season", "Drought now officially our worst on record", "Australia records three years of hotter than average monthly temperatures", "Fire in NSW leaves more than 2,000 homes damaged or destroyed as authorities brace for bad conditions", "Hasta la vista El Nino but don't hold out for 'normal' weather just yet", "Water resources minister 'totally' accepts drought linked to climate change", "NSW Government says entire state in drought, new DPI figures reveal full extent of big dry", "Climate change impacts on fire-weather in south-east Australia", "Climate change is one factor affecting how fires in Australia burn, regardless of whether arsonists or lightning started them", "The 2019-20 bushfires: a CSIRO explainer", "Statement regarding Australian bushfires | Australian Academy of Science", "Australia ranked worst of 57 countries on climate change policy", "Australian PM Downplays Climate Change as Cause of Deadly Fires", "Scott Morrison says climate change 'contributed' to bushfires", "Tony Abbott, former Australian PM, tells Israeli radio the world is 'in the grip of a climate cult', "Malcolm Turnbull says Liberals' struggles with climate denial are hurting Australia", "Bushfire preparations stymied by climate change deniers in Government, says small business lobby", "NSW accepts all 76 recommendations of inquiry into summer bushfires and admits link to climate change", "Climate of the Nation: Climate Change Concern Hits 82%", "Melbourne climate change protest not appropriate: Daniel Andrews", "What is the evidence behind hazard-reduction burning? The situation deteriorated on 21 December when the fire changed direction and attacked Balmoral and Buxton once more from the opposite side, with major property losses in both areas. Over many millennia, these controlled burns have altered the continents environment, favouring the survival and spread of fire-resistant plant species and creating open grassy woodlands. [140] As of 27 December, the Gospers Mountain fire had burnt over 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres);[141] and, after burning approximately 512,000 hectares (1,270,000 acres) across the Lithgow, Hawkesbury and Central Coast local government areas, the NSW Rural Fire Service reported the fire as contained on 12 January 2020, stating that the fire was caused by a lightning strike on 26 October. They also charged two youths with arson in connection with the Bendigo blaze. A volunteer RFS firefighter sustained fatal injuries at the Green Valley fire on 30 December. Several other countries have offered assistance: Australia is one of the most fire-prone countries on earth, and bushfires form part of the natural cycle of its landscapes. [476][477] The governing Liberal and National parties, accompanied by numerous news outlets associated with climate change denial, firmly deflected responsibility away from the record-breaking drought affecting the country and its associated links to climate change observations and projections. In addition, 5,728 interstate and overseas fire and emergency service personnel were deployed. The program covers every Local Government Area that was disaster declared as a result of the 2019-20 bushfires. Victoria's Premier announces that bushfires had burnt through 1.2 million ha and 200 homes have been lost. Two mega-blazes were recorded in NSW. Over the following days as the fire continued to progress to the south east, both Yerrinbool and Hill Top were threatened by the fire. Political figures from outside Australia including Donald Trump,[340] Cory Booker,[341] Hillary Clinton,[342] Al Gore,[342] Bernie Sanders,[342] Greta Thunberg,[343][344] and Elizabeth Warren[341] all publicly commented about the fires. ", "Land Management Practices Associated with House Loss in Wildfires", "More hazard-reduction burns not the answer, experts warn", "What does the fire spread map for January 4 mean? While the Bell 214 helicopter was completely destroyed, the pilot walked away with minor injuries. [511], The term black summer has become a common term for the 201920 bushfire season, for example, the Australian Red Cross uses this phrase as a blanket term for the fires. The lasting damage of the Black Saturday bushfires has been the personal cost to individuals, families and communities. [78][79] As temperatures reached 49C (120F), the New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian called a fresh seven-day state of emergency with effect from 9am on 3 January 2020. 2021 Nov;17 (6):1162-1167. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4496. The centrepiece of the precinct, Jenolan Caves House, was saved. Over the course of a few months, 26 lives were lost, 2,448 homes were destroyed and 5.5 million hectares (ha) of land was burnt. [459] The vice.com website wrote "Research conducted by the Queensland University of Technology showed that Twitter accounts with the characteristics of bots or trolls were spreading disinformation about the responsibility of arsonists and Greens. The Kilmore East fire spread quickly and crossed the Hume Freeway at 1.58pm. [20][21][22][23][24][b] It was claimed that three billion terrestrial vertebrates the vast majority being reptiles were affected and some endangered species were believed to be driven to extinction. Emergency warnings were issued at Lulworth, Bothwell, and Lachlan. [235] On 12 December, temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) exacerbated the fire, and the emergency warning area doubled including parts of Guilderton and Brenton Bay further north. The 2019-20 bushfire season was the worst on record for New South Wales in terms of its intensity, the area burned, and the number of properties lost. The fires also claimed the lives of three American crew members, killed when their aircraft crashed during water-bombing operations on the Good fire in the Snowy Monaro region. [223] The fires killed one person,[224] more than 70 houses were destroyed, as well as over 400 outbuildings and 200 cars. [245] By New Year's Day 2020 a crew of 200 firefighters brought the fire back to advice level without any loss of life or major property damage (a park ranger hut and hiking tracks were destroyed). 21 January 2020 [201], On 13 January 2020, two bushfires were burning at emergency level in Victoria despite milder conditions, one about 8km east of Abbeyard and the other in East Gippsland affecting Tamboon, Tamboon South and Furnel. An emergency warning was issued for Bendoc and nearby communities on 30 January. Source: Australian Institute for Disaster . Content warning viewers are advised that the stories and images in these videos may be distressing to some people. [115] Twelve local government areas started the Bush Fire Danger Period two months early, on 1 August 2019,[116] and nine more started on 17 August 2019. A decision by the New South Wales Government to cut funding to fire services based on budget estimates, as well as a holiday taken by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, during a period in which two volunteer firefighters died, and his perceived apathy towards the situation, resulted in controversy. Credit: Joe Armao The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning estimates the fires affected more than . [519] Justin Hemmes donated A$500,000. During the summer between 1974 and 1975, Australia experienced its worst bushfire season in 30 years. As further crews arrived and worked to protect properties, a C-130 Air Tanker made several fire retardant drops directly over firefighters and houses, saving the rest of the suburb. Tragically, the season also resulted in the loss of several lives, including 20 civilians: three in October, five in November, four in December and eight in January. 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