Black Saturday Bushfires - Chronology

Chronology

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Delburn fire commenced in Central Gippsland; arson suspected.

Wednesday, 4 February

Bunyip State Park fire commenced.

Saturday, 7 February (Black Saturday)

Mid-morning – Bunyip State Park fire jumped containment lines; no other major fire activity.

Late morning – many fires sprang up as temperatures rose and wind speeds increased.

11:20 am – power lines fell in high winds igniting the Kilmore East fire (Kinglake/Whittlesea area). The fire was fanned by 125 km/h (78 mph) winds, entered a pine plantation, grew in intensity, and rapidly headed southeast through the Wandong area.

12:30 pm – Horsham fire commenced.

Early afternoon – ABC Radio received calls from residents of affected areas supplying immediate up-to-date information on fire activity.

2:55 pm – Murrindindi Mill fire (Marysville area) first spotted from Mt Despair fire tower.

3:04 pm – temperature in Melbourne peaked at 46.4 °C (115.5 °F).

4:20 pm – Kilmore East fire front arrived at Strathewen.

4:20 pm – fire impacted Narbethong.

Mid-afternoon – smoke from Kilmore East firestorm prevented planes from mapping the fire edge.

4:30 pm – number of individual fires across the state increased into the hundreds.

4:30 pm – fire commenced at Eaglehawk, near Bendigo.

4:45 pm – Kilmore East fire front arrived at Kinglake.

5:00 pm – wind direction changed from northwesterly to southwesterly in Melbourne (see Fawkner Beacon Wind chart for 7 February 2009).

5:10 pm – air temperature in Melbourne dropped from over 45 °C (113 °F) to around 30 °C (86 °F) in fifteen minutes.

5:30 pm – wind change arrived at Kilmore East and Murrindindi Mill (Kinglake/Marysville) fire fronts.

5:45 pm – Kilmore East fire front arrived in Flowerdale.

6:00 pm – Beechworth fire commenced.

6:00 pm – Kilmore East fire smoke plume and pyrocumulus cloud reached 15 km (9.3 mi) high.

6:45 pm – Murrindindi Mill fire front arrived at Marysville.

8:30 pm – Victorian Health Emergency Co-ordination Centre notified Melbourne hospitals to prepare for burn victims.

8:57 pm – CFA chief officer first notified that casualties had been confirmed.

10:00 pm – Victoria Police announced an initial estimate of 14 fatalities.

Sunday, 8 February

Kilmore East and Murrindindi Mill fires merged to form the Kinglake fire complex.

Wilsons Promontory fire ignited by lightning.

Victoria Police increased estimate to 25 fatalities.

Tuesday, 10 February

Spot fires from Kinglake complex fires merged to form the Maroondah/Yarra complex.

Tuesday, 17 February

Six fires still burnt out of control, with another nineteen contained.

Containment lines surrounded 85 per cent of the Kinglake–Murrindindi complex.

The Kilmore East – Murrindindi complex south fire burned in Melbourne's O'Shannassy and Armstrong Creek water catchments.

The Bunyip and Beechworth fires almost contained.

Thursday, 19 February

Victoria Police increased estimate to 208 fatalities.

Monday, 23 February

Temperatures in the mid-30 degrees Celsius (mid-90 degrees Fahrenheit), northerly winds, and a cool change precipitated a flare up of many of the fires, and ignited several new fires. The most significant new fires were in the southern Dandenong Ranges near Upwey, south of Daylesford, and in the Otway Ranges. Weather conditions directed previously burning fires in the Yarra Ranges towards settlements in the upper Yarra Valley, but the fires were of a low intensity and were quickly contained.

Friday, 27 February

The Bunyip fire still burnt within control lines in the Bunyip State Park and State Forest areas.

The Kilmore East – Murrindindi complex north fire burnt within containment lines on the southeastern flank.

The Kilmore East – Murrindindi complex south fire activity continued in areas close to several towns in the Yarra Valley near both Yarra Glen and Warburton.

The Wilsons Promontory Cathedral fire had burnt 24,150 ha (59,700 acres) and was still burning.

The French Island fire slowly burnt in uninhabited grass and scrub bushland on the northeast end of the island.

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Extreme bushfire conditions predicted for Monday night and early Tuesday morning, involving very strong northerlies, with a change forecast to arrive by Tuesday morning. Three million SMS messages warning of extreme fire danger conditions were sent by the mobile phone companies, on behalf of Victoria Police, to Victorians and Tasmanians with mobile phones as a technology trial.

Wednesday, 4 March

Cooler conditions and rain from 4–6 March enabled firefighters to control and contain several fires, with the Kilmore East – Murrindindi complex south fire being completely contained. Predictions for favourable weather signalled the easing of the threat to settlements from the major fires that had been burning since 7 February.

Mid-March

Favourable conditions aided containment efforts and extinguished many of the fires.