1967 Tasmanian fires
The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which became known as the Black Tuesday bushfires.
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Extent of the fires
As many as 110 seperate fire fronts burnt through some 264,270 hectares of land in Southern Tasmania within the space of five hours. Fires raged from near Hamilton, Tasmania and Bothwell, Tasmania to the Channel country. There was extensive damage to agricultural property in the Channel country, Derwent Valley and Huon Valley. Fires also destroyed land around Mt Wellington and many small towns along the Derwent estuary and east of Hobart.
Death toll
The worst of the fires was the Hobart Fire, which encroached upon the city of Hobart. In total, the fires claimed 62 lives in a single day. 53 people died in the Hobart area. Property loss was also extensive with around 1400 homes destroyed.
Causes
In the days leading up to 7 February, 1967, several bushfires were burning uncontrolled in the areas concerned. Some of these fires had been deliberately lit for backburning despite the extremely dry conditions at the time. Reports into the causes of the fire stated that only 22 of the 110 fires were started accidentally.
Shortly before midday on the 7th, a combination of extremely high temperatures, (the maximum was 39 °C), very low humidity and very strong winds from the north-west led to disaster.
Interestingly, although this fire was by far the worst in terms of loss of life and property in Tasmanian history, the meteorological conditions are not totally uncommon there. McArthur's report[1] on the fire notes that 'very similar conditions have occurred on three or four occasions during the past 70 years'.
Comparison with other major Australian bushfires
If considered in terms of both loss of property and loss of life, in 1967 this represented one of the worst disasters to have occurred in Australia. It is comparable in scale with the 1939 Black Friday bushfires in Victoria (where the loss of 72 lives was nevertheless spread over several days) and the subsequent 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia, which claimed 75 lives.
Other notable information
David Brill was a 23 year old ABC trainee cameraman at the time of the fires. His footage of the fires in Hobart was his first significant piece of journalistic coverage and launched his 35-year career.
See also
External links
Categories: Australian history | Natural hazards | Historic fires