Bushfires in Australia

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Bushfires are unfortunately very common in Australia and mostly a great natural disaster. The bushfire season varies between different regions of Australia. Between November and May is the highest fire danger for the southern part of Australia. Temperatures can reach extreme levels particularly in the summer month. Bushfires occur easily during heat waves, for example sparked by lightning. Humans are also responsible for bushfires, accidentally or deliberately. A careless thrown away cigarette butt can be a reason, as well as a campfire which went out of control. And unfortunately you have arsonists who put properties and peoples life at risk.

But bushfires are also essential for Australia’s nature. Some plants like banksia need the fire so the seeds pods can open and shoot. A lot of Australian plants can stand a lot of fire and recover quickly. And Australian Aborigines people used fire for thousand of years. For example, it was handy for hunting and controlled burning of vegetation in the cooler month.

The Black Saturday Bushfire 2009 in Victoria was one of the most devastating disasters in Australian history. 173 people lost their lives and around 2000 homes were destroyed. A heat wave pushed temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. Melbourne recorded its highest temperature ever with 46.4 ºC. On the 6th of February 2009 around 400 fires caused massive destruction across Victoria. It had an impact on 78 townships. If you like have a look to the news report below, provided by the Australian Channel TEN on You Tube.

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