Canberra Bushfire 2003
The Canberra bushfires in January 2003 were among the largest known natural disasters in Australia . They caused severe damage to the outskirts of the capital Canberra and burned almost all of the vegetation on 70% of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The bushfires raged in the remote wilderness west of the city for a week, then broke through the containment lines on January 18, 2003 and surrounded some parts of the city. A total of 500 houses were destroyed and four people were killed in the flames before a change in the weather brought the major fire under control. The property damage amounted to around 300 million Australian dollars .
course
The fires broke out on January 8, 2003 in Kosciuszko National Park immediately west of the ACT, when lightning strikes caused over 150 individual sources of fire, favored by a midsummer dry period that had lasted for weeks. During the first few days, the bushfire was limited to a relatively small area. On January 13, a helicopter that had been used to fight the fire crashed on the Bendora Dam . The rescue team also included Chief Minister Jon Stanhope , who had found out about the development of the bushfires on site.
On January 18, the fires in Namadgi National Park , Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and Brindabella Range west of the city got completely out of control due to strong winds and high temperatures and broke the containment lines. All day long, the bushfires pushed closer and closer to the city. At 2:45 p.m. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope declared a state of emergency and by 3:00 p.m. the fires had reached the outskirts. The residents of the endangered parts of the city were asked by the police to leave their homes.
At 4:00 p.m. the first houses in the Duffy district were on fire, and soon afterwards in Holder too. The violent wind tore down power lines, so that the power went out in large parts of the city. Sparking power lines were responsible for further fires in Giralang. Evacuation centers have been set up in four schools. Clouds of black smoke hung over the city and Parliament House was closed, although it was not directly endangered.
An hour later, destroyed houses were reported in the districts of Duffy, Giralang, Holder and Rivett, as well as in the rural settlements of Uriarra and Kambah. The Monaro Highway has been closed. At 5:00 p.m., other houses, including a fire station, burned in the Torrens and Weston districts. Canberra Hospital had to switch to emergency generators and treat numerous emergency patients with smoke inhalation. The fires spread to the districts of Curtin and Lyons and many residents were advised to evacuate to Queanbeyan . When the Emergency Command Center in Curtin itself was in danger, the army was asked for help.
At 10:00 p.m. one of the evacuation centers was already full and the other three were almost at capacity. Looting was reported from the affected districts. Both Prime Minister John Howard and Governor General Peter Hollingworth changed their plans and returned to Canberra to show solidarity with the residents. The bushfires had passed their peak, but the situation was still far from stable and on January 19, Sunday morning, houses were still burning in many parts of the city.
aftermath
On the evening of January 19, it was found that four residents of Duffy had died in the flames. Hundreds of them had lost all their belongings. The lack of preparation and the occasional complete confusion among those responsible were criticized in the media. In the weeks that followed, the course of the event was examined in detail in order to research the causes and to better cope with similar natural disasters in the future. The data collected showed that 91% of the buildings that caught the fire were completely destroyed. This suggests that the fire had spread at high speed. In addition to the fire damage, there were also numerous uprooted trees due to the strong wind.
A particularly serious loss was the almost complete destruction of the renowned Mount Stromlo Observatory at the Australian National University . Five historically significant telescopes were destroyed; the workshops, the library and the main administrative building fell victim to the flames. The $ 75 million insurance benefit required by the university may be the highest single claim in Australian history.
On January 18, 2006, the third anniversary of the fire disaster, a memorial was inaugurated near Duffy on the site of the destroyed Stromlo birch forest. It was commissioned by the ACT government to commemorate the destruction and to thank the many organizations and individuals who played an important role in fire-fighting and rescue operations. The memorial, designed by Canberra based artists Tess Horowitz, Tony Steel and Martyn Jolly, symbolizes the journey from Day of Fire to the process of rebuilding and honoring memories. The area around the monument will not be reforested, but will be redesigned as a local recreation area.
