The 1982-83 Victorian Bushfire Season - Including Ash Wednesday - 16 February 1983

This e-book provides a detailed account of the 1982-83 bushfire season from a Victorian forester's perspective. And while the bushfire season is best remembered for those on Ash Wednesday on 16 February 1983, where 47 people died In Victoria and a further 28 in South Australia, significant bushfires occurred right across Victoria from August 1982 until April 1983.It was a long and hectic fire season for the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) which attended 878 fires totalling 486,030...
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This e-book provides a detailed account of the 1982-83 bushfire season from a Victorian forester's perspective. And while the bushfire season is best remembered for those on Ash Wednesday on 16 February 1983, where 47 people died In Victoria and a further 28 in South Australia, significant bushfires occurred right across Victoria from August 1982 until April 1983.It was a long and hectic fire season for the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) which attended 878 fires totalling 486,030 ha, which was well above the 11-year average of 141,000 ha.A large part of this document outlines the accumulated wisdom, achievements, planning and preparations undertaken by the Forests Commission to build an effective firefighting organisation in the decades following the catastrophic 1939 bushfires leading up to the 1982-83 season. Major campaign bushfires at Cann River together with a forensic analysis of the bushfire at Greendale on 8 January 1983 which killed two Forests Commission machine operators is included. The role of the Commission in major bushfires on Ash Wednesday is also described in some detail. The aftermath of the bushfires is outlined as well as the major organisational changes introduced by the new Cain Labor State Government from mid-1983.This story of the 1982-83 fire season was assembled nearly 40 years after the momentous events using internet searches, newspaper accounts, coroner's reports, FCV files held in the Public Record Office, witness statements, police reports, personal recollections and some limited interviews. There remain significant gaps and sadly many of the key FCV staff are no longer alive or available to give their version of events.