Canberra Fires

An entirely burnt and ash covered landscape, with the river running through the middle of the scene.

In March 2003 I arrived in Canberra to visit my sister, two months after the worst ever bushfires had swept through 70% of the Australian Capital Territory. Canberra is set in the northern corner of the ACT and surrounded by mountains and National Parks, with some surprisingly isolated wilderness within an hour or so of the Capital.

Weird looking but typical regrowth on burnt Eucalyptus sp trees.

The fires, started by lightning strikes, burned for a week, killing four people, injuring 435 and destroying nearly 500 homes and over 20 government offices and commercial premises, including the internationally important Mount Stromlo Observatory [link]. There was a raging drought, and the weather was hot and windy. I can remember watching the news footage at our home in London, utterly horrified. It was the first time we had ever experienced this sense of watching helpless from afar. I can also remember bursting into tears at work on hearing the news that the Wildlife Research Centre at Tidbinbilla had been destroyed, killing many rare native animals being kept in captivity in the Centre (just typing this required some severe gulping and lip chewing to keep the tears at bay...).

The fire was so intense it burnt the humus in the soil and the roots of trees, which sometimes smouldered unnoticed for weeks.

The first recorded instance of a fire tornado in Australia was documented during these fires. It generated winds of 250 kilometres an hour and rose in the air at 150 kilometres an hour.

This shed and cattleyards obviously copped it, although not all the nearby trees have been severely burnt.

UPDATE/RESPONSE to COMMENTS: Since I can't reliably respond to comments in the comments section...

chm: And since last year, many more Australians will know how it looks and feels.