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Summary of major Bush Fires Since 1917. Queensland Australia
1st of September 1994 East Coast, Bushfires
Bushfires affected coastal Queensland from September to November.
A total of 23 houses and a sawmill were destroyed in areas as far apart as the Brisbane and Townsville regions, making 100 people homeless.
Over 3,000 people were evacuated near Brisbane. Stock and fencing losses also occurred. The fire lasted for 60 days.
17th of October 2002 Granite Belt Bushfires
A bushfire that raged through the Granite Belt region claimed one life and destroyed homes, buildings, cars and crops.
The fire swept through the Ballandean/Glen Aplin area destroying six houses, 11 buildings, six cars and several vineyards and orchards, and forced the evacuation of many homes.
One woman died after becoming trapped in her burning home. A volunteer fire warden received severe burns while fighting the fire and was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital.
A civilian was also injured when a tree branch fell on him while he was assisting firefighters.
By the 21 October, the fire had burnt 285 square kilometres. The fire was considered under control by 24 October.
Bushfire season 2002 - 2003
There were 2,618 fires in Queensland from July 2002 until June 2003 covering over one million ha. The largest fire burnt an area of 200,000 ha.(1)
| Year | Location | Start Date | Dead | ha. Burned (4) |
| 1917 | Warenda Station, Hughenden | 01/01/17 | 3 | |
| 1918 | Charleville, Blackall, Barcaldine, Hughenden (2) | October | 2 | |
| 1918 | Saltern Creek, NW Qld: Bushfire | 16/09/18 | 5 | |
| 1926 | South-Eastern Qld: Bushfire | 01/01/26 | ||
| 1940 | Goomeri: Bushfire (2) | 80,000 | ||
| 1941 | Julia Creek, Barkly Tableland, Richmond, Cunnamulla (2) | July | 120 000 | |
| 1941 | Tangorin, Winton, St George, Dalby, Julia Creek, Muttaburra, Longreach (2) | Sept. | ||
| 1943 | Dirranbandi (2) | 45,000 | ||
| 1950 | Wyandra, Charleville, Adavale, Langlo, Quilpie, Augathella, Cunnamulla, Thargomindah (2) | Dec. | 49,000 | |
| 1951 | Charleville Region, Qld: Bushfires | 01/01/51 | 1 | 2,834,000 |
| 1951 | SE Queensland: Bushfires | 01/09/51 | ||
| 1954 | Narollah Station, Hughenden (2) | Nov. | 3 | |
| 1955 | Muttaburra, Qld: Bushfire | 01/10/55 | 2 | acres |
| 1964 | Roundstone, Dunmore, Fraser Island, Toolara - Tin Can Bay (2) | 01/01/64 | 92,000 | |
| 1965 | Nara Holding (Croydon district) (2) | Nov. | 97,940 | |
| 1972 | Arcadia Valley (2) | 2000 | ||
| 1974 | Thargomindah, Bulloo Shire, Boulia Urandangie, McKinlay Shire | 01/11/74 | 7,300,000 | |
| 1976 | Julia Creek, Coalbrook Station, Hughenden, South Burnett, Nanango, Brisbane Valley, Inglewood (2) | 25/05/76 | 1,891,600 | |
| 1977 | McKinlay Regions, (Lightning-Induced) | 01/09/77 | ||
| 1979 | Julia Creek, McKinlay Shire | 421,400 | ||
| 1991 | Palmwoods and Mt Tamborine | 01/09/91 | 2 | |
| 1991 | Sunshine and Gold Coast Regions, QLD: | 10/09/91 | 2 | |
| 1992 | Esk Region, Qld: Bushfire | 01/11/92 | 40,000 | |
| 1994 | East Coast, Qld: Bushfire | 01/09/94 | ||
| 1995 | South-east Queensland | Sept. | 333,000 | |
| 1996 | South-Eastern Queensland. Blackall, Brisbane, Lismore | 20/11/96 | ||
| 1997 | Nanango, Qld: Bushfire | 12/01/97 | ||
| 2000 | Hundreds of bushfires in south-east (majority deliberately lit) (2) | Aug.. | ||
| 2001 | Lawn Hill (2) | Aug.. | 1,600,000 | |
| 2002 | Granite Belt, QLD: Bushfires | 17/10/02 | 1 | |
| 2002 | Toowoomba, Tara and Gatton: Bushfires | 23/10/02 | ||
| 2003 | Stradbroke Island, QLD : Bush Fire | 14/09/03 | ||
| 2004 | Brisbane | 01/10/04 | ||
This list is not definitive but gives an idea of the major fire events, particularly after 1939 when the reliability of information increases.
Some minor bushfire events have also been included.
During this period there were 21 Human fatalities (3)
( Data revised September 2009 )
Australia Wide Bushfires 1851 - 2009
During this period there were 815 Human fatalities and 9,946 people were injured. These Fires had affected 1,311,050 people and made 31,942 homeless.
The Total estimated Cost $1,673,697,366. Note this does not include the 7th of February 2009 fire loss, which has yet to be assessed.
Australia Wide Floods since 1790
There were over 2,300 recorded Human fatalities.(5)
Australia Wide Tropical cyclones since 1839
There were over 2,100 recorded Human fatalities.(5)
Australia Wide Severe storms since 1824
There were over 770 recorded Human fatalities.(5)
Data compiled from:
Emergency Managment Australia http://www.ema.gov.au/
(1) Australia-Victoria-Wildland-Fire-Statistics-2003 http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/
(2) Source. Appendix D Fire history in Australia National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management
(3) Source. Emergency Managment Australia and National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management
(4) Source. Appendix D Fire history in Australia National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management
(5) Source. Blong, R (2005) ‘Natural hazards risk assessment - An Australian perspective’.
Issues in Risk Science 4, Benfield Hazard Research Centre, London, p. 28.
(5) Source. 1301.0 / 2008 / Yearbook Complete / Understanding natural hazard impacts on Australia.
Rural Incident Database information has been used for Queensland.
Year Book Australia
Environment
Bushfires http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/ccb3f2e90ba779d3ca256dea00053977?OpenDocument
Australia-Victoria-Wildland-Fire-Statistics-2003
http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/inventory/database/Australia-Victoria-Wildland-Fire-Statistics-2003.doc.
