Ash Wednesday
February 16 - 18 1983 Ten months of drought were followed by a series of bushfires across Victoria and South Australia on February 16, 1983. A majority of the bushfires involved in Ash Wednesday were lit by arsonists or were accidents, others occurred naturally or were the result of power-line incidents. Warburton, Cockatoo, Upper Beaconsfield, Bronxeholme, the Otway Ranges, Mount Macedon, Monivae and Cudgee were among the most affected towns. The end result of the bushfires was 75 people dead, over 200,000 hectares of land burnt and over 2,000 homes lost. |