Bushfire Impacts on People
Bushfires don't just impact the environment, they also greatly impact people and communities. Bushfires can kill or injure people, destroy homes and properties, displace people, and cost a lot of money to cover repair costs.
Death & Injuries The heat, flames, smoke and destruction caused by a bushfire can harm people, and even kill them at times. Getting too close to a bushfire's flames can kill someone either from the heat itself or the flames coming in direct contact, inhaling too much smoke can kill someone due to how unhealthy it is and any things falling or being blown around by a fire can injure or kill somebody. Bushfires are a harm to the safety of people, and can ultimately result in a lot of death. An example of this is the 173 people who were killed during the Black Saturday bushfires. Destruction of Homes & Property Large bushfires can easily ravage through people's homes and properties, burning or melting them to the ground. Betty Walker, who you can find out about here, talks about how her house exploded like a fireball and her neighbour's brick house melted to the ground. Bushfires can take away people's homes, along with all of their possessions or anything on their property. Displacement of People When people lose their homes in a bushfire, they become displaced, with no proper home. They can be provided with shelter and food temporarily, but it may take anywhere from a couple months to a couple years to get their houses built up again. Some victims may result to completely relocating and starting a new life elsewhere, with different people, places and things, which would mean leaving so much behind. Repair Costs After a bushfire, the costs of repairing communities and can be quite excessive, depending on how much land the fire demolished. Many projects would have to be postponed in order for the towns to be completely restored. Examples of how expensive bushfire costs can be are the Black Saturday bushfires, which cost a total of $4.4 billion and the Ash Wednesday bushfires, which cost over $200 million in both Victoria and South Australia. |
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