This Hazard Note was published ten years after Australia’s most deadly bushfire, in which 173 people lost their lives and thousands of houses were destroyed. Like Black Friday, Ash Wednesday and other catastrophic bushfires in Australia’s history, the lessons from Black Saturday, 7 February 2009, are still resonating today. Hazard Note 58 highlights the key findings of the Bushfire CRC report Victorian 2009 bushfire research response.
The research focused on three aspects – fire behaviour, human behaviour, and building and planning issues, and was supported by a substantial database of scientific observations, photographs and interviews.