About Black Saturday

The 2009 bushfires in January and February ravaged many parts of Victoria and touched directly and indirectly many millions of people in the State, across Australia and internationally.

One hundred and seventy three people died, thousands of homes and other dwellings were destroyed and over 400,000 hectares were burnt.

More than 78 communities across Victoria were directly affected. On 7 February, Black Saturday, Victorian townships including Marysville, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Narbethong, Flowerdale and Strathewen were devastated.

More than 19,000 CFA members were involved in frontline firefighting, incident management and support behind the scenes.

Below is a breakdown of the following townships affected by the Black Saturday Fires.

 

Location Details of fire Losses

Kilmore East

The fire started at about 11.47am, on top of a rocky hill between two gullies near Saunders Road.

  • People: 119
  • Area (ha): 125,383
  • Houses: 1,242

Horsham (Vectis & Haven)

The fire ignited at about 12.20pm; it was a grass fire and in the first hour spread rapidly, covering just over 10 kilometres.

  • People: 0
  • Area (ha): 2,346
  • Houses: 13

Coleraine

At about 12.30pm, a fire broke out in a paddock on private farmland about 5 kilometres north-west of the township.

  • People: 0
  • Area (ha): 713
  • Houses: 1

Pomborneit–Weerite

The grass fire was relatively short-lived, being active for about five hours on that day but burning over 1,000 hectares. It started at about 1.15pm.

  • People: 0
  • Area (ha): 1008
  • Houses: 0

Churchill

The fire started at about 1.32pm, 3 kilometres south-east of the Churchill fire station.

  • People: 11
  • Area (ha): 25,861
  • Houses: 145

Murrindindi

The fire started at about 2.55pm, to the north of a sawmill in Wilhelmina Falls Road. It travelled rapidly and by 4.30pm was affecting Narbethong.

  • People: 40
  • Area (ha): 168,542 (Combined area with Kilmore East)
  • Houses: 538

Redesdale

The fire was reported at 3.11pm and burned towards the south-east for about 19 kilometres.

  • People: 0
  • Area (ha): 7,086
  • Houses: 14

Narre Warren and Upper Ferntree Gully

The fires burned in grass reserves and scrubland, on residential streets, and in homes and gardens.

  • People: 0
  • Area (ha): 163
  • Houses: 7

Bendigo

The fire started shortly after 4.00pm in Maiden Gully, 8 kilometres north-west of the central business district.

  • People: 1
  • Area (ha): 341
  • Houses: 58

Beechworth-Mudgegonga

Fire in the area began at about 6.00pm and burned fiercely until weather conditions moderated in the early hours of 8 February.

  • People: 2
  • Area (ha) 33,577:
  • Houses: 38

 

Maps of the 2009 Bushfires

Major bushfires occured in late January 2009 and continued until March 2009. Listed below are high and low resolution maps of those major fires.

 

2009 Major Fires Overview 2009 Major Fires Overview A1 - high resolution (PDF 2.5MB)
2009 Major Fires Overview A1 - low resolution (PDF 823.9KB)
2009 Major Fires Overview A3 (PDF 343.6KB)
Black Saturday Overview
7 February 2009
7th February 2009 Fires Overview A3 (PDF 266.7KB)
2009 Major Individual Fire Maps
(Not all fires considered significant have individual fire maps)
Beechworth-Library Rd Beechworth-Library Rd - high resolution (PDF 7.8MB)
Beechworth-Library Rd - low resolution (PDF 377.6KB)
Bunyip Bunyip - high resolution (PDF 6.6MB)
Bunyip - low resolution (PDF 304.6KB)
Churchill Churchill - high resolution (PDF 7.6MB)
Churchill - low resolution (PDF 337KB)
Coleraine Coleraine - high resolution (PDF 3MB)
Coleraine - low resolution (PDF 235.1KB)
Delburn Delburn - low resolution (PDF 284.4KB)
Harkaway Harkaway - high resolution (PDF 2.5MB)
Harkaway - low resolution (PDF 282.5KB)
Kilmore East & Murrindindi Kilmore East & Murrindindi - high resolution (PDF 3.9MB)
Kilmore East & Murrindindi - low resolution (PDF 608.9KB)
Lynbrook Lynbrook - high resolution (PDF 3.5MB)
Lynbrook - low resolution (PDF 222.4KB)
Lysterfield Lysterfield - high resolution (PDF 3.6MB)
Lysterfield - low resolution (PDF 214.4KB)
Maiden Gully Maiden Gully - high resolution (PDF 5.4MB)
Maiden Gully - low resolution (PDF 330.5KB)
Muskvale Muskvale - low resolution (PDF 264.5KB)
Redesdale Redesdale - high resolution (PDF 5.5MB)
Redesdale - low resolution (PDF 344KB)
Upper Ferntree Gully Upper Ferntree Gully - low resolution (PDF 216.2KB)
Upwey Upwey - high resolution (PDF 2.4MB)
Upwey - low resolution (PDF 275.9KB)
Vectis Vectis - high resolution (PDF 3.8MB)
Vectis - low resolution (PDF 268.4KB)
Weerite Weerite - high resolution (PDF 4MB)
Weerite - low resolution (PDF 232.9KB)

 

 

Page last updated:  Thursday, 17 June 2021 4:31:39 PM