BLACKSATURDAY

BLACK SATURDAY!WHERE: VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.DATE: 7TH FEB – 14TH MARCH 2009.AFFECTED AREAS: 450000 HECTARES, 1.1 MILLION ACRES.SORCE: POWER LINES,LIGHTING,MACHINERY,DELIBERATLY LIT.INJURIES: 414.DEATH: 173.HOW TO BE PREVENTED: CREATE YOUR OWN FIRE PLAN, AND BE READY TO USE IT WHENEVER.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded and the Kings lake fires were the worst. The fires destroyed over 2,030, 3,500+ structures in total. The fire temperatures were in the mid 40’s and there was winds of 120 kilometres per hour.

Map of affected areas and number of casualties in each area.

The black Saturday bushfires damaged, houses, structures, people and damages 76 towns during a heat wave that affected south-eastern Australia.

•Started off as extreme natural process (atmospheric) •Became a natural disaster.•Physical processes•Biological –•Became a natural hazard, The bushfires turned into a natural hazard because it started affecting people and families.

•Human Causes-•Natural Causes-

•Accidental Causes-•Mechanical Causes-

Saturday 7 February (Black Saturday)Late morning - Many fires spring up simultaneously as windspeeds increase and temperature rises.11:20am - Powerlines are felled in high winds igniting a fire at Kilmore East The fire is fanned by 125 kilometres per hour winds, enters pine plantation, grows in intensity and rapidly headssoutheast through the Wandong area12:30pm - Horsham fire commencesEarly afternoon - ABC Radio receive calls from residents of affected areas supplying immediateup-to-date information on fire activity.3:04pm - Temperature in Melbourne peaks at 46.4 °C (115.5 °F)4:30pm - Number of individual fires across the state increases into the hundreds.4:30pm - Fire commences at Eaglehawk, near Bendigo.4:45pm - Kilmore East fire front arrives at Kinglake.5:00pm - Wind direction changes from northwesterly to southwesterly in Melbourne5:10pm - Air temperature in Melbourne drops from over 45 to around 30 in 15 minutes.5:45pm - Kilmore East fire front arrives in Flowerdale.6:00pm - Beechworth fire commences6:00pm - Kilmore East fire (Kinglake area) smoke plume and pyrocumulus cloud reaches 15km high.8:30pm - Victorian Health Emergency Co-ordination Centre notifies Melbourne hospitals to prepare for burn victims.8:57pm - CFA chief officer first notified that casualties had been confirmed.10:00pm - Victoria Police announce an initial estimate of 14 fatalities.

Black Saturday was caused by clashing power lines and other different sources.

Major fires

• Kings lake.• Marysville.• Beechworth's.• Bendigo.• Redesdale.• Bunyip• Dandenong • Horsham

• 450,000 ha (1,100,000 acres) burnt• 414 people injured• 7,562 people displaced

• Over 3,500 structures destroyed• 190 ha of standing crops• 3,921 ha of private bushland

• 2,150 sheep• 1,207 cattle

• Over 11,000 livestock killed or injured• The electricity supply was disrupted to 60,000 residents

• Several mobile phone base stations and telephone exchanges damaged or destroyed

• 950 local parks, 70 national parks and reserves, and over 600 cultural sites and historic places were destroyed

OVERALL DAMAGES

•Start with a floor diagram of the home

•Make sure that everyone knows the sound of the smoke alarm and what to do if a fire occurs

•Plan escape routes. Identify a primary escape route out of every room, then pick a secondary route in case the first is blocked by fire. Always plan two ways out of each room

•Select a meeting place outside the home (e.g. the letterbox). Make sure everyone in your household knows to meet there should a fire occur in your home.

•Dial triple zero (000) - the number to call in an emergency - from a neighbour’s home or mobile phone

FIRE PLAN

• http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1436&bih=722&q=balck+saturday&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&safe=active

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires• http://www.nt.gov.au/pfes/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=225• http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&safe=active&biw=1419&bih=722&gbv=

2&q=state+fire+plans&aq=f&aqi=g-m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai

• http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&safe=active&gbv=2&biw=1419&bih=722&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=fire+seasons&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=