2020-03-01_Australian_Geographic

1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

5

9

4 5 55

1111

334443 3 44443 3

222

486,030ha

1983

Ash Wednesday

South Australia / Victoria

2400

75

2009

Black Saturday

Victoria

2000

173

400,000ha

2010

2019–20

Bushfi re Season

Nationwide

3000

33

2020

117

million ha

1974 –75

Bushfi re Season

Nationwide

2002

Northern Territory

2002

Northern Territory

Sources: Australian Disaster Resilience

Knowledge Hub; Forest Fire Management

Victoria; Victorian Department of

Sustainability and Environment; Risk

Frontiers Macquarie University; CSIRO;

Australian Bureau of Statistics;

Australian Institute of Criminology

Remote locations

Fires mostly located in

largely uninhabited

parts of Australia.

What makes the

2019–2020 fi res

so destructive?

These fi res were the

fi rst to burn such a large

amount of area close to

human populations, with

multiple fi res burning

simultaneously across the

country, many in areas not

previously prone to fi re.

This resulted in high levels

of destruction on many

levels: fatalities, homes

destroyed and area burnt,

refl ecting a huge cost

to humans and the

natural environment.

Most deaths

Australia's most destructive

fi re by number of fatalities,

with relatively small area burnt

March. April 47

50%

of the last, large,

chlamydia-free population

of koalas is estimated

to have perished in the

Kangaroo Island fi res

211,255

hectares burnt

KANGAROO ISLAND

dwellings

destroyed

vehicles

destroyed

outbuildings

destroyed

89

296

276

Livestock lost

32,000

fire perimeter

612 km

FACT

A total area of

448,685ha burnt

across the state of

of the island South Australia

affected

48%

280

Defence force

personnel

deployed

38 million ha

16

million ha

Fatalities:

2

SOUTH

AUSTRALIA

KANGAROO

ISLAND