Blue Mountains Fires

The county fire marshal Alan Carson, saw the fire around 1.30 am and he defined the fire was a big one. Added that the weather and

The preconditions of the area where the fire occurred were very dry land with “whipping seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds and the Diablo winds” (mnn.com). The fire was started by a hunter who was lost in the woods. He believed he could be found easily if he started a small signal fire however, because of the preconditions, this small fire would spread and become the “largest single fire in California’s recorded history” (mnn.com)

The hayman fire is the largest wildfire in colorado history to date. The fire burned 138,000 acres of land. The fire started on June 8th and didn't stop burning until July 2nd. The fire destroyed 133 homes and cost over 40 million dollars in firefighting cost. Over 5,000 people had to evacuate from their homes to get out of harm's way. There was so much smoke from the fire it could be seen all across the state spreading ash and sought into surrounding areas.

“The heat of the fire and the great masses of flaming gas created great whirlwinds which mowed down swaths of trees in advance of the flames” (Koch, 1978). Women and children gathered the belongings they could and piled into Trains in seek of safety from the fire while the men were told to report to battle. Multiple towns were incinerated by the morning of the next day. The two day long fire had burned a total of 3 million acres of Idaho and Montana and took the lives of 85 people along with countless animals unable to outrun the burning fire. The smoke from the fires reached New England and soot traveled to Greenland (Forest History Society,

Imagine a single event that can kill 57 people and 7000 deer and elk. Snap trees like a toothpick, and turn the sky grey for 15 days. Now, stop imagining, Mount St. Helens, in the Cascade Range of southwestern Washington State, erupted. On May 18th,1980. According to (Campbell 371), “At least $1 billion in economic damage was reported”. The eruption of Mount St. Helens took many lives, and devastated America. Mount St. Helens destroyed more than 230 square miles of ancient forest.

Black Saturday is one of the most horrific natural disasters in Australian history. With over 172 dead, 414 injured, 1.07 billion dollars paid by insurance companies, 20,030 houses and 3,500 buildings completely destroyed within seven weeks. The bushfire ignited on February the 7th and ended on the March the 15th 2009, lasting to an estimated 37 days. The bushfires had an immediate effect and completely wiped out towns off national maps, some resurrected with the building and endurance of communities but others were left with not a structure standing. Some towns that were affected by the bushfires were Beechworth, Bendigo, Churchill, Horsham, Kinglake, Narre Warren, Marysville, Flowerdale and Redesdale.

Australia is a dry continent, with high climate variability, and is continually vulnerable to natural hazards like bushfires. The nation’s capital, Canberra which also well known as Bush Capital is within the vicinity of the several national parks and is prone to the frequent bushfires in severe climatic conditions and also has a strong history of catastrophic bushfire events. Canberra is a city designed and built within a bush and grass landscape where residents are able to live, work and play among nature so bushfires are an inevitable fact of life in the ACT (ACTESA). In the year 2003 bushfire event heavy damage was done and the communities had experienced huge loss of life and their property. The bushfire extent was more than 70% of the

fires in the first week of October, on Saturday night, October 7, a blaze broke

Two months prior to the bushfire that devastated communities in Victoria were extremely low rainfall and hot dry drought like conditions. This bushfire was influenced to begin as a result of the punishing heat, low humidity and the severe drought that lasted two months in the Victoria region. The black Saturday fires were met by temperatures that reached 46 degrees Celsius with the addition humidity which dropped below 6%. As a result of these conditions in Kinglake the fire was easy to start and continue as the conditions all supported the growth of a bush fire.

Any time that the federal agency that responds to disaster events handles such situations there is likely to be a significant loss of life due to the disaster event. This makes a requirement that responders know how to deal with the psychological issues and challenges that are present. It is reported that mental and behavioral health, "in the context of disasters and emergencies, include a wide range of interrelated factors psychological (emotional, cognitive, behavioral), psychological and social that influence people's ability to cope with and recover from extreme situations." (Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee of the National Biodefense Science Board, 2010, p.4) Stated as examples of such issues are those of "fear and anxiety resulting from safety concerns, the death of loved ones, separation from family members and uncertainty as to their fate, and loss of homes and possessions; noncompliance with government directives resulting from loss of confidence in authorities; breakdown in community social

Bushfires are among all disasters by having a massive cost component as well as a continuous financial impact on the government and Australian people. Every year there is an insurable loss consisting of approximately 80 million to 100 million. Black Friday bushfire of 1939 is estimated to have cost 750 million to repair all damages, the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires were estimated to

This story fits with what we have learned in class in a few different ways. First, we have talked about various environmental issues, environmental sustainability and the social work profession in class. This includes pollution and environmental damage. This smoke and ash from these huge fires is definitely not good for the planet or the people nearby. Many who were several miles away from any flames were noting ash raining from the sky. The air quality was therefore also affected and people could definitely smell the smoke. Second, as I already mentioned, people had to evacuate their homes. These people left behind everything they had and many people’s homes completely burned down, destroying everything. This would be very traumatic. There are numerous government programs in place that could assist with

who lived this experience, especially those who were close to the most affected areas, will

The Pike River Mine stopped operating during the explosions and in the aftermath due to the enquiry taking place.

In the summer of 1983, conditions in Victoria and South Australia temperature were extremely high and hot level. Drought conditions with a heat wave with temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius meant that forests were highly combustible. On Wednesday 16 February (now known as 'Ash Wednesday'), around 180