Black Saturday ten years on – what did we discover?

It has been ten years since 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. This Hazard Note 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. The findings led to the second stage of research by the Bushfire CRC (2010 to 2014), which investigated the issues arising from the Black Saturday bushfires in depth.

Further reading

Boylan J, Cheek C and Skinner T (2013), Preliminary report on the January 2013 fires in south east Tasmania, Bushfire CRC

Every C, Reynolds A, Clarkson L, Bearman C, Matthews R, Haigh L, Dawson D (2016), Sampson Flat community bushfire experiences, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Hazard Note 15

Gould J (2015), Estimating fuel levels post-cyclone, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Hazard Note 8

Hayes K and Bird D (2014), Investigating the activation of community fire units in the Blue Mountains during the October 2013 bushfires, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC

McLennan J, Dunlop P, Kelly L and Elliott G (2011), Lake Clifton fire 10 January 2011: field interview task force report on community bushfire safety, Bushfire CRC

McLennan J and Elliott G (2012), Community bushfire safety issues: findings from interviews with residents affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires, Bushfire CRC Fire Note 98

McLennan J, Wright L and Mackie B (2013), How three communities reacted to bushfire: research findings from the January 2013 bushfires in NSW, Bushfire CRC Fire Note 119

McLennan J (2014), Study captures insights on bushfire risk and responses, Bushfire CRC Fire Note 131

McLennan J (2015), Capturing community bushfire readiness: post-bushfire interview studies 2009-2014, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Hazard Note 4

McLennan J (2015), Capturing community members' bushfire experiences: interviews with residents following the 12 January 2014 Parkerville (WA) fire, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC

Trigg J, Rainbird S, Thompson K and Bearman C (2015), How three South Australian communities responded to the 2014 bushfires, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Hazard Note 5

Victorian 2009 bushfire research response: final report (2009), Bushfire CRC

Whittaker J and Taylor M (2017), Community preparedness, warnings and responses: NSW fires 2017, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Hazard Note 45