- Author
- Victoria Country Fire Authority
- Title
- Major Fires Originating 16th February 1983.
- Keywords
- wildland fires | weather effects | fire behavior | fire fighting | fire fighters | fire danger rating | wind effects | wind direction | wind velocity | fire seasons | grasslands
- Identifiers
- major factors affecting fire behavior; reports on individual fires
- Abstract
- This report is composed of extracts from the Country Fire Authority" in house" report on the major fires in Victoria originating on Wednesday, 16th February, 1983, prepared for the Chief Officer by a Fire Investigation Committee of Authority operational Officers and research staff. It is published to accede to the many requests which have continued to flow to the Authority since that date for factual data of these major fires. A total of 180 fires were attended by the Authority on 16.2.83 -- eight of these were considered of major proportions or sufficiently significant in several respects to be included in the detailed investigations leading to the report. The fires selected were: 1. Cudgee/Ballangeich 2. East Trentham/Mount Macedon 3. Otways 4. Belgrave Heights/ Beaconsfield Upper 5. Cockatoo 6. Monivae 7. Branxholme 8. Warburton. Each fire was dealt with as a separate entity, except where two fires e.g. Cudgee and Ballangeich, because of their on-ground proximity, were combined for operational purposes. In this report characteristics of climate, including the drought and drought index; vegetation, including dryness and quantity in grassland; and the prevailing weather conditions of 16.2.83 which applied State-wide, are discussed in general terms preceding the section reporting the selected fires. Data collection was a major task in the investigation which, in addition to examination of operations logs and other documentation of activity and events prior to and on 16th February.