2003 Canberra bushfires

The Canberra bushfires of 2003 caused severe damage to the outskirts of Canberra, the Australian capital city and almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory’s pasture, forests and nature parks were severely damaged. After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on January 18. Over the next ten hours, four people died, and 816 homes ^* and tens of square kilometres of forest were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction effort.

Origin of the fires

Fires had been burning in the adjoining Kosciuszko National Park to the west of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) since January 8 2003 when lightning strikes had started some 150 fires.

On 13 January, a helicopter that had been waterbombing the fires in the forests west of Canberra crashed into Bendora Dam, and ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, who was reviewing the progress of the fires, was one of the rescuers.

Saturday 18 January

As strong winds and high temperatures continued into the morning of Saturday, 18 January, residents in rural areas west and north-west of the city were told to prepare for the worst. Two fires continued to burn out of control in the Namadgi National Park, with the entire park, along with the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve being closed due to the threat. A second fire in the Brindabella Ranges was threatening to break containment lines.

Throughout the day, the fires burned closer to the fringes of Canberra's suburbs, and there was no sign of authorities gaining control of the situation. By mid-afternoon, it had become apparent that the fires posed an immediate threat to houses on the city's urban limits, and a state of emergency was declared at 2.45 p.m. by the ACT's Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope. The fires reached the urban area at 3 p.m.. Residents of threatened suburbs were ordered to leave by police.

By 4 p.m. houses were alight in the suburbs of Duffy, with the loss of a home in Holder soon after. In Duffy, firefighters had been forced to retreat before the firestorm, abandoning an entire block. Due to fire damage to infrastructure and extreme winds bringing down powerlines across the area, large parts of the city lost power. Fires also started in Giralang because of powerline problems. Evacuation centres were set up at four schools - Phillip College, Ginninderra College, Erindale College and Narrabundah College. A dark cloud hung over the city, and though it was not in danger, Parliament House was closed.

By 5 p.m., houses were reported destroyed in Duffy, Giralang, Holder and Rivett, as well as a school in Uriarra. Houses were also burning in Kambah and Uriarra, with some Holder residents being asked to evacuate. The Monaro Highway into Canberra was closed off, and more suburbs were reported to have lost power. Within an hour, houses were also burning in Torrens and Weston, as well as one suburban fire station. The Canberra Hospital, though it was relying on auxiliary power due to the blackout, faced increasing numbers of patients suffering from smoke inhalation and other fire-related illnesses.

The first casualty of the fires occurred in the mid-evening, as a result of smoke inhalation. The fires subsequently spread to the suburb of Curtin and Lyons, and residents of several suburbs were given the option of evacuating to Queanbeyan. The Emergency Services Bureau, based in Curtin, which was the centre of command for the firefighting operation, came under threat itself. The army, which has a significant presence in and around Canberra, was called in to provide support.

By 10 p.m., one of the four evacuation centres in Canberra was completely full, and others were filling up quickly. Reports of looting also began to arrive from the damaged areas. Both Prime Minister John Howard and then-Governor General Peter Hollingworth changed their plans in order to return to Canberra as soon as was possible. While the very worst of the fires had passed, the situation was still far from stable, and going into Sunday January 19, houses were still ablaze across numerous suburbs.

Aftermath

By the evening of Sunday, 19 January, it was clear that four people had died. They were Alison Tener, Peter Brooke, Douglas Fraser and Dorothy McGrath, all residents of Duffy. The significant loss of life and damage to property and the destruction of forests to the west of the city caused not just economic loss but significant social impacts. Many people were affected by depression, particularly those who had lost their homes in the fires. The community questioned the lack of preparation for the fires and the total confusion at the time. In the weeks after January 18, the impact of the fires was studied in detail in order to determine how the damage had been done, and how to better work against such natural disasters in future. The Cities Project compiled information on as many as 431 damaged properties, stratified into the groups of "destroyed", "heavy damage", "medium damage", "light damage", and "superficial damage". This data was split by suburb to form a table which illustrated which areas had taken the most damage. The data allowed them to conclude that the high levels of "destroyed" property (91%) indicated the high speed with which the fire had moved. It was also concluded that once the establishments had caught fire, there was little chance of their being put out. In addition, the study showed that it was not only the fire which caused damage, but also the fierce winds recorded on the day, which were strong enough to uproot some small trees. It is believed that with the aid of this information, better policies and regulations have been formulated, which may help to reduce the destruction by future bushfires in Canberra, as well as in other locales.

As with any bushfire, the environment will take significant time to regenerate. Regeneration of vegetation was delayed by an ongoing drought in the region.

Perhaps the most notable cultural and scientific loss caused by the fires was the damage to the scenic and renowned Mount Stromlo Observatory (headquarters of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics of the Australian National University) which is estimated to be the source of a third of Australia's astronomical research (New Scientist, 20 January 2003). Five historically significant telescopes were destroyed. Instrumentation and engineering workshops, the observatory's library and the main administration buildings were consumed. The insurance payment sought by the Australian National University, amounting to 75 million Australian dollars, could become the largest claim in Australian history (The Australian, 15 December 2004).

Official responses

Following the 2003 bushfires, the ACT and New South Wales and Australian governments initiated community and official responses to the fire.

Bushfire Recovery Taskforce

The Bushfire Recovery Taskforce was established to advise the ACT Government, provide leadership for the recovery and act as a bridge between Government agencies and the community.

McLeod Inquiry

The ACT Government established the McLeod Inquiry to examine and report on the operational response to the bushfires. The Inquiry was headed by Ron McLeod, a former Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Inquiry handed down its findings on 1 August 2003.

The inquiry found that:

The fires, started by lightning strikes, might have been contained had they been attacked more aggressively in the 24 hours after they broke out. Large stretches of dry drought affected vegetation and weather conditions that were extremely conducive to fire meant that once the fires reached a certain size, that they were very difficult to control.
That management of fuel load in parks and access to remote area was lacking.
Emergency service personnel performed creditably, but they were overwhelmed by the intensity of the fires and the unexpected speed of their advance on 18 January.
A Comprehensive ACT emergency plan was in place at the time of the fire, it worked particularly in recovery after the fires in dealing with the large number of people who needed temporary shelter and assistance as a consequence of the fires.
That inadequacies in the physical construction and layout of the Emergency Services Bureau centre in Curtin were a hindrance. The centre was unable to handle efficiently the large amount of data and communications traffic into and out of the centre at the height of the crisis.
That there were some equipment and resourcing deficiencies within the ACT’s emergency service organisations.
That information and advice given to the community about the progress of the fires, the seriousness of the threat and the preparations the public should be making was seriously inadequate. There was also confusion as to whether homes should be evacuated.

The Inquiry recommended there should be increased emphasis given to controlled burning as a fuel-reduction strategy. That access to and training of emergency personnel in remote areas need to be improved. That a number of changes be made to the emergency services and the policies that govern their operations, including a greater emphasis on provision of information to the public.

ACT Coroner's Bushfire Inquiry

The Coroner's inquiry has been underway since January 2003, and hearing officially opened on 16 June 2003. The ACT Coroner’s Court conducted an inquiry into the cause, origin and circumstances of the 2003 bushfires and inquests into the four deaths associated with those fires. The inquiry is under the provisions of the ACT Coroners Act 1997.

The inquiry has been marked by controversy and in February 2005 the ACT Supreme Court heard an application that the coroner be disqualified due to bias. The inquiry into the fires was on hold until August 2005 until the Full Bench of the Supreme Court delivered its decision that Coroner Maria Doogan should not be disqualified on the ground of a reasonable apprehension of bias. The inquiry reconvened on 17 August 2005.

After hearing over 90 days of evidence the inquiry wrapped up on 25 October 2005. Although the inquiry was supposed to be completed in early 2006, submission will continue in to mid 2006.

House Select Committee on the recent Australian bushfires

On 26 March 2003 the House of Representatives established a Select Committee to inquire into the recent Australian bushfires, including the Canberra bushfire. The committee tabled the report of its inquiry on 5 November 2003 and the Australian government presented its response to the report on 15 September 2005.

Bushfire memorial

On 18 January 2006, three years after the day of the bushfires, a bushfire memorial was opened on land which had been affected by the fires in Stromlo forest. ^*

The ACT Bushfire Memorial was commissioned by the ACT government to acknowledge the impact of the fires, and thank the many organisations and individuals who played crucial roles in the fire fighting and recovery efforts.

The memorial was designed by Canberra artists Tess Horowitz, Tony Steel and Martyn Jolly and incorporates elements requested by the ACT community. It is a journey from the day of the fire through the process of recovery, to the honouring of memory.

The entrance memorial walls are made from the community's salvaged and inscribed bricks which contain messages of grief and gratitude. Beyond the walls, a site framed by a grove of casuarinas contains red glass and metal forms that refer to the force of the firestorm and the lightning strikes that sparked the main fires. An avenue leads to an amphitheatre enclosing a pond and bubbling spring. Glass columns bordering the pond contain details from photos provided by the community which speak of memory and human resilience.

As of early March 2006, the memorial is not quite finished. Apart from the immature casuarina trees, which will take time to grow to full height, there remains landscaping and plumbing work yet to be completed. The area where the memorial is located is undergoing significant redevelopment for recreational purposes, and will not be replanted with pine forest.

References

External links

Image galleries

Fighting bushfires on the Mount Franklin Road, Brindabella Ranges, on the night of 11/12 January 2003 / David Tunbridge
Canberra fire damage, 18 January to 14 February 2003 / Damian McDonald, Greg Power and Loui Seselja.
Canberra bushfires, 18 January to 14 February 2003 / Tony Miller
Canberra bushfires, 2003 / Christine Thomas and Simon Mockler
Canberra Bushfires 2003 / Peter Dey

2003 in Australia | History of the Australian Capital Territory | Wildfires | Disasters in Australia

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