Bushfires

Bushfires Around Mt Beauty - January/February 2003

Bushfires around Mt Beauty were triggered by a dry thunderstorm on Wednesday 8th January. See http://www.sentinel.csiro.au , http://www.mtbeauty.com/fire/2003fire/index.htm, and DSE/CFA websites for latest.
For Falls Creek fire views look at the nelselodge site. See also The Age for a comprehensive coverage
Click on pictures to get large image.

	Sunday 23rd February We have had 8.5 mm of rain over the past couple of days. Smoke has come and gone and today is a brilliant sunny day. Sentinel shows no fires around our area. So this will be our last report.
	Wednesday 19th February There is still thick smoke around Mt Beauty as shown by the picture taken from Sullivans lookout. Tuesday 18th February There is still fairly thick smoke around Mt Beauty. On a trip to Beechworth it was observed that the fire damage around Beechworth is not very obvious compared with fire damage very close to Mt Beauty. Monday 17th February On our way back from Melbourne, smoke from a significant fire near Stanley is visible. Around Mt Beauty visibility is still only about 5 km.
	Tuesday 4th February 1700 - Visibility has improved to about 5 km. Temperature 26C, wind calm. 0900 - Visibility about 500m in thick smoke. Temperature 14C. Wind calm. Monday 3rd February 1630 - Visibility down to 500m, temperature 26C, wind calm. Radio report that more containment lines to be put in around Mt Beauty. 0900 - Visibility about 700m in thick smoke. Temperature 14C. Wind calm. Sunday 2nd February 1300 - Visibility poor. About 800m in smoke. We wonder how close the fires are. 0900 - Visibility about 1km in thick smoke. Temperature 14C. Wind calm. Saturday 1st February 1800 - Still very smoky. Light winds. Minimal DSE/CFA activity. 0900 - Visibility about 1-2km in smoke. Temperature 14C. Wind calm. DSE convoy comes down Simmonds Creek road.
.	Friday 31st January 2231 - DSE/CFA convoy returns. 2123 - Another convoy of DSE/CFA vehicles has just gone up Simmonds Creek Road presumably to attend to the Youngs Gap fire/backburn. 2100 - Fire still burning slowly between Simmonds Creek Valley and Youngs Gap. Some hot spots on Hollonds Hill across Simmonds Creek valley from us. Winds light. 1833 - Skycrane flies overhead (See picture). 1200 - Flare up at Youngs Gap about 2-3 km south of us (see picture at left). 0900 - Visibility unlimited. Temperature 18C. Wind about 15km/h from the south west. 1.2mm rain has fallen in the last 24 hours.
.	Thursday 30th January 2200 - Flare up with visible flames about 1km south east of us on Hollonds Hill. Occasional crash as trees continue to burn and fall over. 1800 - Skycrane helicopter was deployed to fight Youngs Gap fire and we had a good close-up view. The wind has changed round to the west and lightened. Light rain is now falling. Still some flare-ups on Hollonds Hill. 1530 - Smoke from the fire at Trappers Gap to the northeast of Mt Beauty is visible. Its reported that a Skycrane Helicopter is tackling that. Helicopters still transiting from Mt Beauty to Youngs gap. 1300 - Two Bell 205 and 212 helicopters have been carrying water from the Mt Beauty Pondage to big flare up at Youngs Gap. One of them dumped water on a spot fire on Hollonds hill just across the Simmonds Creek valley from us (see picture). Wind has been from the northeast but is now turning around to the west at about 20-30 km/h. We can see the smoke from the Mt Hotham fire. There are also several flare-ups on Hollonds Hill. 0900 - Smoke and light winds. Visibility about 1000 m. Still CFA fire truck activity on Simmonds Creek road and on Hollonds Hill. Forecast northerly winds and high temperatures. Sentinel shows the fires are now well away from Mt Beauty.
. .	Wednesday 29th January 2200 - Some minor flareups on Hollonds Hill being attended to by CFA units. 1800 - Visibility unlimited reveals big fires to the east (around Dartmouth 30-40km away) and to the west (remainder of the Buffalo fires again 20-30km away). There is a smoke band from east through south to the west. 0900 - Thick smoke and light winds so we can't see much. Visibility about 1000 m. Some CFA fire truck activity on Simmonds Creek road. Forecast northerly winds and high temperatures. Sentinel shows the remains of the Hollonds Hill burn-off.
	Tuesday 28th January 1945 - Some flare-ups on Hollonds Hill. Hollonds Hill is now substantially back burned. Light winds and not much smoke are much better conditions than we have had for several days. Trees crash on average every 10 minutes. Our risk sector has now been reduced to the 180 degree sector to the north. Hope to sleep well tonight. 1200 - Hollonds Hill opposite us is being back burned but it's not very spectacular. Just a few thick columns of smoke. 0900 - Thick smoke and light winds so we can't see much. We can hear trees crashing down as they burn through. 0400 - Fire on Mt Beauty flames now not visible. Smoke thick. Wind much lighter. Went to bed.
	Monday 27th January 2200 - I was wrong. The fire on Mt Beauty has flared and is slowly working its way down towards the west Kiewa river and Simmonds creek. Fire glow behind Hollonds Hill. Lots of CFA activity in Simmonds Creek Road and along the fire track halfway up Hollonds Hill. The wind is up to 30 kmh from the southeast which is blowing into the face of the visible fires so we are not too worried. 1500 - Fires within 10 km of Mt Beauty all appear to be out. But still thick smoke and light winds. 0900 - Thick smoke and light winds so we can't see anything again. No TV now. 0400 - Fire on Mt Beauty still visible as a red lines but flames not visible. Some spots of rain. Smoke thick. Wind much lighter. Went to bed.
. .	Sunday 26th January 2359 - Flames visible on the hill called Mt Beauty above Mt Beauty town. Smoke very thick. Wind speed now reduced. Red glow behind Hollonds hill just across Simmonds Creek Valley. I am just listening to the radio for fire news. Earlier the fire between Big Hill and Mt Beauty was audible as a heavy dull roar. 2115 - Fire slowly approaching Mt Beauty from Big Hill. Big flames visible. Big wind change round to south west. Cam our Neighbour has set up his ute as a fire truck and invited his mates from Yackandandah around to help. The more the merrier. 2000 - We have had a couple of power outages lasting up to an hour. Fire to the south of Mt Beauty is still pouring columns of smoke into the air. A skycrane helicopter went over towards the fire and came back at 5:48 pm. However the fire seems to be moving further south away from us. The winds are becoming light having been higher during the day. Smoke is starting to fill our valley again. The wind is forecast to change from a North Westerly to a South westerly. 1500 - Very large fire burning about 7-8 km south of Mt Beauty. See image at Left. 0845 - Fires close to Mt Beauty as per last night. Light winds so not much movement. Refer to Sentinel Image opposite. Visibility about 1-2 Km.
.	Saturday 25th January 2200 - The winds were fairly light most of the day but sufficient to drive away the smoke. This allowed us to see where the fires are located for the first time in about a week. There are four fires visible around Mt Beauty/Tawonga South. They are at Trappers Gap 10km east north east, Bogong Hill about 2 Km to the east, Cranky Charlie about 3 km to the southeast, and at Tawonga Gap about 2 Km north west of Mt Beauty. 0800 - Report of a fire near Tawonga Gap about 3 Km to the north of our place (See Sentinel image). Reported to be stable now but a bit of a worry given the prediction of northerly winds today.
	Friday 24th January More of the same. Visibility bad in the morning but improving to about 1 - 2 Km in the afternoon. Today we continued general cleaning up. Radio reports not much changed re the fire fronts so the nearest fires to Tawonga South are about 5 km to the south and about 4 km to the east.
.	Thursday 23rd January Visibility today has been worse than on Wednesday, down to 100m and less all day. Although it was a cloudless day, the sun could only be seen for a couple of hours around midday. To get an idea of the effects of smoke since 9 January refer to our electrical production data page. Skies have essentially been cloudless since 9th January. Reduction in power output from normal (around 10 KwH per day) has been solely due to smoke. The CFA has recommended that anyone working outside should use a smoke mask. With Alan, today we relocated our normal petrol pump from our lower pond to our dam to act as fire pump for Alan's and Bernice's house. After some trouble with priming we got it working properly. We can't see where the fires are, although they are still supposed to be close to Mt Beauty but not moving very much due to the generally windless conditions. Fires are expected to flare up tomorrow and Saturday with the arrival of strong northerly winds.

Wednesday 22nd January - In the morning the visibility is down to 100m again and the car is covered with fine ash. At a community briefing at 11am, the Mt Beauty Incident Controller states that fires are still between 3 and 5 km to the east and south of Mt Beauty but moving only slowly. Very light winds. Visibility is still at 100m mid afternoon with an erie orange/pink light. Not much DSE/CFA activity on Simmonds Creek Road. This has been the worst day for smoke. Put more water into our dam and helped Alan, our neighbour, install sprinklers on his roof.
Sentinel Image 0621 UTC 22JAN03

DSE Map 22 Jan 03 .

Update Tuesday 21st January - Visibility substantially better today. We continue to clean up around our place and improve water spraying capability. Several convoys of DSE and CFA vehicles have gone up and down Simmonds Creek Road today. A big smoke cloud arose during the afternoon to the north west presumably from the Buffalo fire that is currently threatening Wandilagong and Bright. In the evening another smoke cloud was observed to the south west, presumably between Mt Beauty and Harrietville. The only other fire around Mt Beauty is reputed to be burning slowly on Bogong hill. Late evening the radio reports a fire is threatening Yackandandah and possibly Wodonga. At 11:00pm we cannot see the stars and there is a slight drizzle of ash.
DSE Map 0900 EDLS Time 21JAN03

Black Humour - Your correspondent was told today that
"it is predicted that Falls Creek will have an excellent next skiing season due to the addition of many black runs".

Monday 20th January - Visibility down to 100m until about midday. Our road is currently closed to all except residents and CFA/DSE vehicles. Smoke has restricted visibility to 100m so no aircraft activity for a few days. We don't know where the fires are and can't see anything. I have been off the internet for 36 hour due pressure of business. Put in a fire pump on our dam today and continued to clean up our site. Radio report that Mt Beauty water supply went from 100% to 30% last night with residents taking precautions wetting their gardens and houses.

Sunday 19th January - In the morning the smoke is the thickest we have seen. Visibility is only 500m. The sun is only a pink ball in the sky. However there is no wind as at 0930. At 10:00 am visibility is down to 200 and stays like that most of the day. At 8:30pm we were put on alert and the Police told us
to leave or be prepared to fight it out. Chris Rigoni arrived to help wet down our buildings for a couple of hours. Thanks Chris. Packed the cars in case of requirement for a quick getaway. Luckily we are still here and nothing has happened so far mainly due to light winds. Stayed up until 5:00 am to monitor situation. Lots of traffic on Simmonds Creek road including bull dozer transports, tankers and other vehicles. Bulldozer and chainsaw noises through the night.

Saturday 18th January - The nearest fire is slowly burning across the western face of little Mt Bogong. The Mountain Creek/Mt Emu Fire is just about out. Ash, bark and singed leaves continue to fall on us from the Mt Buffalo fire. Late in the day a gusty south west wind change blew thick smoke from the Mt Feathertop fire into the Simmonds Creek valley and the Kiewa valley. Now we can't see where the fires are.

17JAN03 - Today was hot and windy and the fires increased. We were covered by a smoke cloud from the Mt Buffalo fires and subject to falling ash and singed and unburnt leaves from that fire. The Mt Bogong fire advanced against the wind and is now burning down the face of Little Mt Bogong towards Mt Beauty and lighting up the night sky. Click on a picture to obtain the large image.

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Photos 16 January - Fires are still burning on Mt Emu, Mt Bogong, Bald Hill and Mt Feathertop. We can see the flames on Mt Bogong from our balcony now. See the picture below. Click on a picture to obtain the large image.

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Sentinel image.
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Photos 14 January - Click on a picture to obtain the large image.

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13 January - The Mountain Creek fire has spread to Mt Emu. Community Meeting held at Mt Beauty 2000 hr - Residents advised to be prepared in case adverse weather accelerates fires.

From "The Age"

The main fires still burning on 11 January were in the Mountain Creek valley, at Mt Arthur across the Kiewa valley from Bogong Village, and at Mt Feathertop. The pictures below were taken on 11 January around 1800 hr EDLS time. The aircraft were all water bombers refilling with retardant liquid at Mt Beauty airport. The Mt Beauty airport was having one of its busiest days.

Photos 11 January - Click on a picture to obtain the large image.

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