Talk:Ash Wednesday fires

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Portal	Ash Wednesday fires is within the scope of WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics. If you would like to participate, visit the project page.
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Contents 1 1980 Fires too 2 Causality 3 Possible Wiki Links 4 New Content 5 South Australian Impact 6 Map 7 Images? 8 Rewrite

[edit] 1980 Fires too

There were Ash Wednesday fires in 1980 too. They didn't cause loss of life in SA IIRC, but they were significant. One fire started from the Heathfield rubbish dump, causing an inquiry (or inquest, if I'm wrong about the loss of life).

Mark Hurd 14:23, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Causality

The cause of the fires was probably (unfortuantly) fire bugs. A prevailing reason for their intensity may have been El Nino.

Mark Hurd 14:23, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Possible Wiki Links

I am currently testing an automated Wikipedia link suggester. Here are the results of running it on this article:

• Can link natural disaster: ...dnesday fires' were an Australian natural disaster which occurred in February 1983, and af...
• Can link Dandenong Ranges: ... of Victoria, including the Macedon and Dandenong Ranges, as well as the Otways in the sea....
• Can link Ash Wednesday: ... as well as the Otways in the sea. The Ash Wednesday fires were caused by the El Nino drough...
• Can link South Australia: ...was 75 lives - 47 in Victoria and 28 in South Australia. In the Dandenong Ranges, 17 firefighte...

Notes: The article text has not been changed in any way; Some of these links may be wrong, some may be right; You can leave positive feedback or negative feedback; Please feel free to delete this section from the talk page. -- Nickj 02:50, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] New Content

I have added information obtained from and linked to the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment. I note that a previous historical edit removed reference to Mount Macedon on the grounds that the fires there occurred two weeks prior to Ash Wednesday: this is not my recollection. I do not dispute that there may have been fires two weeks earlier; however, sadly, they returned on that dreadful day and destroyed the memorial cross at the top of Mount Macedon and many fine homes. See http://users.ssc.net.au/gisbornecfa/History.htm adamm 12:51, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] South Australian Impact

I notice this article heavily focuses on Victoria. I can only assume that it began life as an article on the Ash Wednesday Bushfires there. Considering the scope of the fires in SA (almost the same number of acres burnt) and the great loss of life the article should be expanded out. Any help in this suggestion? Ozdaren 13:41, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

I well remember Murray Nicoll describing his own house burning down during his radio news report. The transcript of his broadcast would be a good source of information. --TrogWoolley 23:08, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Too bad he is a terrible journalist now :) Muzzamo 01:22, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Map

Since the fires covered such a large area, perhaps a map of SE Australia showing the extent of the fires would be handy. - 52 Pickup 08:24, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Images?

I have suspicions that a few of the images here (including the infobox one) are unfree. Any thoughts? dihydrogen monoxide (H₂0) 09:24, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rewrite

I have rewritten the intro to the article using some of the more primary sources for this event. I have found that there is some confusion even in the official accounts for the Ash Wednesday disaster about exact figures for land area burnt, homes destroyed, and even the death toll. Hopefully the article will become as accurate and consistent as possible. Cheers Admella1859 (talk) 12:39, 25 May 2008 (UTC)