1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the ups and 4 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: downs of everyday history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: reflecting on the Black Friday bushfires. The devastated Southeast Australia 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: and ushered in a new era of fire prevention and management. 7 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: The day was January nine, thirty nine. A series of 8 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: fires converged and swept rapidly across large areas of Victoria, Australia, 9 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: leaving a widespread trail of death and destruction. The event, 10 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: known as Black Friday, was the culmination of several years 11 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: worth of drought, combined with high temperatures and powerful winds. 12 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: Some of the fires had been burning since early December, 13 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: and when the dry conditions fanned the flames, the separate 14 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: fires combined into a massive inferno, which then spread across 15 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: the southeastern state in virtually every direction. In total, the 16 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: Black Friday fires burned nearly two million hectares of land, 17 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: including large areas of state forest. Fierce winds swept the 18 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: flames across great distances, leveling giant trees and blowing embers 19 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: miles away, where they then started new fires in regions 20 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: that had never burned before. The fires grew so large 21 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: and intense that falling ash was reportedly sighted from as 22 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: far away as New Zealand. The destruction came to an 23 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: end two days later, when a rain storm lent a 24 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: hand to beleaguered firefighters and finally snuffed out the flames 25 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: on Black Friday itself. The fires claimed the lives of 26 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: thirty six people. By the time they were extinguished, the 27 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: death toll had risen to seventy one lives lost. In addition, 28 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: thousands of sheep, cattle, and horses were killed by the 29 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: intense heat and flames, and countless other mammals and birds 30 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: lost their habitats. Approximately thirteen hundred buildings were destroyed, including 31 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: seven hundred homes, sixty nine sawmills, and a host of 32 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 1: other businesses and farms. Beyond the immediate damage, the bushfires 33 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: also had a lasting effect on the environment of Victoria. 34 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,079 Speaker 1: Water supplies were contaminated with ash, dirt, and other debris 35 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: for years following the fires, and the region's soil was 36 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: scorched so deeply that it took decades to restore its 37 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: original fertility. As For what had caused the devastating fires, 38 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: there were two main factors. The first was a year's 39 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: long period of drought that had caused many of the 40 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: area's creeks and rivers to dry up. Worse Yet, high 41 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: temperatures and dry winds had drained most of the moisture 42 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: from the ground, leaving the forest floors and open plains 43 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: primed to burn. The second factor, which led to the 44 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: fires on Black Friday, was human negligence. Beginning in December 45 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: of nine, a host of separate fires had been started 46 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: in Victoria for all sorts of reasons. Despite the dry conditions, 47 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: sawmill operators burned large piles of branches, while sheep and 48 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: cattle ranchers lit fires to clear land and allow new 49 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: grass to grow. Forest workers and campers also contributed to 50 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: the disaster by lighting camp fires and by burning new 51 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: pathways through the brush. Even when these separate fires had merged, 52 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: some landowners in the region continued lighting new ones in 53 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: the hope that burning the land around their homes would 54 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: prevent the larger fire from reaching them. Unfortunately, because of 55 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: the strong hot winds, those domestic fires quickly grew out 56 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: of hand and made everything much worse. The week leading 57 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: up to Black Friday was a nightmare for local residents. 58 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,679 Speaker 1: Few people in Victoria had home refrigerators at the time, 59 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: and nobody had air conditioning. Even if they did, those 60 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: living in the bush could see the writing on the 61 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,119 Speaker 1: wall or the smoke on the horizon, and they didn't 62 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: consider staying at home to be a safe option. Many 63 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: people sought relief from the encroaching flames by fling two beaches, rivers, creeks, 64 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: or even to mining tunnels. In some cases. The bush 65 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: fires were extinguished by rain on Sunday, January, and three 66 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: weeks later a Royal commission was launched to investigate the 67 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: causes of the fires. It was led by Judge Leonard Stretton, 68 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: who delivered the commission's thirty five page report less than 69 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: four months later. Despite being concise and relatively quickly assembled, 70 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: the report was thorough and surprisingly poetic. For example, take 71 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: this sentence from the report's introduction. It reads quote, the 72 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: soft carpet of the forest floor was gone. The bone 73 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,679 Speaker 1: dry litter crackled underfoot. Dry heat and hot, dry winds 74 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: worked upon a land already dry to suck from it 75 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: the last least drop of moisture. Judge Stretton offered seven 76 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: notable recommendations for improving forest and fire management, the most 77 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: important of which led directly to the creation of Victoria's 78 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: Country Fire Authority or cf A. In In addition, the 79 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: government also acted on several other recommendations from Stretton, including 80 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,479 Speaker 1: improved fire prevention education, the constructtion of watch towers for 81 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: early fire detection, and the implementation of controlled burns during 82 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: spring and autumn. Those improvements are the silver lining of 83 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: the Black Friday fires, and the findings of Judge Stratton 84 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: and the Royal Commission continue to influence Victoria's approach to 85 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: fire management even to this day. The Black Friday bush 86 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: fires were among the deadliest and most extensive of the 87 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: twentieth century. However, climate change is leading to more severe 88 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: weather more frequently. The Australian bushfire season of twenty nine 89 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: is already being referred to as Black Summer, a sobering 90 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: reminder than in the twenty one century, the threat and 91 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: the need for vigilance is now greater than ever. I'm gay, 92 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 93 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you have a 94 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: second and you're so inclined, you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 95 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I HC Show if you 96 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and 97 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: you can write to us at this Day at I 98 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler May's for producing 99 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 100 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History class. 101 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 102 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 103 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.