On February 7, 2009, the “Black Saturday Bushfires” became the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
1939 Black Friday Bushfire (Australia) – 5 Million Acres
Gone down in history as Black Friday, the bushfires that destroyed more than 5 million acres in Victoria – a state in southeastern Australia – in 1939, were the culmination of several years' drought, followed by high temperatures and strong winds.
The biggest wildfire in recorded US history is the 1825 Miramichi Fire. It blazed through an estimated 3,000,000 million acres and claimed at least 160 lives.
The Black Saturday bushfires were the worst in Australia's history, killing 173 people. Almost 80 communities and entire towns were left unrecognisable. The fires burned more than 2,000 properties and 61 businesses.
On October 8, 1871, the most devastating forest fire in American history swept through northeast Wisconsin, claiming 1200+ lives.
Chau Tenement House Fire, 1962
The blaze was intensified by the presence of flammable materials, including a hefty quantity of stored fireworks. The fire roared through the tenement, trapping sleeping residents inside. The blaze killed 44 and left hundreds of people homeless.
The 1871 Peshtigo Fire, Wisconsin
The blaze started on October 8 1871 and burned around 1.2 million acres. At least 1 152 people were killed, making this the worst fire that claimed more lives than any of the other wildfires in US history.
Forest fires often reach or exceed temperatures of 2,000° Fahrenheit—that's equivalent to one-fifth the temperature of the surface of the sun.
At least 33 people have been killed - including four firefighters - and more than 11 million hectares (110,000 sq km or 27.2 million acres) of bush, forest and parks across Australia has burned.
In each group, millions of animals were killed or displaced: 143 million mammals. 2.46 billion reptiles. 180 million birds.
Between July 2019 and 13 February 2020, the NSW Rural Fire Service reported that 11,264 bush or grass fires burnt 5.4 million hectares (13 million acres), destroyed 2,439 homes, and approximately 24 megalitres (5.3 million imperial gallons; 6.3 million US gallons) of fire retardant was used.
The devastating series of fires that continue to rage across southeastern Australia have officially become the costliest bushfire event on record, with payouts now exceeding AU $1.65 billion (US $1.13 billion), according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
In terms of the total area burnt, the largest fires are in the Northern Territory and northern areas of Western Australia and Queensland. Most loss of life and economic damage occurs around the fringes of cities where homes are commonly in close proximity to flammable vegetation.
Bushfires are frequent occurrences in Australia because of the continent's generally hot and dry climate. In fact, Australia is the most fire-prone country on Earth. Fire services respond to between 45,000 and 60,000 bushfires in Australia each year.
1. California, Washington, and Oregon – United States.
Class C fires are often one of the most difficult types of fire to actually extinguish – it is quite rare for a fire extinguisher to extinguish all the flames of a gas fire – making it incredibly important to try and avoid a Class C fire as far as possible.
A coal seam-fueled eternal flame in Australia known as "Burning Mountain" is claimed to be the world's longest burning fire, at 6,000 years old. A coal mine fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.
The Chinchaga Fire started in logging slash in British Columbia, Canada, on 1 June 1950 that grew out of control and ended five months later on 31 October in Alberta; in that time, it burned approximately 1.2 million hectares (3 million acres) of boreal forest.
The largest known area burnt was between 100–117 million hectares (250–290 million acres), impacting approximately 15 per cent of Australia's physical land mass, during the 1974–75 Australian bushfire season.
In 1666, a devastating fire swept through London, destroying 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, The Royal Exchange, Guildhall and St. Paul's Cathedral. So how did it happen?
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.