2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires

Bushfires in Australia March 2025 September 2014 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires 2003 Bushfires aftermath near Anglers Rest.jpg 250 Burnt out bushland near Anglers Rest on the Omeo Highway, one of the worst hit areas Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Victoria, Australia 2003 01 08 y2003 03 07 y 1300000 ha acre Lightning Public land; national parks; rural and residential 41 homes 213 other structures Three bridges 10,000 livestock thumb|right|250px|NASA photo of South-eastern Australia showing fire activity on 22 January 2003 The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires were a series of bushfires in 2003 that burnt in the Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The bushfire started with eighty-seven fires that were started by lightning in the north east of Victoria on 8 January 2003. Eight of these fires were unable to be contained and joined to form the largest fire in Victoria since the 1939 "Black Friday" bushfires.https://www.ffm.vic.gov.au/history-and-incidents/past-bushfires Past bushfires https://web.archive.org/web/20120322102849/http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/fire-and-other-emergencies/major-bushfires-in-victoria 22 March 2012 10 January 2019 Department of Sustainability and Environment Government of Victoria 30 January 2020 The main fire burnt over 1300000 ha acre over 59 days before it was contained on 7 March 2003. 41 homes and 213 other structures were destroyed, along with tree bridges, and 10,000 livestock were killed. Thousands of kilometres of fencing was also destroyed. This was the longest running fire until the 2006–07 Great Divide fires.https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/bushfire-alpine-region-and-north-eastern-victoria/ January 2003: Bushfire – Alpine Region and north-eastern Victoria Australian Disaster Resilitance: Knowlefge hub The Australia Institute of Disaster Relief n.d. 30 January 2020 In early February, at the peak of the fires, around 3,760 people were involved in the fire effort, excluding local Country Fire Authority brigades. This figure includes 160 Australian Defence Force staff, over 300 interstate firefighters, 33 alpine firefighting specialists from New Zealand and 35 personnel from the United States. In total, 15,725 personnel were directly engaged on fighting these bushfires. The areas affected included, Mount Buffalo, Mount Bogong, Mount Feathertop, Bright, Dinner Plain, Benambra, Omeo, Cobungra, Shannonvale, Bundara, Anglers Rest, Sunnyside, Glen Wills, and Dargo. See also 2003 Canberra bushfires 2002–03 Australian bushfire season Bushfires in Victoria References Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires Category:2003 in Victoria (state) 2003 Category:Alpine National Park