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Somersby had been evacuated, along with Terrey Hills. Homes at Menai, Sutherland, Chatswood, Lindfield, Turramurra, Macquarie Park and Sydney's northern beaches had been lost. 60 fires were burning on the north coast, as firefighters battled infernos over 30 hectares from Coffs
Harbour to the Queensland border. Fires were approaching towns in the Blue Mountains including Blackheath and in the Shoalhaven, including Ulladulla.
30:
117:
fire was raging out of control out of the Grose Valley, with 30 metre high flames, it consumed homes at
Winmalee and Hawkesbury Heights. Roads through the Mountains were cut. On Sunday the "Battle of Bilpin" wave after wave of helicopters dumped water and saving further property loss, before conditions eased on Monday allowing massive back burning operations.
96:
buildings burned at
Dolphin Point, Ulladulla and the Princes Highway was cut near Burril Lake. The towns of Broulee and Mossy Point came under threat from a fire west of Mogo. Thousands of homes under threat in Batemans Bay and surrounds was considered safe by 10 January. The Waterfall fire forced evacuations in Helensburgh.
271:
reported that disastrous fires were burning in
Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as the climax of a terrible heatwave: Sydney faced record heat and had fires to the north, south and west from Palm Beach and Port Hacking to the Blue Mountains, with fires blazing at Castle
116:
By Friday, January 7, fires were raging to the north and south of Sydney and in its suburbs, leaving only local resources to be sent against suspicious fires that broke out in isolated country on the Bells Line of Road in the Blue
Mountains, and spread quickly. By the following day, the Mount Wilson
108:
where more than 100 buildings would be destroyed, including two schools a church and a kindergarten. The Como/Jannali fire burnt 476 hectares and destroyed 101 houses - more than half of the total homes lost in New South Wales during the
January emergency period. Also on 8 January, fires had reached
226:
had cut short his holiday to receive a briefing on the crisis and inspect firefighting efforts with the NSW Premier John Fahey. Keating announced that an additional 500 troops were on standby to assist with firefighting efforts and thanked the 7,500 volunteers who had been fighting 150 blazes since
188:
Four people were killed by the fires, including three firefighters. A woman was killed in Como
Jannali seeking shelter in her pool, while volunteer Robert Page was killed by a tree falling on his tanker in the Double Duke Forest near Grafton; volunteer Norman Anthes from Lithgow died mopping up the
65:
border in the north, including populated areas of the city of Sydney, the Blue
Mountains and the Central Coast. The fires caused mass evacuations of many thousands of people, claimed four lives, destroyed some 225 homes and burned out 800,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres) of bushland. The firefighting
145:
By 9 January, more than 16,000 people were on standby for evacuation from the Lower Blue
Mountains. Thousands of people were sleeping on the football field at the Central Coast Leagues Club, after the evacuation of Kariong, Woy Woy, Umina, Ettalong and Brisbane Waters. Much of Gosford, Kariong and
99:
Flames first struck the
Sutherland Shire in Sydney's south on 5 January, when a fire, probably deliberately lit, burned out of the north east corner of the Royal National Park damaging houses at Bundeena and along Port Hacking. Back burning protected property, but nearly all 16,000 hectares of the
213:
reported that politicians were returning from holidays to cope with the growing catastrophe. Premier John Fahey returned for a day from his family holiday on the Gold Coast, while Acting Prime Minister Brian Howe paid tribute to NSW firefighting operations, and Acting NSW Opposition Leader Andrew
125:
newspaper reported on 7 January that one quarter of NSW was under threat in the worst fires seen in the state for nearly 50 years, as hundreds of firefighters from interstate joined 4000 NSW firefighters battling blazes from Batemans Bay to Grafton. Fires in the Lane Cove River area at Marsfield,
91:
On 29 December, the Dept of Bushfire Services was monitoring more than a dozen fires around the state, and homes were threatened in Turramurra by a fire in the Lane Cove River reserve, and a scrub fire had briefly cut off the holiday village of Bundeena in the Royal National Park south of Sydney.
112:
A fire was reported in the northern end of the Lane Cove National Park on 6 January. The blaze went on to consume 320 hectares of the Park and burn down 13 houses in 48 hours, racing down the river valley impacting West Pymble, West Killara, Lindfield, Macquarie Park, and the Northern Suburbs
95:
On the south coast, fires ignited at Pretty Beach in the Murramarang National Park on 5 January, threatening Bendalong and Manyana, where hundredsd were evacuated. Other fires lit in the Morton National Park, and areas near Ulladulla and Sussex Inlet, where a house was lost on 7 January, while
87:
The New South Wales fires began on the north coast on Boxing Day, and by January 2, the Clarence Valley region was facing its worst fires since 1968. The shires from Coffs Harbour to Tweed Heads and inland to Casino and Kyogle were declared a State of Emergency on January 7, as 68 fires raged.
149:
By 15 January, about 450 square km had been burned in the Gosford area and fires in the Gospers Mountain/Wollemi National Park and west of the Kulnura and Mangrove Mountain were still causing ongoing concern for Gosford. Arsonists had lit blazes in the area, including a Mangrove Mountain fire
74:
From 27 December 1993 to 16 January 1994, over 800 severe fires burned along the coastal areas of New South Wales, affecting the state's most populous regions. Blazes emerged from the Queensland border down the north and central coast, through the Sydney basin and down the south coast to
197:
The 1994 (NSW): Report of the Select Committee on Bushfires, Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Assembly and 1996 (NSW): Recommendations from the New South Wales Inquiry into 1993/94 Fires, NSW State Coroner's Office. J.W. Hiatt. examined causes of the fires.
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A suspicious fire ignited at Cottage Point in Kuringai Chase National Park on 7 January and spread to burn down 30 houses and 10,000 hectares of the Park, with 3000 elsewhere. Major backburning protected the surrounding suburbs but smothered Sydney in smoke.
252:
to the southwest remained open. All other road and rail routes out of Sydney were closed. Residents of the entire metropolitan area of Sydney had to contend with ash raining down on them, and the sky remained a blazing orange colour for days afterwards.
247:
These fires generated a large amount of media coverage internationally. This was the only occasion in which a major city, Sydney, had been threatened with total isolation due to fire. At the peak of the fires only the
79:. The 800,000 hectare spread of fires were generally contained within less than 100 kilometres from the coast, and many burned through rugged and largely uninhabited country in national parks or nature reserves.
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Over 20,000 volunteer and paid firefighters from New South Wales and interstate fought the blazes. This was the largest fire suppression effort yet undertaken in Australian history.
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The 1993-94 fire season was amongst the largest firefighting efforts in Australian history. A lengthy Coronial inquest followed the fires, leading to the formation of the
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Hill, Sylvania, Cronulla and French's Forest. Disastrous fires were reported at Penrose, Wollongong, Nowra, Bathurst, Ulludulla, Mittagong, Trunkey and Nelligen.
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According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Blue Mountains were full of dry undergrowth in January 1994, having not had a significant bushfire for 20 years.
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to within 1.5km of Gosford city centre, and some 5000 people had been evacuated over that weekend with homes destroyed at Somersby and Peats Ridge.
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national park was burned. Homes were lost at Menai, Illawong, Bangor and Alfords Point. On Saturday the 8th, the fire swept into the suburbs of
57:
season of 1993–1994. Some 20,000 firefighters were deployed against some 800 fires throughout the state, and along the coast and ranges from
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south of Sydney raged toward Bundeena, where rescue boats evacuated 3100 people caught in the path of the fire. With the Prime Minister
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Mount Horrible fire near Lithgow and 17 year old volunteer Clinton Westwood died in a tanker crash.
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Turramurra, West Pymble and Macquarie Park were threatening hundreds of homes, and the fire in the
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Minister pays tribute to those affected by the 1993-94 bush fires during 20 year anniversary
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had deployed 400 troops, 25 helicopters and aircraft, and that Prime Minister
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effort raised in response was one of the largest seen in Australian history.
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521:"NSW Rural Fire Service - Seven News Flashback January 1994 bush fires"
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Lessons learnt (and perhaps forgotten) from Australia's 'worst fires'
410:; The Year Book of Australia 1995; www.abs.gov.au; online 25 Jan 2020
316:; The Year Book of Australia 1995; www.abs.gov.au; online 25 Jan 2020
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883:
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Refshauge called for greater fines for arsonists. On 9 January,
239:. The Rural Fires Act 1997 was proclaimed on 1 September 1997.
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Twenty years on since the 1994 fires - Seven News Flashback
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Twenty years on since the 1994 fires - Seven News Flashback
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Twenty years on since the 1994 fires - Seven News Flashback
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had similarly seen Sydney ringed by fire. On 16 January,
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BUSHFIRES - AN INTEGRAL PART OF AUSTRALIA'S ENVIRONMENT
314:
BUSHFIRES - AN INTEGRAL PART OF AUSTRALIA'S ENVIRONMENT
169:, 9 houses including a Youth hostel were destroyed in
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http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/fireweek.htm
508:Report on Inquiry into the NSW Rural Fire Service
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153:Thirteen houses were destroyed in suburbs around
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685:http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WF9960145.htm
680:Eastern seaboard fires, January 1994
574:Politicians enter fray as holidays end abruptly
406:Mr N. P. Cheney, CSIRO Division of Forestry;
312:Mr N. P. Cheney, CSIRO Division of Forestry;
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380:"Shire fire horror still lingers 20 years on"
656:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 16 January 1939
632:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 16 January 1939
564:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
498:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
474:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
446:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
434:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
422:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
368:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
356:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
328:; The Sydney Morning Herald; 15 January 1994
33:A pall of bushfire smoke over Sydney in 1994
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979:Eastern Victoria Great Divide (2006–07)
456:Thousands flee path of advancing flames
385:St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
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338:Bushfire threatens homes in Turramurra
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531:from the original on 15 December 2021
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510:; NSW Legislative Council; June 2000
1223:List of Australian bushfire seasons
618:NSW Rural Fire Service: Our History
289:NSW Rural Fire Service: Our History
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525:New South Wales Rural Fire Service
484:A round up of all the fire regions
237:New South Wales Rural Fire Service
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378:Mutton, Sheree (9 January 2014).
590:Additional 500 Troops on Standby
134:on leave, Deputy Prime Minister
969:Eastern Victorian alpine (2003)
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486:; The Age; Page 2; 9 Jan 1994
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157:and 42 were destroyed around
1245:Bushfires in New South Wales
741:Australian Capital Territory
608:; rfs.nsw.gov.au; 6 Jan 2014
552:; rfs.nsw.gov.au; 6 Jan 2014
303:; rfs.nsw.gov.au; 6 Jan 2014
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1270:1994 disasters in Australia
654:Terrible Climax to Heatwave
630:Terrible Climax to Heatwave
562:War Diary of a State Ablaze
496:War Diary of a State Ablaze
472:War Diary of a State Ablaze
444:War Diary of a State Ablaze
432:War Diary of a State Ablaze
420:War Diary of a State Ablaze
366:War Diary of a State Ablaze
354:War Diary of a State Ablaze
326:War Diary of a State Ablaze
39:1994 eastern seaboard fires
18:1994 Eastern seaboard fires
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989:Great Ocean Road (2015–16)
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644:; smh.com.au; 11 Jan 2019
342:The Sydney Morning Herald
268:The Sydney Morning Herald
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1260:1990s in New South Wales
1019:Western Australia (2015)
1009:Western Australia (1961)
388:. Fairfax Regional Media
220:Australian Defence Force
83:Progression of the fires
849:Ash Wednesday II (1983)
780:Eastern seaboard (1994)
689:(subscription required)
155:Lane Cove National Park
1250:1990s fires in Oceania
859:Kangaroo Island (2007)
844:Ash Wednesday I (1980)
804:New South Wales (2013)
785:Black Christmas (2001)
731:Bushfires in Australia
687:doi:10.1071/WF9960145
263:1938-9 Bushfire season
243:International coverage
150:threatening the city.
34:
984:Black Saturday (2009)
924:Black Thursday (1851)
829:Adelaide Hills (1939)
163:Garigal National Park
32:
959:Ash Wednesday (1983)
894:Black Tuesday (1967)
854:Black Tuesday (2005)
620:; www.rfs.nsw.gov.au
539:– via YouTube.
291:; www.rfs.nsw.gov.au
61:in the south to the
43:Australian bushfires
944:Black Friday (1939)
939:Black Sunday (1926)
869:Sampson Flat (2015)
834:Black Sunday (1955)
527:). 5 January 2014.
181:Firefighting effort
167:Royal National Park
128:Royal National Park
70:Extent of the fires
1055:By national season
1014:Perth Hills (2014)
974:Mount Lubra (2006)
934:Red Tuesday (1898)
864:Cherryville (2013)
344:; 29 December 1993
218:reported that the
205:Political response
171:Hawkesbury Heights
35:
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1000:Western Australia
929:Heytesbury (1886)
789:Warragamba (2001)
45:that occurred in
41:were significant
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