Author Archives: Peter McHugh

Considered in terms of loss of property and life, the Black Friday bushfires on 13 January 1939 were one of the worst disasters to have occurred in Australia, and certainly the worst bushfires up to that time. The 1939 bushfires killed 71 people and burnt 2 million hectares, 69 sawmills, and obliterated several towns. TheyContinue reading “Judge Stretton & the CFA.”

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) was established under the Fire Brigades Act (1890) from fractious beginnings when Melbourne’s 56 existing fire brigades were forcibly disbanded and reformed under a single umbrella. The Country Fire Brigades Board (CFBB) was founded by legislation at the same time as the MFB and was given power and responsibility overContinue reading “Forming Rural Fire Brigades.”

The 1926 fires don’t feature in great artworks like those of Black Thursday in 1851 and Red Tuesday 1898, nor were they memorialised in monuments, literature or history. There was no formal inquiry either. The Premier, John Allan, Australia’s first Country Party Premier, resisted calls by the Labor Opposition for a joint parliamentary committee. ButContinue reading “Community Response.”

On St Valentines Day, 14 February 1926, the bushfires already burning in the State’s forests joined up, fanned by gusty winds up to 60 miles per hour. Places like Warburton, Powelltown, Gilderoy, Gembrook, Noojee and Erica bore the brunt of the inferno in what later became known as Black Sunday. An accurate and consistent tallyContinue reading “Black Sunday – 14 February.”

Bushfires have undoubtedly always been a feature of Australian summers, with many devastating and uncontrolled blazes sweeping the forests and rural farmlands across the Colony of Victoria during the 1800s. The most notable ones being in 1851 and again in 1898 with bushfires that engulfed much of South Gippsland. While lightning was a common cause,Continue reading “The Forgotten Bushfires – 1925/26.”

Sumner Spur is located in the headwaters of Big Pats Creek rising up to the Britannia Range, generally south of Warburton, in the former Powelltown Forest District.  This area had been heavily utilised to supply wood for the Britannia Creek distillation works from 1907 and had almost exclusively regenerated to dense stands of silver wattleContinue reading “Sumner Spur Airstrip – Powelltown.”

The Balt Camp near Bullarto South in the Wombat State Forest was used for displaced refugees after World War 2, including those from the Baltic States. It’s unclear if a camp existed at the site before the War but one may have been part of the susso unemployment scheme in the 1930s. The first groupContinue reading “Balt Camp – Bullarto South.”

It was during the war that the nation relied on timber more than ever before.  Some of the longest spans and most diverse timber structures were built in Australian history during this period. As the first American forces arrived in Australia in 1942 the Federal Government began to recognise that timber was an essential warContinue reading “Large Timber Buildings.”

The Stretton Royal Commission into the 1939 bushfires considered in detail the use of bushfire dugouts. The report noted – After the 1926 fires, the question of insisting upon the installation of dugouts at mills for protection of the millworkers was raised by the Forests Commission. The Commission was  divided in opinion and the matterContinue reading “Dugouts.”

Today marks two years since commercial timber harvesting on Victorian State forests ceased. And it’s been a difficult transition for many. One of the major consequences has been the loss of experienced machine operators and logging contractors to assist with forest firefighting. Sawmill workers and logging contractors have always been an integral part of Victoria’s firefightingContinue reading “Logging Contractors & Firefighting.”

With the generous support of Eucalypt Australia and the Dahl Trust, I have been busy over the last year writing and compiling a free eBook titled “The Working Forests”. The notion of Working Forests sits at the very heart of traditional forest management and the long-term approach to sustainability. It conjures up an image ofContinue reading “The Working Forests – mission accomplished.”

Soil erosion was identified as an emerging problem across rural Victoria almost immediately after the gold rush of the 1850s. The Royal Commission of 1897-1901 into the destruction and wastage of Victoria’s forests also identified the importance of protecting soils and forested water catchments. A Sludge Abatement Board was appointed in 1905, charged specifically withContinue reading “Harold Hanslow – Soil Saver.”

If you have ever wondered why Victoria’s bushfire arrangements are the way they are… then look no further than Judge Leonard (Len) Edward Bishop Stretton. Len was born in 1893 and initially grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, but from the age of six he had a rural upbringing at Campbellfield, just northContinue reading “Judge Stretton.”

A major fire started at Aberfeldy just near the edge of the Thomson Reservoir at about 11.30 am on Thursday 17 January 2013. The bush had been severely burnt only 6 years earlier in the Great Divide fires of 2006-07, so the forest had lots of dead trees and had grown back with a thickContinue reading “Aberfeldy – Donnellys.”

Only a week after the Delburn bushfires, on 7 February, the devastating Black Saturday bushfires broke out. All the staff were placed on early standby in the Traralgon ICC with the expectation of it being a bad fire day. The morning was ominously calm and there was even a slight dew on the car whenContinue reading “Black Saturday – Churchill.”

The Premier, Daniel Andrews, announced in Parliament on 23 May 2023 that commercial harvesting of native State forests would end on 1 January 2024. After the announcement, FFMVic stated that harvesting and haulage contractors would remain engaged by VicForests until 30 June 2024 and continue to support the fuel-reduction burning program. VicForests Community Forest licenseesContinue reading “When the last tree falls in the forest… will a forester be there to hear it?”