Author Archives: Peter McHugh

The landscape features that distinguish Gippsland, and which strongly influence the weather, and therefore the bushfire behaviour are: Far east Gippsland is one of the few places in mainland Australia where the forests extend unbroken from the mountains to the sea. Eastern Victoria, and Gippsland in particular, sits directly within the Australian bushfire flume. TheContinue reading “Fire Management – 101.The Gippsland Zig–Zag.”

Internationally, southern Australia and particularly the State of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the island State of Tasmania, is commonly regarded as one of the three most landscapes on Earth prone to damaging bushfires. The other two are southern California and the Mediterranean coast. Victorians live entirely within what the international renown fireContinue reading “Fire Management – 101.Bushfire Flume.”

Bushfire behaviour is influenced by many factors including forest type, fuel quantity, fuel arrangement, fuel dryness, drought index, temperature, Relative Humidity (RH), topography, atmospheric stability, aspect and even slope. Wind has a dominant effect on the Rate of Spread (ROS), and also bushfire size, shape and direction. Measuring Fuel Hazard. Fuel quantity (tonnes/ha) affects fireContinue reading “Fire Management – 101.Understanding Fuel.”

Over the next week or so I will present some material about basic fire management based on my personal knowledge and 40 years’ experience as a Victorian forest manager, senior firefighter and incident controller. The topics covered include – There is a large body  of scientific literature, technical reports and training manuals which capture theContinue reading “Fire Management – 101.”

There is often confusion about the many terms used in firefighting. They often vary between States but are outlined in the AFAC glossary. Here are just a few. https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/glossary/?wordOfTheDay Fuel Reduction Burning. The planned application of fire to reduce hazardous fuel quantities, undertaken under prescribed environmental and fuel conditions within defined boundaries. (AKA Planned burning,Continue reading “Fire Management – 101.Some important fire terms.”

Over many decades the Forests Commission used and developed a wide range of incendiary devices for its burning operations. These pyrotechnics included “strike anywhere” wax vestas, safety fusees, burning tyres dragged behind vehicles, humble drip torches, incendiary shotguns and mortars, flame throwers of various designs, blow torches, jellied petrol blivets wired up to electrical circuitsContinue reading “Incendiaries.”

Spot and Ted Stabb became friends in the late 1980s during the days of the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL). Rob Chalwell (ex-Bright Forests Commission) told Ted that Spot had been looking very sad and lonely in the front window of the Lands Department Office at Bright for some years.  Ted then rescuedContinue reading “Spot & Ted.”

The colours and emblem for the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) were designed in 1916 when Charlie Carter became the Principal. The school opened only a few years earlier in 1910 and he remained as Principal until 1926. The design was a joint effort with the students. The motto “CIRCUMSPICE”, which is Latin for “lookContinue reading “Victorian School of Forestry regalia.”

Picture this… a leisurely Sunday drive in the Wolseley 24/80 from a modest weatherboard home on a quarter acre block in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, along Ferntree Gully Road up to the nearby Dandenong Ranges, to spend a lazy afternoon in the bush, and let noisy kids run riot with sticks, with Dad bent over aContinue reading “Bush BBQs.”

Sugar Gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) originates in South Australia in three distinct populations: the Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. Sugar Gum is also widely planted across the drier western district of Victora as a windbreak or shelterbelt and for durable farming timber as well as magnificent firewood. Sawn timber harvested from sugar gum hasContinue reading “Sugar Gum Plantation – Majorca.”

On ANZAC Day we gather to remember those who served our country. We may attend a dawn service, go to a march, wear some precious family medals, or lay a wreath at a cenotaph. We may even follow with a cold frothy or two and a game of two-up at our local RSL. But acrossContinue reading “Havelock Avenue of Honour.”

This great footage from the Imperial War Museum highlights the events at a sports day competition between Forestry Companies from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand at Pont-Remy, France, on 15th September 1918. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022799

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 led to a worldwide economic collapse, which quickly spread to the Australian economy and signalled the beginning of the “Great Depression”. At its worst in 1932, unemployment in Australia reached 32 percent, but this figure did not include women who had lost their jobs or teenagers who had neverContinue reading “The Great Depression – Sussos.”

An innovative School Plantation Endowment Scheme was initiated in 1923 as a joint venture between the Education Department and the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV). Mr William Gay, the former Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) resumed his role with the Education Department in 1922 and took responsibility for the Scheme under the guidanceContinue reading “Melbourne High School Forestry Camp – Sherbrooke Forest.”

William Edward Ricketts purchased 4 ½ acres near Kalorama, on the Mt Dandenong Road, in 1935 as an artist’s retreat which he called “Potter’s Sanctuary”. The land adjoined 9-acres of State forest. Bill supported himself with commissioned art works and received some philanthropic donations. From 1949 to 1960, he made frequent trips into Central AustraliaContinue reading “William Ricketts Sanctuary.”

Just about every student who has spent time at the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick will be familiar with Brackenbury Hill, but few would probably know about its interesting history. Brackenbury Hill sits just north of the Great Dividing Range, with an elevation of 1757 feet, and is about a mile to the eastContinue reading “The Creswick Old Boys & Brackenbury Hill.”

At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Australia had only three months’ supply of fuel and was totally reliant on imports. The Victorian Government response was to severely ration petrol and turn to charcoal as an alternative fuel for motorists. The Victorian Premier, Albert Dunstan, directed the Forests Commission to establishContinue reading “Charcoal powered motorbike from Footscray – 1942.”