In an Australian first, Bushfire Prevention Week was initiated by the Forests Commission in the wake of the disastrous 1926 bushfires.

Victoria’s State Governor, Lord Somers, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir Harold Luxton and the newly appointed Minister for Forests, William Beckett launched the innovative campaign with great flourish to 250 invited guests at Melbourne’s opulent Town Hall on Monday 13 January 1930.

Special church sermons had been held on the previous Sunday.

The packed program of gala events included lavish luncheon talks at posh city clubs, scholarly lectures broadcast on the wireless, together with daily articles in the Melbourne and country press about the need for fire prevention.

The Shell Petrol Company of Australia supplied 15,000 windshield stickers, the British Australasian Tobacco Company donated a large supply of stamp stickers, while many other companies drew attention to the campaign in their newspaper advertisements.

The Victorian Railways and many city firms displayed special fire posters, while Bryant and May posted messages on their limited-edition matchbox covers which are now highly prized by phillumenists (i.e., matchbox collectors).

The Postmaster General’s Department (PMG) franked postage stamps and letters with special bushfire slogans.

Canvas and enamel fire prevention signs were erected on most roads leading to State forest areas. While plainclothes police were secretly deployed to the bush to arrest potential arsonists.

Significantly, Australia’s very first aerial bushfire reconnaissance flight using RAAF Wapitis took off from Point Cook a few weeks later on 18 February 1930.

Letters to the Editor later appeared in many city and country newspapers extolling the virtues of Bushfire Prevention Week and urging for its continuation.

The Forests Commission in its 1929/30 Annual Report, under the title of “Propaganda”, noted with some triumph…

“One of the most gratifying features of the ”Week” was its low cost to the Government, the major part of the publicity material being donated by private firms.”

And so for the next 30 years until the 1960s, Bushfire Prevention Week continued unabated with the Forests Commission producing a series of coloured “Magic Lantern” slides which were manufactured by Alex Gunn and Sons in Collins Street Melbourne for screening by Val Morgan advertising at cinemas.

The slides famously introduced the menacing character, Willy Wildfire, warning motorists to be careful with matches.

Now known as Fire Action Week, it remains a key event in the annual calendar and is still going strong…

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203104634

Uncontrolled bushfires had been burning from early October 1925 in many places such as Olinda and Sassafras in the Dandenong Ranges and at Healesville in the Yarra Valley.

The forests at Powelltown, Noojee, Toorongo Plateau and the Baw Baw Ranges were then swept by fire on 14 and 15 February 1926, killing stands of mature mountain ash and creating extensive areas of young regrowth.

The mountain forests of Eucalyptus regnans, E. delegatensis and E. nitens are very fire sensitive and were readily killed.

These tree species are also “obligate seeders” meaning they only regenerate from seed and not coppice or lignotubers. They take about 10-15 years to set seed again so are therefore very vulnerable to being killed by more bushfires in that period.

Significant bushfires again in 1932 and 1939 killed some of the young 1926 eucalypt regrowth before it was old enough to produce enough seed and the area was replaced by wattle, scrubland and bracken to create a long-term reforestation problem.

But other stands of 1926 regrowth miraculously survived both the 1932 and 1939 blazes.

The silvicultural knowledge of Victorian foresters was then put to the test. Considerable effort went into reforestation at Powelltown and the Toorongo Plateau near Noojee during the 1940s and 1950s.

A FCV nursery near Noojee in the Loch Valley, which had been growing pines, then switched to eucalypts.

It proved a costly exercise to reforest these areas. After site preparation they were hand sown at the rate of 4 oz of mountain ash seed per acre. Some 600 acres were broadcast sown in this manner in 1932. More than 200 lb of seed were collected that year from ash trees, growing in the same general locality, for future sowing.

New surveys of unproductive forest sites were carried out in 1969 to determine the extent of loss of productive sites. It was found that some 32,000 ha of prime mountain ash forest sites were unproductive, mainly as the result of repeated bushfires over the previous eighty years.

These were all within 150 km of Melbourne and a cost/ benefit analysis showed that reforestation investment was justified. Reforestation plans were submitted to the Australian Forestry Council.

Major reforestation works at Powelltown required the construction of an airstrip at Sumner Spur in 1970.

Reforestation was achieved by clearing the scrub using heavy machines, then burning the slash and either broadcast seeding, or planting with seedlings.

The program lapsed but was renewed in the late 1980s and early 1990s with funding from the Timber Industry Strategy.

Main Photo: E. delegatensis, Dowey Spur, Powelltown, Clear felled followed by aerial seeding. Frank May 1970, Colourised.

In the early part of last century, there was limited road access to the extensive mountain forests, particularly in the remote and uninhabited eastern ranges, so there was strong enthusiasm amongst Victorian foresters for aerial reconnaissance.

The first Chairman of the Forests Commission, Owen Jones, had been one of Britain’s pioneering aviators in the Royal Flying Corp during World War One. He fully understood that aircraft had three main advantages: speed, access and observation.

Experience has consistently shown that early detection and aggressive first attack are the keys to keeping bushfires small and gives the best chance for control.

Discussions took place with the Air Board as early as 1926 following the bushfires, and then over a period of years prior to 1929-30, with the view to commencing regular fire patrols using RAAF aircraft, but a lack of safe landing areas over the remote forest proved the main obstacle.

The first fire spotting aircraft in Australia was deployed on 18 February 1930 when a Westland Wapiti from RAAF No. 1 Squadron at Point Cook flew over the nearby Dandenong Ranges.

Communications were sent in Morse Code back to the RAAF base who then quickly passed information on to FCV fire controllers.

But poor communication systems with the ground hampered their effectiveness. It was not until the summer of 1939-40 that an aircraft was able to directly communicate by radio with the FCV District Office at Powelltown.

The use of RAAF aircraft was expanded after the Stretton Royal Commission into the 1939 bushfires.

By the summer of 1945-46, 114 flights were made with up to eight RAAF aircraft in the air on bad fire days. They operated from bases at Point Cook, Ballarat, East Sale and Bairnsdale, and reported 438 outbreaks.

The following year, RAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Avro Lincoln Bombers were made available, supplemented by Avro Anson’s and DC-3 Dakotas.

A major risk to all air fire operations is reduced visibility due to dust, smoke, fog and even low cloud. It was reported on 22 March 1945, that visibility was reduced to zero and all RAAF reconnaissance aircraft were grounded with the result that a fire near Toolangi reached a considerable size before being detected.

However, by 1959-60 the use of chartered cheaper flights from private operators in light aircraft became more common and the last RAAF patrol took place in 1963-64.

By the 1982-83, fire season aerial reconnaissance flights were routine. Most fixed wing aircraft were hired by forest districts from local aero clubs using FCV observers and radio operators.

As the 1925/26 summer approached, the Government meteorologist, Mr Hunt, warned that temperatures over the ensuing weeks were expected to be higher than the previous year and much of the country to the north was already parched.

The Commission became keenly interested in the practical application of meteorology and believed that relative humidity was a prime factor affecting fire frequency and behaviour.

As a result, the Government Meteorological Bureau installed instruments to accurately record temperature, relative humidity and wind speed on several fire lookouts, commencing from Mount Drummer in far east Gippsland and extending west and north on other peaks across the mountains.

The Commission hoped to not only make better preparations for its firefighting staff but also to be able to broadcast public information about dangerous fire weather.

But it wasn’t until Alan McArthur’s groundbreaking work at Canberra in the late 1950s and the development of his fire models that some scientific understanding of bushfire behaviour was available to practicing foresters.

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.

They eclipsed the earlier 1926 bushfires causing their memory to fade from view.

The subsequent 1939 Royal Commission conducted by Judge Leonard Stretton has been described as one of the most significant inquiries in the history of Victorian public administration. He also drew from the 1926 experience.

One of Stretton’s key recommendations was to create a single fire service for country Victoria.

The war years then intervened from September 1939, and arguably the legislative reforms recommended by Judge Stretton moved to the back burner.

Then later in the summer of 1943/44 there were more deadly bushfires where 51 people were killed, 700 injured, and 650 buildings were destroyed.

In particular, the loss of 13 lives at Yallourn on February 14, 1944, and the impact on the State’s electricity supplies when the critical brown coal fields caught alight, brought these bushfires into sharp focus.

There was justifiable public outcry at the lack of government action after similar events five years earlier in 1939.

The Premier, Sir Albert Dunstan, and Minister for Forests, Sir Albert Lind, who had both delayed legislative changes in Parliament, decided there was no alternative but to ask Judge Stretton to chair a second Royal Commission.

Stretton’s report returned to his earlier themes and once again highlighted the lack of cohesive firefighting ability outside the Melbourne area.

After nearly 6 months of debate and argy-bargy in State Parliament, legislation to establish the Country Fire Authority (CFA) was finally passed in two stages on 22 November and 6 December 1944.

On 19 December, the State Premier, Albert Dunstan, announced that Mr Alexander Mercer King of Ballarat was to be appointed Chairman of the CFA Board for the first year, along with 12 members. The Board of the new authority met for the first time shortly after on 3 January 1945.

On 2 April 1945, the Country Fire Authority Act came into effect, and all previous entities ceased to legally exist.

The Forests Commission held two seats on the new CFA Board with Herbert Duncan Galbraith (the man behind Stringers Knob firetower at Orbost) together with Joseph Firth. The FCV Chief Fire Officer, Alf Lawrence, was appointed later in 1946.

The Board then divided Victoria into 24 Regions and appointed 17 Regional Officers, but the organisation had very rocky first beginnings.

All the existing urban and rural brigades were invited to join the new CFA… most did… some reluctantly… but nobody seemed particularly happy with the new arrangements.

Some of the rural brigades were so incensed they proposed an alliance with the Forests Commission rather than ceding autonomy to the newly formed CFA.

Maybe to appease the rival factions, the new CFA Board initially appointed two Chief Officers, with Alexander McPherson representing the urban brigades and Charles Alfred Daw heading up the batting for the rural brigades.

McPherson retired at the end of June 1950, leaving Daw as the sole Chief Officer of the CFA.

In its 1944/45 Annual Report, which was at the time of the formation of the CFA, the Forests Commission noted- 

“The Commission is satisfied with its efforts in building up a virile organization of 768 brigades with approximately 35,000 members and over £100,000 worth of equipment, and it desires to record its great appreciation of the valuable services that have been given voluntarily, year after year, by the bush fire brigades in the preservation of the State forests. It is, therefore, with regret that our official connexion with this excellent organization has been concluded.”

The CFA then took responsibility for fire suppression on “Country Victoria” leaving the Forests Commission to focus on the public land estate such as State forest and National Parks which amounted to the remaining one third of the State.

The legislation also required that each country municipality appoint a ”Proper Officer” empowered to permit lighting of fires during the proclaimed summer period and to order removal of fire hazards.

So, in the end, Stretton’s 1939 grand vision was finally realised…

A major revision of both the Forests Act and Country Fire Authority Act in 1958 clearly enshrined the role of the two agencies and the Chief Fire Officers into complementary legislation.

More importantly, these events shaped and cemented Victoria’s deep-seated approaches towards bushfires outside Melbourne. Both the Forests Commission and the CFA adopted clear policies to detect and suppress all bushfires and became very focused and skilled at doing it.

Robert Murray and Kate White (1995). State of fire: a history of volunteer firefighting and the Country Fire Authority in Victoria. Hargreen Fitzroy, Vic.

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 over all fire brigades based more than 10 miles from Melbourne.

The CFBB already had a well-established command structure under Superintendent Lieutenant-Colonel Theophilus Smith Marshall, but the organisation was split into two very deeply divided and disparate camps – Urban Brigades and Rural Bushfire Brigades.

Urban Brigades were largely found in cities and larger towns with access to mains water like Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo. They mostly trained for and responded to structural fires and had a strong emphasis on discipline, uniforms, polished brass, drills and marching… and don’t get me wrong… that’s a good thing…

These urban brigades mostly consisted of volunteers but there were a few full-time career firefighters at bigger locations.

But for the remainder of rural Victoria, local landowners formed Rural Bushfire Brigades, received little or no financial assistance from the CFBB or the State Government, and tended to operate spasmodically and independently from their urban counterparts. They were mostly self-funded through voluntary contributions, chook raffles, donations, levies and membership fees.

The first known Victorian rural fire brigade was formed after a public meeting at Kangaroo Ground in 1892. Other small settlements on the fringe of Melbourne like Warrandyte, Upwey and Belgrave formed fire brigades in response to fires in 1918 and 1923.

The principle of self-help that came to characterise volunteer fire fighting across Victoria was forged.

A loose association of rural Bush Fire Brigades began to emerge in about 1914 to represent the clusters of ruggedly independent rural landowners and neighbours who formed make-shift brigades that responded quickly to grass and scrub fires in their local farming communities.

Bush Fire Brigades had a very different culture, and also had little formal structure, training or equipment compared to urban brigades. However, these firefighters came together quickly when needed, were passionate, committed and effective volunteers.

And needless to say, there was rivalry and, in some cases, open hostility between these town and country outfits… but the rancour often came down to clashes of egos and differences of personalities.

In July 1926, following the summer bushfires, the Minister for Forests, Horace Richardson, who had experienced the bushfires firsthand at the Haunted Hills near Moe, chaired a conference to encourage rural fire brigades and the Forests Commission was charged with providing basic support, equipment and funds.

The Forests Commission then sought the co-operation of the CFBB as well as the Lands and Police Departments to encourage the formation and coordination of rural fire-fighting units.

An “Association of Bush Fire Brigades” was also formalised in 1926 with executive and administrative support provided by Morris Carver from the Forests Commission. There was already a separate Urban Fire Brigades Association.

Visits to all country districts were arranged and within a few years the number of volunteer brigades increased significantly. By 1928, more than 50 were in existence, by 1931, some 220 bush brigades had been organised, the number climbing to 320 by 1937 with around 13,000 volunteers. By the time of the formation of the CFA in 1945 there were 768 brigades with approximately 35,000 members and over £100,000 worth of equipment.

At the time, bush fire brigades had no legal status, no funding, no central organisation, and little equipment or training.

There was no substantial financial assistance to bush fire brigades from either the State Government or CFBB, but for those close to State forest, National Parks and Crown Land, the Forests Commission donated some equipment. Fire-beaters, rakes, slashers, axes, wire cutters and similar tools were standard items. A spirit of mutual self-help was engendered.

But the formation of rural bushfire brigades wasn’t universally welcomed. The Commission noted later in 1928 – 

It is unfortunate that in a few instances the formation of brigades was strongly opposed, grazing interests being strong and not in favour of any movement likely to interfere with their annual burn-off.

Late in 1933, the Bush Fire Brigades Act was passed which provided statutory powers and authority to approved officials of registered brigades. This was a major step forward and conferred considerable powers to the brigade captain along with statutory indemnity for brigade members in the event of damage due to the exercising of such powers in good faith.

Prior to the 1933 legislation, all rural Bush Fire Brigades operated without legal authority or protection. If private property were entered and back fires lit, or water taken for the purpose of extinguishing fires, members were potentially open to charges of trespass and damages.

This legislation helped to cement autonomy and gave security for small independent rural brigades. But until an insurance scheme was introduced in 1937 there was no compensation for members injured or killed in the course of their duties.

The 1933 Act also authorised the appointment of a  Bush Fire Brigades Committee of seven members, three nominated by the Forests Commission, one by the Country Fire Brigades Board, and the remaining three by local Bush Fire Brigades.

The Committee then registered brigades and determined the suitability of brigade captains and lieutenants to exercise new powers delegated to them under the Act.

The brigade captain was selected for qualities of leadership, knowledge of firefighting principles and tactics, and a thorough acquaintance with the district in which the brigade operated. The captain also needed to be available to attend fires whenever called upon.

The Act also established a Central Council of the Association, which included representatives of the Forests Commission, Lands Department, Police Department, Railways Department, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (controlling the Melbourne water catchment area), Meteorological Bureau, Country Fire Brigades Board, Melbourne Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, Pastoralists Association, Boy Scouts Association and the League of Youth. Membership of the Bush Fire Brigades Association was also open to registered brigades on payment of an affiliation fee of 7s 6d.

In 1937, the Chairman of the FCV, A. V. Galbraith, published an article about the FCV’s involvement with these early Brigades, which was stimulated by the impacts of the 1926 bushfires.

So, it was the 1926 bushfires and the support of the Forests Commission which was the main catalyst for change for Victoria’s early volunteer bushfire brigades, rather than the 1939 or 1944 fires, which eventually prompted the establishment of the CFA in 1945 (but that’s another story).

Its no accident that many rural fire brigades celebrate their centenary from 2026.

A. V. Galbraith (1937) The bush fire brigades movement in Victoria, Australia, Empire Forestry Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kFqHA4_F5vzYxSjQAIgQ2Tl4sM4Kw5dI/view

Enrolment of 1000 men at Belgrave, The Age, Wednesday 17 February 1926.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155794109

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.

But coronial inquests were quickly held, and verdicts of accidental death were entered.

Community attitudes to bushfire were characteristically relaxed. Farmers and graziers, especially in remote areas, routinely used fire to clear scrub or encourage new grass for stock, even when this endangered the adjoining State forest.

Before the formation of fire services, families in rural areas needed to work together to defend themselves, their homes, livelihoods, farms and communities against the bushfire menace. They had no choice. There were inevitably failures, as well as successes. But they were resilient and rebuilt their lives with strong community support.

The fledgling Forests Commission, established in 1919, had few resources to battle the 1926 blazes in these remote areas.

The Minister for Forests, Horace Richardson and a couple of the FCV Commissioners, William James Code and Alfred Vernon Galbraith, were on tour in Gippsland during early February 1926. They were making their way to Bairnsdale by road when they were nearly all toasted at the Haunted Hills near Moe.

Charles Herschell, photographer, filmmaker and owner of Herschell’s Films, a famous Melbourne production company during the 1930s, was with the party at the time and later used the FCV footage to make a short silent film to promote fundraising for bushfire victims.

Generous donations were made to the fund organised by the Lord Mayor, Sir William Brunton, for the relief of the survivors. The people of Victoria readily responded to an appeal for funds to reinstate the homeless, and approximately £190,000 was subscribed. This fund was supplemented with a grant of £100,000 from the State Cabinet.

Mr Charles Claus Gale, as Secretary to the Cabinet relief committee, and the Secretary of the Lord Mayor’s fund committee, Mr T. Forristal, were responsible for the administration and disbursement of the fund

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223845607

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 tally of those killed remains elusive. Assessments vary between 30 and 60, but the official figure given by the state government’s relief fund in November 1926 put the toll at 30, although 31 is also commonly quoted.

The greatest single tragedy occurred at Worlley’s Mill, deep in the headwaters of the Bunyip catchment, about two miles south of Gilderoy.

The mill had grown into a sizable settlement with a boarding house and storeroom, seven cottages, twelve small huts and horse stables.

The only access was along a steep and narrow timber tramline running through the bush along Saxton Creek in the Little Yarra Valley

Sunday morning dawned hot with a rising northerly wind and by midday the smell of smoke was strong, with scorched leaves falling around the mill.

The sawmill residents were unaware that a major fire, driven by the strong winds, was moving up Mount Beenak, while another fire advanced along McCrae Creek near Gembrook to the west. The two fires then merged and swept along the ridge towards them at about 2 pm.

A desperate fight was made to save the mill and settlement, but it soon became apparent that it was hopeless. They split into separate groups.

Rather than try to flee, Mr Arthur Rowe, a winch driver, and his wife, Lillian, along with their 16-year-old son, Clarence, stayed at the mill and tried to build a makeshift firebreak.

Together with Mrs Elizabeth Duncan, who had only been at the mill for about a week and was helping Mrs Rowe to run the boarding house, the group of four then managed to make their way to a small creek containing about a foot or two of water. Mr Rowe made them lie down and began splashing them with water.

Even though they sheltered in the shallow creek until dusk they were still badly burned, and Mr Rowe was temporarily blinded.

The fire at the mill was closing on three sides and in desperation, Harry King and Arthur (Joe) Walker used their coats to shield their faces and dashed through the fire front. Badly burned and with their hair and eyebrows singed, they managed to reach the same small creek about five or six chains away where they lay for about three hours.

The other group of mill workers and their families, led by Lindsay King, attempted to escape to Beards Farm back along the wooden tramway towards Gilderoy, but their path was soon blocked by fallen trees and cut-off by flames, so they were forced to retreat. But they had nowhere to go and eleven bodies were later found within a radius of just 20 feet.

In the confusion, Mrs Duncan had become separated from her son, Richard, aged two years and seven months, who had been taken by Lindsay King leading the party trying to escape back on the tramway to Gilderoy.  This was the last time she saw her son alive.

When the fire had finally passed, all six survivors were exhausted and slept for a few hours before making their way to the Saxton’s house at Gilderoy next morning to raise the alarm.

Fourteen people died that manic Sunday afternoon at Worlley’s Mill including one woman and three children. Most were later buried at Wesburn.

Ten other sawmills near Gilderoy were destroyed, along with numerous homes and many miles of timber tramway.

A dozen horses perished at Powelltown as the women and children sheltered on the bowling green with the sprinklers going. All the houses were destroyed but the mill itself was saved. Many more mills surrounding Powelltown in the bush were destroyed.

The small settlement at “The Bump” railway tunnel was razed.

Further east, Noojee, founded in 1902, had grown into a bustling railway terminal supporting outlying farms and bush sawmills with stores, a post office, hairdresser, hotel, motor garage, railway station, a hydroelectric station, and community hall. The school had opened in 1922 after much local agitation. But every building in the town, including 45 homes, apart from the Methodist Church, hotel and motor garage were destroyed in the bushfires. Parts of the vital connecting railway and bridges were also lost. Newspapers speculated that it was unlikely that the township of Noojee would ever be rebuilt.

It was estimated that another 30 mills in the Warburton and Erica districts were also destroyed.

A cool change arrived late on Sunday evening which brought a little rain.

John Schauble (2019). Victoria’s Forgotten 1926 bushfires, Victorian Historical Journal. Vol 90 (2), December 2019, pp 301-317. https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/VICTORIAN-HISTORICAL-JOURNAL-December-2019.pdf

Peter Evans. From Central Highlands RFA reports. Pers Comm.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3735307/445964

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3739040

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244055584

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, the Forests Commission’s 1925/26 annual report attributed nearly half the bushfires on State forest to careless graziers, sportsmen, settlers, licensees, arson, campers and tourists.

A century ago, in late October 1925, unseasonal bushfires broke out at Olinda and Sassafras in the Dandenong Ranges and at Healesville in the Yarra Valley.

Over the remaining summer period, serious bushfires continued to burn from January through to early March 1926.

The bushfires swept across about one million acres from Melbourne to Mallacoota in far east Gippsland, the Central Highlands, the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges and Kinglake. There were other major fires in southern NSW. The open cut coal mine at Yallourn was also alight.

Sunday 14 February dawned hot with a rising north wind. By midday, the smell of burning bush was strong in the air and scorched leaves were falling. Fanned by hot gusty winds up to 60 miles per hour, the existing fire fronts joined up and killed at least 30 people, on what became known as Black Sunday.

A generous public contributed nearly £200,000 to the Lord Mayor’s relief fund to support bushfire victims.

There were many tales of heroism, and, in some towns, they spoke of miracles.

Sadly, the deadly bushfires of 1926, and the tragic losses, are now largely forgotten. They were probably eclipsed by other calamitous and deadly bushfires in 1939, just 13 years later.

But these 1926 fires were to have very significant and long-lasting consequences.

They shaped rural firefighting in Victoria, with many rural fire brigades celebrating their centenary this year.

The 1926 bushfires also initiated several technological advances.  The Forests Commission commenced discussions with the Air Board which led to Australia’s first bushfire reconnaissance flights by the RAAF in 1930. They were also the precursor to annual bushfire awareness programs and better fire weather forecasting.

In combination with later bushfires in 1932 and 1939 they were also to leave a lasting impact on the wet mountain forests of the Central Highlands.

Over the next week or so I will explore a number of these forgotten stories of 1925/25 bushfire season.

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 wattle (Acacia dealbata) rather than the original stands of mountain ash.

There were other large areas of wattle, particularly in the Bunyip catchment, which were the result of repeated bushfires in 1926, 1932 and 1939.

By the early 1970s, silvicultural knowledge had grown after the pioneering work of foresters like Jack Gillespie, and the methods of regeneration by clearing of overstorey, burning of  slash and seeding or planting were well known, but the problem of reforesting sites in dense growth of wattle remained.

Frank May was posted to Powelltown as the District Forester in 1963 after a stint in East Gippsland, and being a little innovative saw the potential to return the area to its former eucalypt condition.  Herb Beetham was Divisional Forester at Healesville while Con Wood the Aviation Officer in Fire Protection Branch

Fixed-wing aircraft were used to spray chemical herbicide mixture of 2-4-5-T and diesel to kill the wattle, two bulldozers dragged heavy chains to bring down the dead stems, which was followed by a spectacular slash burn to prepare the site. Aircraft then spread coated eucalypt seed.

But this work required the construction of an airstrip.

Commission staff and crew from both Powelltown and East Warburton sub-district were employed on these tasks over several years. 

The airstrip was also used to spray Phasmatids.

These images of construction and operations were made by local forester, Gregor Wallace, and cover dates from December 1969 to January 1972. They record only a little of the operations conducted from Sumner Spur.

The airstrip was replanted after the 1983 bushfires and is not visible today.

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 group of 843 refugees arrived in 1947 into Australia from the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

One of the conditions of entry was to work for two years in a government-directed job. Some of the immigrants worked for the Forests Commission cutting firewood, thinning, road making and fire protection.

By June 1949, 180 European immigrants were engaged in FCV work, and by the end of the next year the number had grown to 361.

Balt camps were established at Broadford – Mt Disappointment (84 men), Beaufort (48 men), Castlemaine (19 men), Cohuna (30 men), Daylesford (45 men), Brisbane Ranges (42 men), Graytown (31 men), Scarsdale (20 men), Beech Forest – Aire Valley, Noojee (ex-Boys Camps), Snake Valley, and Mirboo East and Bullengarook (42 men). An additional camp was planned during the year for Holcombe. There may have been others too.

Wherever possible, Stanley Huts and ex-Army buildings were used. In all camps of a permanent nature, amenities such as electric lighting, hot water and septic tank systems were installed.

The State forests near Bullarto were thinned by hand and the logs hauled by horse and dray to a saw bench to be cut into blocks for firewood to be sold by the Forests Commission into the Melbourne market. (See: Wartime Emergency Firewood Project  – Vol 1)

The large immigrant labour force at work in 1950 resulted in a dramatic increase in firewood production: 156,369 tons were cut, compared to the 66,568 tons the previous year. To assist in maintaining a reasonable distribution of wood from the Commission’s metropolitan depots, local men were employed as road hauliers, transporting the firewood direct from production centres in the forests.

By 1952, the scheme was winding down as the men completed their two-year contracts.

The Balts were not prisoners, so they were allowed out on weekends, and either walked to Bullarto to catch the train or just walked through the forest to Daylesford. Eventually they saved enough money to buy motorbikes.

The camp was later used by Leon Pederick’s assessment crew in the early 1950s.

In about 1957 the camp was leased to the YMCA from Ballarat.

All that remains today are the two stone chimneys from the cookhouse and some other concrete foundations.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46809683

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 war material. The “Office of the Controller of Timber” was established, and all the timber resources of the nation were placed under its direct control.

Steel was redirected to other defence needs and timber became the focus for both large and small buildings.

To coordinate the massive war construction program, the Government established the Allied Works Council (AWC) and, from 26 February 1942, it assumed control for all defence projects for the Allied Armies. It was based in Melbourne.

Australian timber was used to hurriedly build a number of large aircraft hangers. The structural layout of these buildings was probably derived from a 1941 US Army Air Corps design for a steel hangar spanning 122 foot  This was adapted as a segmented curved roof built from unseasoned hardwood trusses instead of steel.

Six 130-foot hangars and two 96-foot hangars were built at Tocumwal in NSW. A further 130-foot hangar and four 96-foot hangars were constructed at Charleville in QLD while two 96-foot hangars were built at Garbutt Airport at Townsville. Another 96-foot hangar was erected at Maylands in WA and one with a 130-foot span.

At the Werribee Satellite Aerodrome, four hangers were built with 96-foot spans and one at 130-foot. Two of the five original aircraft hangars at Werribee remain. One is currently used for the B-24 Liberator restoration, and the other is being relocated.

Gregory Nolan (1994). The forgotten long span timber structures of Australia. Master of Architecture Thesis. University of Tasmania.

https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/The_forgotten_long_span_timber_structures_of_Australia_/23206388

Photos: NAA

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 matter lapsed. Again, after the 1932 fires, the question was revived. In May 1932, an engineer’s report upon the desirability of dugouts and on their construction was submitted to the Commission. Further consideration was given the matter and, on the 14^th November 1932, the following minute was placed on the file:—

“Commission Decision – All sawmillers to construct effective dugouts in the close vicinity of all sawmills, particulars of such to be forwarded to the Commission”.

The Judge harshly criticised the Commission when he noted:-

Having made its considered decision, the Commission at no time thereafter took any steps to compel the observance of the condition. Instead, for several years, it wrote to millers “strongly advising” and “urging” the dugouts be instituted. In many cases the advice was ignored, and no dugout was constructed. In no case was even a threat of coercion made against the recalcitrant miller.

Many of the sawmillers objected strongly at the Stretton hearings to the compulsory installation of dugouts because of the expense. They objected even more strongly to constructing dugouts at steam winch sites because of their temporary nature.

The Forests Commission explained at the Stretton hearings that it had believed in dugouts as safeguards; that, in the words of the Chairman, A. V. Galbraith, their “belief had been intense”; that it continued to believe in them; but that it had feared it might be liable if people were asphyxiated in them; that it had sought advice of the Crown Solicitor on this point and had been advised that it would not be liable; that it had continued to “urge” the millers to install dugouts; that its fear of causing asphyxiation had remained until the 1939 fires proved it to be groundless.

But well-constructed dugouts had saved the lives of many sawmill workers and their families during the 1939 bushfires. In some locations, they had proved fatal.

Ironically at Yelland’s mill near Matlock, 26 people were saved because they did not use the dugout, which was roughly constructed above ground of corrugated iron and which stood among standing timber. They instead sheltered in a brick house which was near another wooden building, which soon caught fire, as did a truck outside along with 24 drums of fuel and oil which exploded.

The brick building then also caught alight and the ceiling began to cave in, so the people inside climbed through a window and ran past the burning truck to an area missed by the fire. The sawmill chef, Mrs Vera Maynard, was caught by the flames and burned to death in the house.

Whereas at the nearby Fitzpatrick’s mill, 16 people burned to death because there was no dugout available. Scrub came right up to the borders of mill. Some men tried to find shelter behind the brickwork of the boiler house, but they were driven out by the flames.  Others ran to the sawdust heap, thinking it would protect them from the searing heat, but their bodies were later found where they had tried to burrow into it.

The eight mill horses, still harnessed, were caught by the flames and died in their stalls.

One man jumped into an elevated water tank and is often said to have boiled. Other bodies were found in the bush about three-quarters of a mile away as they tried to run. Only George Sellars survived by wrapping himself in a wet blanket.

The two mills were not considered by their owners to be particularly vulnerable, and no worthwhile precautions had been undertaken for the safety of those who worked there.

It’s even reported that Forests Commission Officers, Finton Gerraty and  Roly Parke, didn’t think the Matlock forests would burn as they did, and besides, there was a quarry nearby which offered some  protection for the mill workers. They also had reservations about their legal power to insist on the owners’ building dugouts.

Questions of design of dugouts were debated at the hearings including ventilation, air purification, location, design (for example whether tunnel, or tunnel with cross chamber, or in flat country, shaft and drive), baffles for both for air and smoke, storage of water inside dugouts, supply of medicaments (for example for prevention or relief of temporary blindness and inflammation of the eyes), water sprays and restoratives; the direction in which the entrance to the dugout should face; the question of exposed timbers and sheet iron; and the various other suggestions which appear in the transcript of evidence.

The final recommendations of the Stretton Royal Commission included –

• The construction of dugouts at all mill settlements, and at winches during the fire danger season, should be compulsory.
• The design of the dugout, despite the test to which dugouts were subjected by the fires of January 1939, is a matter for the most careful consideration, of which only technicians are capable.
• It should be mandatory that an area of six chains in diameter, having as its centre the entrance to the dugout, should be kept clear of all trees and scrub, buildings, and material of whatsoever kind. Stores of petrol and oil, stacks of firewood and all other stores of inflammable material should be kept at such considerable distance from the dugout entrance as the State Fire Authority may decide.

And so it came to pass, the Forests Act was amended in December 1939 and dugouts became mandatory for those few sawmills that remained in forest after the 1939 fires. Many remote logging coupes and FCV roading camps also had dugouts installed.

Penalties applied for non-compliance, and the local District Forester was required to make annual pre-season inspections of all dugouts on State forests and those within the Fire Protected Area (FPA). Some were built privately on private land.

Most were primitive construction with a log or corrugated iron roof covered with earth. A hessian bag often hung at the entrance to keep the heat and smoke out. But they were dark and damp with snakes and other creepy crawlies often lurking inside.

By 1940-41, there were 19 new dugouts constructed by the Commission and a further 128 by forest licensees. Ten years later there were 8 new Commission dugouts and 21 new ones built by other interests. By 1960-61 the rate of new builds was declining but the Commission still managed 103 dugouts, while 127 were looked after by others. 

However, as the forest road network improved and gave all-weather access to modern two-wheel-drive vehicles, the reliance on dugouts receded.

In 1970, the Commission built a reinforced precast concrete dugout near Powelltown to house 30 people. But the number of dugouts maintained by the Commission had fallen to 61 with another 73 by others.

According to the Forests Commission’s final annual report from 1983/84, one additional dugout was built, bringing the total number under maintenance and use to 30, along with another 14 maintained by other parties.

The use of dugouts came back into sharp focus once again after the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires.

There are still a few remaining in the bush, but I can’t find any current official figures.

Click to access Leonard_Stretton-1939_Bush_Fires_Royal_Commission_Report.pdf

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 firefighting effort. In fact, of the 71 deaths during the 1939 bushfires, over half were timber workers.

And while they were employed as contractors, they were always considered part of the Forests Commission’s firefighting fraternity.

In addition to the current department’s fleet of tankers, trucks, graders and bulldozers, the firefighting effort is supported by over 400 contractors from across the civil and forestry industries.

If it has tracks or wheels, over 4000 machines are now registered on the DEECA’s “Panel Contracts”.

The Panel Contracts system was developed in Gippsland by logistics wizard, Max Stewart, and being registered on the panel before the fire season ensured contractors were available when needed, prices were agreed, machines met all the safety and insurance requirements, as well as technical standards. But more importantly, they came with the highly skilled people needed to operate them.

Dry firefighting with rakehoes, chainsaws and axes, by its very nature, is hard physical work but an essential skill in these far-flung places with limited access to water. It’s something that had been developed and honed over many decades by the Forests Commission.

I always found that 15-20 metres per-person-per-hour was a good “rule of thumb” for the sustained rate to build and hold a fireline using only hand tools in moderate fuels, but there are lots of things that can speed this up… or slow this down…

A small D4 bulldozer in the hands of a skilled operator could construct about 350 m/hr of control line in moderate fuels provided there wasn’t too much side slope, while a bigger D6 could double that figure.

But a new D6 bulldozer can cost in the vicinity of $750,000, and about $450/hour to operate, so having ready access to such expensive and powerful machines over the summer months was, in effect, “subsidised” because the owners had work in the “off season”.

Tough, ruggedly independent and self-reliant, logging contractors were familiar with working for long periods, both day and night, in remote bush, in steep terrain, in dust, often with only snakes and flies for company.

They also built and maintained many of the roads needed to access the bush. Logging machines were often conveniently located in the bush nearby and could be quickly moved and deployed to the fire edge.

It’s one thing to be able to pull levers and push dirt, but experienced bush contractors were able to safely cut a fireline down a precipitously steep ridge where crews could barely stand upright. They could push over dangerous burning trees which were a threat and then follow up during the recovery period by dextrously clearing roads and rehabilitating control lines with an excavator to minimise soil erosion.

The Caledonia bushfire in 1999 saw the introduction of a new role of Plant Operations Manager (POM) to better support the independent contractors. An initiative of local forester, Geoff Pike, with the support of Peter Broome, Denny Johnson and Mack Berry from Briagolong, they identified and numbered each machine and its crew in the bush and made sure they were looked after with time sheets, fuel, food, support and safety information.

Over the last few years, many logging contractors have sold their machines and businesses and moved on. But many others have wisely diversified into trucking, earth moving, road building, vegetation management such as slashing, mulching and tree lopping.

As time progressed, the cohort of traditional logging contractors across regional Victoria matured and shifted from burley blokes in bluey singlets, with Mack trucks and covered in dust, to professionally run family businesses.

Victoria’s contractor fleet now allows for both a massive surge capacity but also allows for a widening diversity of machines than would not otherwise be available within the Department. 

Increasingly, excavators and large harvesters are being used because they can be deployed into areas with a high safety risk due the dead stags or dry limbs left behind by previous fires. 

Roads, tracks and fire perimeters cannot be fully accessed by ground crews until the tree hazard has been removed.  Many of these machines have come directly from commercial timber harvesting operations.

At the other end of the scale, bobcats or positracks with mulching attachments can nimbly reduce the fire risk posed by the shrub layer – creating a “park-like” break alongside populated areas and roads, as an alternative to, or to complement the treeless slashed breaks. 

The tracked positracks minimises soil disturbance and can operate across much boggier or sandy terrain.  Whilst these machines might not have been used in commercial timber harvesting, increasingly contractors have diversified their fleet, which provides another opportunity to engage their skilled forest operators.

During the transition period of the closure of the timber industry, FFMVic retained many of the displaced logging contractors for firefighting and preparation works, but it’s uncertain what the long-term future may hold.

Either way, these wonderful folks have always been, and will always remain, a vital part of Victoria’s forest firefighting family.

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 of a continuous cycle of harvest and renewal, of balance and multiple use of a wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits, while growing, and protecting forests for the future.

This eBook comes in two volumes and aims to capture the story of Victoria’s State Forests from the earliest days of the Colony in the 1800s through to the present.

Hundreds of small, stand-alone snapshots give a glimpse into specific times and events. They draw heavily on the substantial and diverse collection of stories published over a nine-year period on my Facebook page, “Victoria’s Forest and Bushfire Heritage”. The eBook is more a compendium of related stories which attempt to “join-the-dots”, rather than a linear chronicle, so there is some unavoidable duplication.

I’m unashamedly an amateur forest historian and have deliberately attempted to write in an easy-to-read and conversational style, rather than pursue a deeper scholarly work. I also have tried to use neutral language, to remain objective and avoid expressing biased opinions, but that’s for others to judge.

Volume 1 covers the period from colonisation of Victoria through to roughly the end of World War Two, while Volume 2 covers the remaining period to the present. But there are inevitable overlaps with some topics.

It doesn’t delve into Victoria’s rich indigenous past, nor does it cover in any detail the gold mining era and relics in the bush. And I have only touched-on steam sawmills and timber tramways because there are many enthusiast groups such as the Light Railways Research Society of Australia (LSRSA) which have covered this subject matter much better than I ever can.

It has been written from a forester’s perspective and captures the stories of people who worked in the forests, earned a living from them and enjoyed them as a place of recreation.

It’s also a tribute to foresters who managed and protected the State’s forests and plantations over many decades, and critically, worked to save the forest from permanent alienation and loss.

A large part of this document outlines the accumulated wisdom, achievements, planning and preparations undertaken by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) to build an effective organisation.

In documenting the history of the forests and the key roles that foresters played as early stewards and advocates for forest conservation and land managers, it taps into networks of retired and practicing foresters, as well as many others.

But there remain significant gaps and sadly many of the key FCV figures are no longer alive or available to give their version of events.

This project is timely and significant because the management of Victoria’s eucalypt forests are at a dramatic turning point. The recent cessation of timber harvesting in Victoria’s public native forest in 2024, is raw and remains controversial, but is at the conclusion of a long and complex backstory – one which needs to be told.

Some have suggested publishing a hardcopy book, but I have never sought to profit from my work and wish to share it freely. The costs of printing so many colour images are prohibitive. Besides, an eBook is easier to skim, search and scroll.

My main hope is to record some of the rich story of Victoria’s State forests and bushfire heritage and place it on the public record within the security of the National Library.

A lot has changed over my 40-year career in forestry but importantly the foresters and the Forests Commission left a strong legacy of tradition, camaraderie and a spirit of innovation which remains deeply embedded in the DNA of the current land management agencies.

Looking back, many things are apparent, like stable leadership, staff having pride in their work, and a strong “can-do culture” of getting the job done, consistently shines through.

There were many “firsts”… and a lot to be proud of…

Thanks once again for your support and encouragement.

Volume 1 – 168 Mb

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-4135792873

Volume 2 – 191 Mb

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-4135792885

Email address: theworkingforests@gmail.com

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 with the responsibility of controlling the amount of sludge permitted as effluent into streams from mining operations.

In 1917 an Erosion Inquiry Committee was formed by the Minister for Public Works, but little seemed to come from its deliberations.

The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SR&WSC) established its own River Erosion and Flood Protection Branch in 1931 to carry out minor river stabilisation works.

As early as 1922, the Forests Commission had taken a strong interest in the protection of soils and water on forested catchments as well as private land. Specialist nurseries at Macedon, Creswick, Mildura and Wail near Horsham grew plants for country landholders to help restore the land.

Soil erosion came into very sharp focus during the droughts of the 1940s across the Wimmera and Mallee deserts where the sand from bare paddocks drifted across railway lines, roads and into irrigation channels. And huge dust storms were common.

In 1930 the Government appointed a sand-drift control committee to examine the problem, but once again it resulted in little action.

The important step came when Charles Tate Clark, Staff Surveyor in the Lands Department, was elected President of the Victorian Institute of Surveyors.

In 1939 he organised a symposium in collaboration with the Institutes of Engineers and of Agricultural Science to examine erosion control.

The symposium ran for four weeks and told a compelling story. Harold Hanslow, for many years a farmer and since 1935 a Commissioner of the SR&WSC was also concerned with the problem of erosion throughout the state and gave a graphic picture of the deterioration of the Mallee.

Removal of the Mallee scrub followed by excessive cultivation was damaging the fragile soil structure, plus the impact of rabbits was having a disastrous effect on the land.

The sand, so readily lost from the farmer’s property, drifted across railway tracks, overflowed roads, and filled up the irrigation channels.

The cost of maintenance works climbed as gangs of men were employed to shovel soil from permanent structures. In at least one case, an irrigation channel was completely abandoned due to sand-drift and another constructed in an entirely new location to replace it.

But the problems in the northwest were only the tip of the iceberg. Laanecoorie Reservoir on the Loddon River had been reduced by 47% of its capacity within 50 years because of siltation.

The Tambo River in East Gippsland had become so gorged with sediment that the new bed was now only a few feet below the rail track of the original trestle bridge.

The recommendations of the symposium were forwarded to the Premier, Albert Dunstan, in 1940 but he immediately put them into a file and forgot all about them. The Melbourne Press which promptly labelled him Albert the Ostrich.

Hanslow set himself two major tasks: to convince Victoria’s farmers to change their methods so as to promote soil conservation, and to persuade the government to pass legislation which would provide a framework for tackling the broader aspects of the matter.

Hanslow was a fiery protagonist and determined to see an erosion control programm instituted. He was also a prominent member of the Country Party and addressed meetings of members throughout the State with the aim of enlisting political support for the scheme which proved very persuasive.

By 1940 the pressure on the Government to do something was increasing, and Dunstan appointed a Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine the problem again. The committee recommended new legislation and appointment of a Board.

Cabinet once again ignored the recommendations. Hanslow was infuriated and wrote a stern letter to “The Countryman” highly critical of the Government. The Editor arranged to withhold publication until Dunstan had seen it and the Premier then threatened to sack Hanslow if he did not withdraw the letter. Hanslow retorted that unless Dunstan undertook to introduce soil conservation legislation the letter would not be withdrawn.

The stage was set and Hanslow retired to the country to await results. After a series of fierce rows, the Premier capitulated and agreed to the passage of legislation on the control of soil erosion.

The Soil Conservation Act 1940 created a Soil Conservation Board of seven members. The Chairman, Harold Greve Strom, was employed fulltime with staff to assist with the work. Beginnings were small but at the end of the first year the Chairman had a staff of three — the Departmental Secretary, a draughtsman and a typist.

In 1940, Hanslow donated a cup for the Mallee farm showing the best application of soil conservation principles.

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hanslow-harold-10418