2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires
Appearance
The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires 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 together to form the largest fire in Victoria since the 1939 "Black Friday" bushfires[1](and now the 2009 Victorian bushfires).
The main fire burnt over 13,000 km² over 59 days before it was contained. 41 homes were destroyed and over 9,000 livestock killed. Thousands of kilometres of fencing was also destroyed.
The areas affected include Mount Buffalo, Mount Bogong, Mount Feathertop, Bright, Dinner Plain, Benambra, Omeo.