2002 - 2003 Fire Season
State Government fire fighters from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) supported by the Department of Primary Industry (DPI) and Parks Victoria attended 856 wildfires on public land during the 2002 - 2003 fire season, with an area of 1,190,200 hectares of public land burnt.
Eastern Victorian Alpine fires
Eighty-seven fires were started by lightning strikes in eastern Victoria on January 8 2003. The Eastern Victorian Fire burnt approximately 1.2 million hectares of land, and was the largest fire in Victoria since 1939. The fire was declared contained on 7 March, 59 days after it began. It was finally declared safe on April 30, 2003.
Fire Season 2002 - 2003 overview
Alpine fires - summary and link to detailed document
Maps of Eastern Victorian Fires
Eastern Victorian Fires - final media release
Agencies involved in the Eastern Victorian Fires 2003
Big Desert Fire
Big Desert Fire
This fire was declared safe on Tuesday December 31 2002.
Kosciuszko National Park Fire
Kosciuszko National Park (Slaughterhouse Creek) Fire
The Slaughterhouse Creek fire burnt an area of 32, 000 hectares and is safe.
General 2002-2003 fire season information
DSE employed and trained a total of 750 seasonal firefighters for the 2002 - 2003 fire season. In addition, around 2,000 trained and accredited staff across DSE and Parks Victoria could be called upon in the event of a major fire. DSE also employed a total of 75 full time dedicated staff for fire management activities involving planning, prevention and coordination of other staff. Other resources included, 750 specialised 4WD firefighting vehicles with 400 litre tanks fitted, 450 4WD tankers (4,000 litre capacity), 81 first attack dozers and six large dozers.
The State Aircraft Unit managed jointly by DSE and CFA, utilised 24 aircraft including helicopters, fixed wing bombers, remote sensing aircraft and an Erickson Aircrane.
For information regarding significant fires in other years please see Major Bushfires in Victoria.
