open edition
canberra's black saturday, january 18th 2003
This is a series of images relating to the devastating bushfires which
were started by lightning strikes in bushland to the west of Canberra in
the weeks prior to January 18th 2003. Due to the high temperatures and
prevailing near gale force winds on the day, thousands of hectares of
National Parks were consumed with avengance, along with decades of work
on rural properties to the west of Canberra. At Tidbinbilla, 95% of the
wildlife reserve and inhabitants were lost, and in Canberra, over 500
suburban homes with lifetimes of memories and possessions were razed,
which all pales into insignificance compared to the loss of four human
lives at Urriara and in Canberra on the day.