2009 Black Saturday Bushfires
As we already know, Australia and wildfires go hand in hand. However, that doesn’t mean that the people in Victoria were fully prepared to handle the 400 individual fires that burned for an entire week in February 2009. Over 450,000 hectares were burned to a crisp, and 173 people lost their lives over the week-long bushfire.
So, did Mother Nature play a part in the fire, or was this done by man? People were questioned and arrested for starting some of the individual fires, but in the end, investigators discovered that fallen power lines were the likeliest culprits. After Black Saturday, the local government issued a non-negotiable ban against building houses in high-risk areas.