The 2001 Warragamba

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

occurred

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

, 25 December 2001 in the small

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

town of Warragamba, leaving 30 homes and businesses destroyed. The bushfires in Warragamba were part of the longest official continuous bushfire emergency in NSW taking place between 21 December 2001 and 13 January 2002 and spreading across the state. Most of these fires were caused by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

arsonists Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. The fire behaviour was unusual in many areas due to extreme dryness of fuel and variable winds. The initial destruction in Warragamba and the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

area prompted a

natural disaster A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

declaration by the State Government. On

of 2001 over four thousand firefighters were battling over one hundred blazes across the state. A band of fire running from

Campbelltown, New South Wales Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the adminis ...

east to the coast was the firefighters main concern. This was the firefront that caused the damage to Warragamba and neighbouring town

Silverdale, New South Wales Silverdale is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. Approximately 30 minutes from the city of Camden, New South Wales, Camden, Silverdale is close to the historic township of Warragamba, and the main water supply for ...

as the fire sped sixty kilometres in six hours from the Lower Blue Mountains to the coast around

Helensburgh, New South Wales Helensburgh is a small town, located south of Sydney and north of Wollongong and north and above the Illawarra escarpment and region. Helensburgh is in the Wollongong City Council Local government in Australia, local government area. It is sur ...

. Areas further south, such as the area around St. George's Basin and

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village in the Jervis Bay Territory and on the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay, known as the Jervis Bay Terri ...

were heavily affected by fires caused by stray embers from the main front, with many homes in the area being destroyed. Many local residents of the townships under threat battled the fires with garden hoses, as there were not enough fire-fighters. One resident, Father John Evans battled to save the local parish church, only to see his own house burn down. Hundreds of people were forced into an

emergency evacuation Emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm ...

from Warragamba. The initial loss of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

affected 4,500 homes in Warragamba and surrounding areas. The local electricity supplier, Integral Energy estimated the cost in the Warragamba and surrounding areas at 3 million dollars.http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200112/s448875.htm On 26 December 2001, the day after the fires swept through the town, Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

visited the town and praised the work of volunteer firefighters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warragamba Bushfires Arson in Australia 2001 Warragamba 2001 wildfires 2001 in New South Wales Warragamba, New South Wales 2001 disasters in Australia Wildfires caused by arson Arson in 2001