February 6, 1851- "Black Thursday" - day of terror.

"Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898"

"THE FUMINA TREE"

HENRY'S NO1 MILL -OTWAY RANGES

HENRY'S NO1 - MILL CREW

BUSH CREW

HORSE POWER

1926 BUSHFIRES

THE 1939 HALOCAUST

BUSH MILLS SUFFERED MAJOR LOSSES

THERE WERE OTHER CASUALTIES...

END OF AN ERA

WOODS POINT DESTROYED

MMBW CATCHMENT SCORCHED

BAW BAW TRACK

From the Wimmera to the sea, and from Portland to the fringe of Gippsland....practically no area escaped. Worst effected were Plenty Range, Westernport and Dandenong districts, and practically all area thence to the South Australian border. (Foley J C)

Oil by William Strutt - "Black Thursday" - from "Australian Painters" (Hamlyn 1976), kind permission of New HollandPublishers Sydney.

There were further severe outbreaks in 1877 (Western Victoria), 1896 (Central, North-East), climaxing in 1898, when during January 14th to February 13th, there were "calamitous fires in Gippsland. Two townships destroyed (Neerim and Thorpdale). Hundreds of settlers were burnt out. Great loss of stock &c., no loss of life reported" (Foley, J C.)

Oil by John Longstaff - "Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898" from "Australian Painters" (Hamlyn 1976), kind permission of New HollandPublishers Sydney.

There were fearful bushfires in Gippsland in 1906 that started on January 26th, and burnt until the 1st March. A settler at Fumina in Gippsland, whose home was burnt, took shelter in this burnt out Mountain Ash tree stump. It was large enough for 2 beds, tables, chairs, and other furniture and accommodated the family until their home was rebuilt.

Courtesy Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.

Typical of many sawmills established in State Forest in the early years of the last century, Henry's No 1 mill was set up close to the timber resource in the headwaters of the West Barwon River. It was akin to a small town, with shops, and Post Office (with its own steel stamper) - the only connection to town was a timber tramway. Workers and their families were housed on site - see sawn timber huts in picture. The mill was steam powered, using offcut timber to stoke the boilers.

Photo: Bill Meadows

The mill crew pose for a formal photograph about 1901 - easy to pick the bosses in this one. Note the tramway bogies with steel wheels, with the timber steel-chained between them. Also the Australian rules football has not changed much over the years! Mill crew would have played on local teams - after working Saturday morning!

Courtesy Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.

Mountain ash trees have a huge buttress - so springboards were notched into the stump to reduce the work required. The face cut or scarf has just been made with axes to direct the fall. The back cut with a crosscut saw will be made from the other side of the trunk. The bush crew also lived at the mill settlements.

Courtesy Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.

Horses powered the bush in the early days, hauling logs to the mill and sawn timber to the raihead. Note the sawn timber rails in this picture and the bush timber bridgeworks - all cut and assembled by hand.

Courtesy Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.

Disastrous fires followed summer upon summer, with emphasis on1902, 1904, 1913, 1905 (Macedon burnt out), 1919/20 (120,000 acres forest burnt Otways and Grampians) culminating in the 1926 bush fires which burned 976,000 acres January 26 - March 1. Pictured is the Kinglake Hotel, burned during February along with forest, homes and livestock. Forest fires burnt across large areas of Gippsland throughout February and into early March. Sixty lives were lost in addition to widespread damage to farms, homes and forests. The fires came to a head on February 14, with 31 deaths recorded at Warburton. Other areas affected include Noojee, Kinglake, Erica, and the Dandenong Ranges.

photo: Kind permission of Yarra Plenty Regional Library.

Following a long drought that found Melbourne imposing water restrictions and provincial cities almost out of water (....sounding familiar?), fires burnt through December 1938 into the new year, culminating in "Black Friday" 13th January1939. The map shows the extent of forest fires in which 72 lives were lost on the day, 71 sawmills were burnt, and two million acres of high quality timber was destroyed. A number of badly burned victims did not recover, the eventual death toll exceeding 100 people.

The bush mills with their poor access and close forest situation had little chance; residents of some settlements were all lost; others were badly burned and died later. Two forestry people, Mr Demby and Mr Barling, perished in these blazes. The impact of this event on survivors is evident from the expressions in this picture. There was no trauma counselling in 1939.

Courtesy H Marriner Toolangi

Along with the mill people, Hero the Draft Horse and his valiant team mates did not survive the blast of nature's furnace.

Courtesy H Marriner Toolangi

The days of bush sawmills effectively ended on this day.

Courtesy H Marriner Toolangi

Many townships were burnt out, including , Noojee, Buxton, Warrandyte, Rubicon, Omeo, Mansfield, Erica, Dromana, and parts of Lorne. Woods Point was "demolished in three quarters of an hour". (Foley,J C)

Courtesy H Marriner Toolangi

The whole of Melboure's water catchment had the blow-torch applied to it. This is a picture taken near McVeighs Hotel on the Erica Road - which somehow escaped the fire.

Courtesy of Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.

MMBW photo showing water catchment near the Baw Baw track. Every living thing was scarified with layers of dust and ash awaiting the erosive winter rains. A similar fire today would have serious implications for metropolitan industry and residents.

Courtesy of Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association Museum, Beechworth.