1996–97 Australian bushfire season


A series of bushfires in Australia occurred over the summer of 1996–1997. The most prominent fires during the season were in the Dandenong Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula in the state of Victoria.

Fires of note

StateStart dateDeathsInjuriesHouses lostArea Local govt.Impacted communities & destructionDurationRef.
Western Australia8 January 199716MundaringWooroloo & Wundowie
  • Wooroloo Prison Farm and dozens of non-residential structures destroyed
Victoria19 January 19972Mornington PeninsulaMount Eliza
  • 2 carports and a car destroyed
    		• 3 days
    Victoria21 January 199732041Yarra RangesFerny Creek, Kalorama, Mount Dandenong & Upwey
  • Three civilians perish
  • 45 houses damaged
  • A CFA fire truck destroyed
    		• 2 days

    Timeline

    October 1996

    In October 1996, one house was destroyed in a bushfire near Ravensbourne in southeast Queensland.

    January 1997

    From 19–21 January 1997, fires burnt over 400 hectares through much of the Dandenong Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula, precipitated by over forty-degree Celsius dry heat and strong northerly winds. Three people were killed and forty injured. Forty-three houses were destroyed and another 45 damaged. Fires began at all locations except the Dandenongs on the 19th; the Dandenongs fires began on the morning of the 21st in the foothills of the western face of the ranges. It was suspected that the fires in the Dandenongs were deliberately lit.
    The areas most affected by these fires included: