Australian National University reported that the area burned in 2019–2020 was "well below average", pointing out that 30 million hectares less than the Australian annual average burned that year. More specifically, the early part of the season (2019) had "near average" burn area, whereas the area burned in the late part of the season (2020) was "unusually low".
New South Wales The NSW statutory Bush Fire Danger Period normally begins on 1 October and continues through until 31 March. In 2019–20, the fire season started early with drought affecting 95 percent of the state and persistent dry and warm conditions across the state. Twelve
local government areas started the Bush Fire Danger Period two months early, on 1 August 2019, and nine more started on 17 August 2019.
North Coast On 6 September, the northern parts of the state experienced extreme fire dangers. Fires included the Long Gully Road fire near
Drake which burnt until the end of October, killing two people and destroying 43 homes; the Mount McKenzie Road fire which burnt across the southern outskirts of
Tenterfield, and severely injured one person, destroyed one home and badly damaged four homes; and the Bees Nest fire near
Ebor which burnt until 12 November and destroyed seven homes.
Mid North Coast At the
Port Macquarie suburb of Crestwood a fire started on 26 October from a dry electrical storm.
Water bombers were delayed the following day in attempts to bring the fire burning in swampland to the south west of Port Macquarie under control. A
back burn on 28 October got away from
New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) volunteers after a sudden wind change pushing the fire south towards
Lake Cathie and west over
Lake Innes. Port Macquarie and surrounding areas were blanketed in thick smoke on 29 October with ongoing fire activity over the following week caused the sky to have an orange glow. During this time the Lindfield Park fire burning in dry
peat swamp flared up and threatened homes at Sovereign Hills and crossed the
Pacific Highway at Sancrox. These fires burnt . On the Carrai Plateau west of
Kempsey, a fire burnt in wilderness areas where locked up and poorly maintained fire trails made combating it difficult. This fire joined up with the Stockyard Creek fire and together with the Coombes Gap fire and swept east towards Willawarrin, Temagog, Birdwood, Yarras, Bellangary, Kindee and Upper Rollands Plains. Land around
Nowendoc and Yarrowich was also burnt. This fire burnt more than , destroying numerous homes and claiming the lives of three people. North-west of near the Cattai Wetlands a fire started on 28 October, this fire threatened the towns of Harrington,
Crowdy Head and
Johns River as it burnt north towards Dunbogan. This fire claimed one life at Johns River, where it also destroyed homes, and burnt more than . At Hillville, a fire grew large due to hot and windy conditions, resulting in disorder in the nearby town of
Taree, to the north. Buses were called in early to take students home before the fire threat became too dangerous. On 9 November, the fire reached
Old Bar and Wallabi Point, threatening many properties. The following two days saw the fire reach
Tinonee and
Taree South, threatening the Taree Service Centre. Water bombers dropped water on the facility to protect it. The fire briefly turned in the direction of
Nabiac before wind pushed it towards Failford. Other communities affected included Rainbow Flat, Khappinghat, Kooringhat and
Purfleet. A spot fire jumped into Ericsson Lane, threatening businesses. It ultimately burnt . At Dingo Tops National Park a small fire turned into a massive bushfire emergency as it impacted the small village of
Bobin; numerous homes and the Bobin Public School were destroyed in the fire. Fourteen homes were lost on one street in Bobin. The NSWRFS sent out alerts to people in Killabakh, Upper Lansdowne, Kippaxs,
Elands, and
Marlee to monitor conditions.
2019 Rally Australia, planned to be the final round of the
2019 World Rally Championship, was a
motor racing event scheduled to be held in
Coffs Harbour across 14–17 November. A week before the rally was due to begin, the bushfire began to affect the region surrounding Coffs Harbour, with event organisers shortening the event in response to the deteriorating conditions. With the situation worsening, repeated calls from competitors (most of which were European-based) to cancel the event prevailed with the event cancelled on 12 November. In late December 2019, fires started on both sides of the Pacific Highway around the
Coopernook region. They burnt before they were brought under control.
Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury A large fire in November at Gospers Mountain in the
Wollemi National Park burnt over and threatened homes in the
Hawkesbury and
Lithgow areas. The fire was projected to burn towards the
Central Coast and potentially threaten properties in
Wisemans Ferry and other townships. In an attempt to protect the Blue Mountains from the Gospers Mountain bushfire, firefighters commenced a large backburn on 14 December from the corner of Mt Wilson and
Bells Line of Road. The backburn quickly grew out of control, jumping across Mt Wilson Road and threatening houses in Mount Wilson. On 15 December, the escaped backburn impacted
Mount Tomah,
Berambing and . The fire destroyed numerous houses and buildings in this area and spread into the
Grose Valley. On 19 December the RFS Mt Wilson Backburn escape impacted on the Darling Causeway between and , it later jumped the Darling Causeway and impacted the Grose Valley and the fire would be split into two fires: Grose Valley fire and Gospers Mountain fire. On 21 December, a catastrophic day, the Mt Wilson Backburn (the southern part of which was now designated the "Grose Valley fire") impacted Mount Victoria, , Bell, , Dargan and
Bilpin with resultant destruction of dozens of homes. On the same day the escaped RFS Mt Wilson Backburn fire moved towards . Further buildings were destroyed as a result of backburning operations in Blackheath along Evans Lookout Road. By 15 December, the "Gospers Mountain fire" had grown to . There have been persistent myths that the "Gospers Mountain Fire" was the largest fire from a single ignition source in Australian history. This is inaccurate. The Gospers Mountain Fire was a result of multiple ignition points, the majority of which, were the result of large scale strategic backburning operations that escaped control. The estimated total area burnt by escaped backburning around the Gospers Mountain Fire is over 130,000 hectares. As of 27 December, the Gospers Mountain fire, including the numerous backburn escapes ignited by the NSW Rural Fire Service, had burnt over ; and, after burning approximately across the Lithgow, Hawkesbury and Central Coast local government areas, the NSW Rural Fire Service reported the fire as contained on 12 January 2020, stating that the fire was caused by a lightning strike on 26 October. Whilst the original ignition may have been caused by lightning, the subsequent, separate ignitions caused by RFS backburning contributed greatly to the spread of the fire and the impacted the ability of the RFS to deploy sufficient resources to defend communities.
Sydney in the
Sydney CBD blanketed by smoke in December 2019 ,
Western Sydney charred after grass fire. On 12 November, under Sydney's first ever catastrophic fire conditions, a fire broke out in the
Lane Cove National Park south of
Turramurra. Under strong winds and extreme heat the fire spread rapidly, growing out of control and impacting the suburban interface across
South Turramurra. One house caught alight in Lyon Avenue, but was saved by quick responding firefighters. As further crews arrived and worked to protect properties, a C-130 Air Tanker made several fire retardant drops directly over firefighters and houses, saving the rest of the suburb. The fire was ultimately brought under control several hours later, with one firefighter injured suffering a broken arm. Because of the bushfires occurring in the surrounding regions, the Sydney metropolitan area suffered from dangerous smoky
haze for several days throughout December. On some days, the
air quality was eleven times the
hazardous level, making it even worse than
New Delhi's. The conditions were likened to "smoking 32 cigarettes" by Associate Professor Brian Oliver, a respiratory diseases scientist at the
University of Technology Sydney. On 10 December the fire impacted the
south-western Sydney suburbs of and , followed by and , threatening hundreds of houses and resulting in the destruction of one building. The fire continued to flare up sporadically, coming out of the dense bush and threatening properties in Oakdale and Buxton on 14 and 15 December. The fire moved south-east towards the populated areas of the
Southern Highlands and impacted the townships of
Balmoral, ,
Bargo,
Couridjah and
Tahmoor in far south-western Sydney. Substantial property losses occurred across these areas, in particular multiple fire trucks were overrun by fire, with several firefighters taken to hospital and two airlifted in critical condition. Later that night, two firefighters were killed when a tree fell onto the road and their tanker rolled, injuring three other crew members. The situation deteriorated on 21 December when the fire changed direction and attacked Balmoral and Buxton once more from the opposite side, with major property losses in both areas. On New Year's Eve there were fears of this fire impacting the towns of
Mittagong, Braemar, and surrounding areas. On 31 December, a grass fire broke out in the sloped woodlands of
Prospect Hill, in
Western Sydney, where it headed north towards
Pemulwuy along the
Prospect Highway. The fire impacted a large industrial area and threatened numerous properties before being brought under control by 9:30pm. Approximately and a number of historic
Monterey pine trees were burnt. The
Sydney City fireworks display was allowed to continue with a special exemption from fire authorities, despite protests. Despite warnings from authorities, numerous fires were sparked across Sydney as a result of
illegal fireworks, including a blaze which threatened properties at
Cecil Hills in Sydney's south west. On 4 January, Sydney's western suburb
Penrith recorded its hottest day on record at making it the hottest place on
Earth at the time. On 5 January, a fire broke out in bushland at
Voyager Point in Sydney's south-west, spreading rapidly under a strong southerly wind and impacting numerous houses in Voyager Point and
Hammondville. As the fire moved north, authorities closed the
M5 Motorway due to smoke conditions and prepared for the fire to impact the New Brighton housing estate. Firefighters on the ground assisted by numerous waterbombing aircraft held the fire south of the motorway and prevented any property losses, containing the fire to .
Southern Highlands In late October, a number of fires started in remote bushland near
Lake Burragorang in the
Kanangra-Boyd National Park south-west of Sydney. Due to the extreme isolation of the area and rugged inaccessible terrain, firefighters struggled to contain the fires as they began to spread through the dense bushland. These multiple fires ultimately all merged to become the Green Wattle Creek fire. The fire continued to grow in size and intensity, burning towards the township of
Yerranderie. Firefighters undertook backburning around the town whilst helicopters and fixed wing aircraft worked to control the spread of the fire. The fire passed Yerranderie but continued to burn through the national park towards south-western Sydney. On 5 December under severe weather conditions, the fire jumped the Lake Burragorang and began burning towards populated areas within the
Wollondilly area. On 19 December, the fire continued east towards the
Hume Highway (resulting in its closure for several hours), impacting the township of
Yanderra. Over the following days as the fire continued to progress to the south east, both and were threatened by the fire. As well as expanding to the south and east, the fire also spread in a westerly direction, headed towards . The
Oberon Correctional Centre was evacuated in anticipation of the advancing fire impact along its western flank. On 2 January, the fire hit the popular and historic
Jenolan Caves area, destroying multiple buildings including the local fire station. The centrepiece of the precinct,
Jenolan Caves House, was saved.
South Coast , New South Wales in November 2019. On 30 November weather conditions drastically deteriorated across the south-eastern areas of the state, with major fires breaking out and escalating in the Dampier State Forest,
Deua River Valley,
Badja,
Bemboka,
Wyndham, Talmalolma and Ellerslie, hampering firefighters already stretched by the Currowan,
Palerang and
Clyde Mountain fires. As temperatures were forecast to reach on the South Coast, Premier Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency on 2 January 2020 with effect from 9am on the following day, including an unprecedented "tourist leave zone" from to the
edge of Victoria's northern border. A blaze on the South Coast started off at Currowan and travelled up to the coastline after jumping across the
Princes Highway, threatening properties around
Termeil. Residents in
Bawley Point,
Kioloa, Depot Peach,
Pebbly Beach, North Durras and
Pretty Beach were told to either evacuate to
Batemans Bay or
Ulladulla or stay to protect their property. One home was lost. , the Currowan fire was burning between Batemans Bay in the south, Nowra in the north, and east of in the west. The fire had burnt more than and was out of control. The Currowan fire had merged with the Tianjara fire in the
Morton National Park to the south west of Nowra; and the Charleys Forest fire had grown along the fire's western flank; and on the fire's southern flank, the fire had merged with the Clyde Mountain fire. By 26 December, the Clyde Mountain fire was burning on the southern side of the
Kings Highway, into the Buckenbowra and Runnyford areas. Around 4am on 31 December, the fire had crossed the Princes Highway near , and the highway was closed between Batemans Bay and . Around 7am on 31 December, the fire impacted the southern side of Batemans Bay, causing the loss of around ten businesses and damage to many others. The fire also crossed the Princes Highway in the vicinity of Round Hill and impacted the residential suburbs of Catalina, as well as beach suburbs from Sunshine Bay to Broulee. Residents and holiday makers were forced to flee to the beaches. Isolated hamlets of
Bendalong and
Manyana and
Cunjurong Point were additionally ablaze, with holiday-makers evacuated on 3 January 2020. , all were still without power. , in the
Bega Valley Shire, the border fire that started in north-eastern Victoria was burning north into New South Wales towards the major town of , and had impacted the settlements of and surrounding areas including Kiah, Lower Towamba and parts of . Part of the fire was burning in inaccessible country and continued to head in a north-westerly direction towards as well as northerly to just south of Nethercote. The fire had burnt more than and was out of control.
Riverina On 30 December, the Green Valley fire burning east of
Albury near
Talmalmo (which had started the day prior) developed into an unprecedented fire event for the Snowy Valleys as a result of extreme local conditions. The smoke plume rose to an estimated and developed a
pyro-cumulonimbus cloud, becoming a
firestorm. The result was extreme, the wind was described by crews on the ground as in excess of , with spot fires starting over ahead of the main fire front. Firefighters described what they believed to be a tornado generated by the fire storm, which began flattening trees and flipped a small fire vehicle. The tornado then impacted a crew of firefighters working to protect a property, flipping their tanker over and trapping the crew inside, who were then overrun by fire. One firefighter was killed with multiple others injured, with one airlifted to
Melbourne and two to
Sydney.
Snowy Mountains The Dunns Road fire was believed to have been started by a lightning strike on 28 December in a private pine plantation near Adelong. In the
Snowy Valleys local government area, by 2 January 2020 the Dunns Road fire had burnt south of the
Snowy Mountains Highway in the Ellerslie Range near . Over was burnt and the fire was out of control. The NSWRFS issued an evacuation order to residents in the and areas. Residents and visitors to the
Kosciuszko National Park were evacuated and the national park was closed. 155 inmates from the
Mannus Correctional Centre near were evacuated. On 3 January 2020, the Dunns Road fire burnt from
Batlow into Kosciuszko National Park, burning much of the northern part of the park. The fire caused significant damage, severely damaging the
Selwyn Snow Resort, destroying structures in the town of
Cabramurra and almost completely destroying the heritage-listed precinct (and birthplace of skiing in Australia) of
Kiandra. Kiandra's
historic former courthouse was left with only its walls standing after a fire so hot that the glass and aluminium in the windows melted. A number of
high country huts, including Wolgal Hut and Pattinsons Hut near Kiandra, were also feared to have been destroyed. By 11 January three fires had mergedthe Dunns Road fire, the East Ournie Creek, and the Riverina's Green Valley fireand had created a "mega-fire", burning south of the Snowy Mountains. in December 2019. On 23 January, a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules large air tanker crashed near
Cooma while waterbombing a blaze, resulting in the death of the three American crew members on board. On 20 December, the Marthavale-Barmouth Spur expanded, greatly endangering the community of Tambo Crossing. satellite imagery on 4 January 2020 showing bushfires on southeast coast of Australia The first day of two-day cricket tour match between a Victoria XI and
New Zealand in Melbourne was cancelled due to extreme heat conditions. On 30 December, there were three active fires in East Gippsland with a combined area of more than , and another in the north-east of the state near
Walwa heading south-east towards
Cudgewa. An evacuation warning was issued for the East Gippsland town of
Goongerah, which is surrounded by high-value old growth forests, as well as Cudgewa. On the same day, a fire broke out in the Plenty Gorge Parklands, situated in Melbourne's northern suburbs between
Bundoora,
Mill Park,
South Morang,
Greensborough and
Plenty. Fires reached the town of
Mallacoota by around 8 am AEDT on 31 December 2019. At 11 am AEDT 31 December, fires had begun to approach the vacation town of
Lakes Entrance. Despite the recommendation that large portions of East Gippsland be evacuated, approximately 30,000 holiday makers chose to remain in the region. Approximately 4,000 people, including 3,000 tourists, remained in Mallacoota as the fire began making its closest approach to the town, cutting off roads in the process; Mallacoota had not been issued with an evacuation warning on 29 December. On 3 January, approximately 1,160 people from Mallacoota were evacuated on naval vessels
HMAS Choules and
MV Sycamore. On 2 January at 11 pm AEDT Victorian Premier
Daniel Andrews declared a state of disaster under the provisions of the
Victorian Emergency Management Act for the shires of
East Gippsland,
Mansfield,
Wellington,
Wangaratta Rural,
Towong, and
Alpine, and the alpine resorts of
Mount Buller,
Mount Hotham, and
Mount Stirling. Emergency Management Commissioner
Andrew Crisp stated that had burnt including near Corryong in the state's north-east and that fifty fires were burning. On 3 January, Premier Andrews said two people were confirmed dead from the East Gippsland fires. On 6 January Premier Andrews said that bushfires had burnt through in Victoria's east and north-east and that 200 homes were confirmed lost. On 13 January, two bushfires were burning at emergency level in Victoria despite milder conditions, one about 8 km east of Abbeyard and the other in East Gippsland affecting Tamboon, Tamboon South and Furnel. On 23 January, there were still 12 fires burning in Victoria, the strongest in East Gippsland and the north-east. The Buldah fire in East Gippsland was at watch and act level and the rest were on advice level. Most of the 44 fires sparked by dry lighting were quickly dealt with by firefighters. Heavy rain in the Melbourne region brought little relief to bushfire-affected regions. Premier Daniel Andrews said that the rains could bring new dangers for firefighters, including landslides. On 30 January, four days of hot weather were forecast for Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia bringing high fire danger with several uncontrolled bushfires still burning.
Queensland and
northern New South Wales bushfires in November 2019. At the time, the smoke spread eastward and reached
Tasman Sea. On 7 September 2019 multiple out of control blazes threatened townships across
south-eastern and
northern Queensland, destroying eleven houses in , seven houses in
Stanthorpe, and one house at . On the following day the heritage-listed lodge and cabins at the iconic Australian nature-based
Binna Burra Lodge were destroyed in the bushfire that consumed residential houses in Beechmont the previous day. A large fire impacted the
Peregian Beach area on 9 September, on the
Sunshine Coast, severely damaging ten houses. In December 2019 Peregian Springs and the surrounding areas came under threat by bushfires for the second time in a couple of months. No homes were confirmed lost in this bushfire. Due to deteriorating fire conditions and fires threatening homes across the state, on 9 November a State of Fire Emergency was declared across 42
local government areas across southern,
central, northern and
far-northern Queensland. On 11 November a fire started in the
Ravensbourne area near
Toowoomba, which burnt through over of bush across several days, destroying six houses. At 8 am the air quality in
Brisbane reached unprecedentedly poor levels (
Woolloongabba PM2.5 238.8
μg/
m3). Queensland's chief health officer, Dr Jeanette Young, urged residents to stay indoors and to not physically exert themselves. On 13 November a water bombing helicopter crashed while fighting the blazes threatening the small community of
Pechey. While the
Bell 214 helicopter was completely destroyed, the pilot walked away with minor injuries. On 23 November the state of fire emergency was revoked and extended fire bans were put in place in local government areas that were previously affected under this declaration. On 6 December a house fire broke out in and quickly spread to nearby bushland and was placed under a watch and act alert by the
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services that afternoon. The following day, after worsening conditions, the fire was upgraded to an emergency warning and began to threaten homes in the local community. The fire destroyed a shipping container filled with fireworks, and residents within the exclusion zone were ordered to evacuate. One home was destroyed. On 8 November a bushfire broke out in forestry to the west of the township of Jimna, causing Queensland Fire and Emergency services to issue a "watch and act" alert. The fire caused the evacuation of the entire town.
South Australia On 11 November 2019 an emergency bushfire warning was issued for
Port Lincoln in the
Eyre Peninsula, with an uncontrolled fire traveling towards the town. The
South Australian Country Fire Service ordered ten water bombers to the area to assist 26 ground crews at the scene.
SA Power Networks disconnected power to the town. satellite imagery on 3 January 2020 showing bushfires on
Kangaroo Island. A large fire broke out on
Yorke Peninsula on 20 November 2019 and threatened the towns of and . It destroyed at least eleven homes and burnt approximately . The fire was believed to have started from a sparking electrical transformer. A
Boeing 737 water-bombing aircraft from New South Wales in addition to South Australian
Air Tractor AT-802s were used to protect the town of Edithburgh. On 20 December fires took hold in the Adelaide Hills, and near in the
Mount Lofty Ranges. Initial south-easterly winds put the towns of
Lobethal and in the line of the fire, and by the next morning the winds had changed to north-north-west, threatening other towns. The fires killed one person, more than 70 houses were destroyed, as well as over 400 outbuildings and 200 cars. Fires are still burning and the yearly Christmas celebrations at Lobethal were cancelled. Also on 20 December, an out-of-control bushfire took hold near
Angle Vale, starting from the
Northern Expressway and burning through
Buchfelde and across the
Gawler River. At 11:07 am
ACDT the fire was burning under catastrophic weather conditions and an emergency warning was issued for
Hillier,
Munno Para Downs,
Kudla,
Munno Para West and Angle Vale. One house was destroyed. Another emergency warning was issued on 3 January for a fire near
Kersbrook. At its largest extent, the warning area overlapped with areas that a few days earlier had been in warnings for the Cudlee Creek fire. Water bombers delivered 21 loads in just over an hour before darkness fell, and 150 firefighters on 25 trucks plus bulk water carriers and earthmoving equipment limited the advance of the fire to . On Kangaroo Island starting in the
Flinders Chase National Park, the Ravine bushfire burnt in excess of and a bushfire emergency warning was issued on 3 January 2020 as the fire advanced towards
Vivonne Bay and the town of was evacuated. On 4 January it was confirmed at least two people died. approximately , representing about a third of the island, had been burnt. Fires remained burning out of control, with firefighters working to contain and control fires before potentially hot windy weather scheduled for later in the week. Following fire damage to a water treatment plant, residents were asked to conserve water and some water was carted into island towns. There were concerns for the future of threatened wildlife, such as
glossy black cockatoos,
Kangaroo Island dunnarts, and koalas. Authorities stated that any koalas taken to the mainland for treatment cannot return to the island in case they bring diseases back with them.
Western Australia , 4 January 2020. Two bushfires burnt in
Geraldton on 13 November, damaging homes and small structures. A fire broke out in
Yanchep at 2:11 pm on 11 December, immediately triggering an emergency warning for Yanchep and
Two Rocks. The fire led to a service station exploding. On 12 December, temperatures in excess of exacerbated the fire, and the emergency warning area doubled including parts of
Guilderton and Brenton Bay further north. On 13 December, increased temperature conditions resulted in the fire burning in excess of , with the fire front over in length. , the emergency warning area stretched from Yanchep north to
Lancelin over away. By 16 December, the fire was considered contained and the alert downgraded to watch and act. Approximately were burnt; only two buildings were damaged, both within the first day of the fire starting. so as to prevent any recurrence of the 2007 death of truck drivers on the
Great Eastern Highway. Between 26 December 2019 and 1 January 2020, as a result of a lightning strike, a fire tore through of land in
Stirling Range National Park in the southwest of the state, burning more than half of the park. The pyrocumulus cloud from the fires could be seen south in
Albany. By New Year's Day 2020 a crew of 200 firefighters brought the fire back to advice level without any loss of life or major property damage (a park ranger hut and hiking tracks were destroyed). On 20 December 2019, a fire was started in the north east, which spread to and destroyed one home; a man was charged with starting the fire. Two fires continued to burn in January 2020. A fire in the Fingal Valley, in north-eastern Tasmania, started on 29 December, and a fire at Pelham, north of Hobart, started on 30 December. the Fingal fire had burnt over and the Pelham fire over .
Australian Capital Territory in southern Canberra In the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the national capital
Canberra was blanketed by thick bushfire smoke on New Year's Day from bushfires burning nearby in New South Wales. That day the air quality in the capital was the worst of any city in the world, at around 23 times the threshold to be considered hazardous. Conditions continued the next day, and
Australia Post stopped postal deliveries in the ACT to keep workers safe from smoke. The first death directly linked to the poor air quality was also recorded on 2 January. An elderly women had been travelling from Brisbane to Canberra by plane, when she exited the plane onto the smoke-flooded tarmac, she suffered respiratory distress and then died. On 2 January 2020, the ACT declared a state of alert; that was extended on 12 January as the merged Dunns Road fire burnt from the Territory's south-west border. From at least 6 January a bushfire near Hospital Hill in the
Namadgi National Park had started; it was extinguished on 9 January. On 22 January a bushfire started in Redwood Forest; it reached emergency level threatening and . The next day a second bushfire started, the Kallaroo Fire, which later during the day merged with the Redwood Forest fire forming the Beard Fire; the fire jumped the
Molonglo River and threatened the suburbs of , and as it burnt .
Canberra Airport was closed for a day. The fire destroyed 1 facility, 4 outbuildings and 3 vehicles. On 27 January a bushfire in the Orroral Valley in the
Namadgi National Park started. ACT Emergency Services Minister
Mick Gentleman reported, on behalf of the
Department of Defence, that the fire had been started by a landing light on a Defence helicopter, while it was conducting routine aerial reconnaissance and ground clearance work to support local firefighters. By the morning of 28 January the fire had grown to 2,575 hectares in size and was 9 kilometres from the town of
Tharwa. An emergency warning was declared for Tharwa and the southern suburbs of Canberra just after 1:30pm AEST on 28 January.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr described the fire as the biggest threat to Canberra since the
2003 Canberra bushfires. == Precedents ==