Bushfires are an intrinsic part of the Australian landscape, but their scale and intensity have reached unprecedented levels in recent decades. Since 1970, NSW has recorded over 18,814 fire events, burning more than 15M hectares. The 2019-2020 Black Summer marked a catastrophic turning point: the Gospers Mountain fire, started by a single lightning strike, ultimately burned 512,626 hectares (including significant area from escaped backburning operations), generating fire-generated thunderstorms and merging with five other fires into a megablaze exceeding one million hectares.
This dashboard is a look at the data that shows how dangerous and devastating bushfires can be.
Bushfires are an intrinsic part of the Australian landscape, but their scale and intensity have reached unprecedented levels in recent decades. Since 1970, NSW has recorded over 18,814 fire events, burning more than 15M hectares. The 2019-2020 Black Summer marked a catastrophic turning point: the Gospers Mountain fire, started by a single lightning strike, ultimately burned 512,626 hectares (including significant area from escaped backburning operations), generating fire-generated thunderstorms and merging with five other fires into a megablaze exceeding one million hectares.
This dashboard is a look at the data that shows how dangerous and devastating bushfires can be.