The '67 Bushfires Share Your Story Project
67 Bushfires Share your story was a commemorative project by the Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhoods of Tasmania Fire Service and has been made possible with our partners at:
Bendigo Bank, TasNetworks, ABC Hobart, Cascade Brewery, Hydro Tasmania, Brighton Council, Kingborough Council, Derwent Valley Council, Glenorchy City Council, Huon Valley Council and Clarence City Council.
1967 Tasmanian Fires Overview
The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which came to be known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfires that Tasmania has ever experienced, leaving 64 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand homeless.
Extent of the fires
110 separate fire fronts burnt through some 2,640 square kilometres (652,000 acres) of land in southern Tasmania within the space of five hours. Fires raged from near Hamilton and Bothwell to the D'Entrecasteaux Channel as well as Snug. There was extensive damage to agricultural property along the Channel, the Derwent Valley and the Huon Valley. Fires also destroyed forest, public infrastructure and properties around Mount Wellington and many small towns along the Derwent estuary and east of Hobart.
Death toll and damage
The worst of the fires was the Hobart Fire, which encroached upon the city of Hobart. In total, the fires claimed 64 lives in a single day. Property loss was also extensive with 1293 homes and over 1700 other buildings destroyed. The fires destroyed 80 bridges, 4800 sections of power lines, 1500 motor vehicles and over 100 other structures. It was estimated that at least 62,000 farm animals were killed.
