Worst Bushfires in Australia.
The definition of the worst fires in Australian can be looked at in a few ways. These include by the number of lives lost, the number of homes lost and the amount of land that the bushfires went through.
The worst fires by land being burned through can again be subdivided by the amount that was totally lost, compared to just bush that was quickly burnt through, but which will regrow very quickly after the fire passes.
Some trees regrow green shoots within weeks of the fire. Examples of this can be seen at a BBC page (Australia fires: Plants photographed regrowing in ashes)
Worst Years for Deaths by Bushfires in Australia.
1926: 60 Deaths. Victoria
1939: 71 Deaths. Victoria
1967: 62 Deaths. Tasmania
1983: 75 Deaths. South Australia and Victoria
2008/09: 173 Deaths. Victoria (nma.gov.au/…/black-saturday-bushfires)
2019/20: Over 28 (By January 2020)
Worst Years for Houses Lost by Bushfires in Australia.
1939: 1,300 homes lost
1967: 1,293 homes lost
1983: 2,000 homes lost
2008/09: 2,029 homes lost
2019/20: Over 1,700 homes lost (By January 2020)
Worst Years for Land consumed by Bushfires in Australia.
| Year | Hectares Burnt Through (approx) |
| 1850/51 | 5,000,000 |
| 1938/39 | 2,000,000 |
| 1951/52 | 4,000,000 |
| 1960/61 | 1,800,000 |
| 1968/69 | 40,000,000 |
| 1969/70 | 45,000,000 |
| 1974/75 | 117,000,000 |
| 1980/81 | 1,000,000 |
| 1984/85 | 3,500,000 |
| 2002/03 | 39,000,000 |
| 2003/04 | 2,110,000 |
| 2006/07 | 1,360,000 |
| 2009/10 | 800,000 |
| 2012/13 | 914,760 |
| 2019/20 | (as at 11th January 2020) 10,700,000 |
1939 and 1974/75 data from (abs.gov.au/Ausstats)
2019/20 Australian Bushfire update:.
As at the 11th January 2020, it has been stated that 10.7 million hectares of land has had bushfires going through it.
That 10.7 million hectares is equal to 26 million acres, 107,000 square kilometres or 41,000 square miles.
Australia has a total land area of 769.2 million hectares.
Australian forests comprise 125 million hectares (ha), or 16% of its total land area.
The bushfires have also destroyed over 2,200 homes and another 3,700 buildings.
29 lives have also been lost.