On Feb. 16, 1983, southern Australia burned with a fury few had seen before.
On a day that became known as Ash Wednesday, more than 180 bushfires raged across the Adelaide Hills, the state’s southeast and through regional Victoria, claiming 75 lives, including 17 firefighters.
In Victoria 2800 homes were destroyed and in South Australia (SA), 383 were razed during firestorm conditions fanned by sudden wind shifts, with the speed and ferocity of the flames engorged by abundant fuel loads.
At the time, the fires were the deadliest in Australian history, though that dubious honour has since passed to the Black Saturday fires across Victoria in 2009 which claimed 173 lives….