(2009) Bushfires cause a Black Saturday in AustraliaAn unrelenting heat wave, lightning, and arson contribute to a conflagration of bushfires near Melbourne, Australia, the worst in the continent’s recorded history. The fires will kill 173 and injure 414.The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009 and were Australia’s all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia’s highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires.
Fatalities: 173
7 February 2009 MODIS Aqua satellite image of smoke plumes from bushfires burning in Victoria. wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires4.8.d17