Together, in remembrance

Woodend joins with Mt Macedon CFA in remembering Ash Wednesday.
36 years on…
75 lives lost
180 fires
2,676 injured
2,545 homes destroyed
8,000+ evacuated
130,000+ emergency services personnel deployed
513,979 hectares burnt
On Wednesday 16 February 1983, winds of up to 110 kilometres per hour fanned hundreds of fires across Victoria and South Australia in temperatures over 40°C as years of severe drought and extreme weather combined to create one of Australia’s worst fire days in a century.
It was Ash Wednesday, the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australian history until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 – 75 lives were lost including those of 13 CFA (Country Fire Authority) and 3 SA Country Fire Service firefighters while in the line of duty.
While more than thirty-five years may have passed since that day, many individuals, families and communities still bear the scars of the devastation, including ours.
The Macedon and Mount Macedon communities lost seven much-loved members and more than four hundred homes including those of twenty-three members of the Mount Macedon Volunteer Fire Brigade.
We remember and honour those no longer with us, and stand alongside those who continue to grieve for what was lost that day.
Together, in remembrance.