Four Decades on From Deadly Ash Wednesday Fires Fury

Former Cockatoo Fire Brigade Captain Graham Simpson poses for a photo with the Ash Wednesday Memorial at the Ash Wednesday Bushfire Education Centre, in Melbourne, Feb. 7, 2023. AAP Image/Joel Carrett

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.