Bushfire Gallery
Click on image to enlarge..On Saturday, January 18, 2003, the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex was threatened by the bushfires which later resulted in the loss of four lives, hundreds of homes, farms, wildlife, and national park areas.
..We present here a small gallery of images taken during the event, by personnel who did an outstanding job in saving the NASA Complex from any damage. Image: Gordon Clee

.
.
Canberra Bushfires
Here's a link to many other stories and images from the January '03 fires.

Click to enlarge Fires in the Namadgi National Park went out of control when high winds and low humidity combined. Plantation pine forests then fueled the flames releasing dark-brown smoke.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Local conditions deteriorated as the fires worsened.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge With antenna 'Deep Space Station 45' (DSS-45) in the foreground, the fire was burning across a wide front.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Burning grass on farmland behind DSS-45 kept the fire moving.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Heavy smoke continued to billow.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge As the fires approached, contingency plans were put in place to shutdown tracking operations.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Spacecraft tracking was halted for several hours while personnel dealt with the fire emergency.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Equipment from the local Volunteer Rural Bushfire Service arrived.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge The firefront continued past the complex towards more pine forests, destoying camping areas, bridges, buildings, and eventually towards the historic Mt Stromlo Observatory.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge The horseshoe shape of the valley meant that fire approached on three sides of the Complex.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Fires coming down the hills behind the Visitor Centre.
Image: Gordon Clee
Click to enlarge Flames were seen approaching over the closest hill.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge The firefront began sweeping close to the Complex.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge A hellish smoke filled the air. The 70-metre antenna, DSS-43, was in a stowed, 'offline' position as the fires approached.
Image: Gordon Clee
Click to enlarge The Complex was enveloped in smoke.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Fires behind the Visitor Centre continued to burn bush and grassland.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Burning embers created numerous fires outside the Complex.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Large paddocks were completely burnt out. Sheep and cattle were lost during the fires.
Image: Barry Davis
Click to enlarge Grass fires came very close to DSS-34.
Image: Gordon Clee
Click to enlarge While much of the fire stayed outside the fenceline, spot fires did ignite grass near cabling, buildings, and some antennas.
Image: Tony Pelling
Click to enlarge Burnt areas showed how close the flames can to come facilities.
Image: Tony Pelling

RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE