The Dwellingup fires (20 to 24 January and 24 February to early March, 1961) were a series of devastating bushfires that burned large areas of forest in the southwest of Western Australia. The towns of Dwellingup and Karridale were largely destroyed by the fires, as were a large number of already historic sawmills that fell into disuse around fifty years before the fires. There were also major fires at Pemberton and in the Shannon River region further to the south. January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Backburning in Townsville, Australia. ... Eucalyptus Forest at Swifts Creek in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ... Emblems: Floral - Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii); Mammal - Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus); Bird - Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) Motto: none Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Const. ... Dwellingup is a town in Western Australia, located in a timber and fruitgrowing area in the Darling Range east-south-east of Pinjarra. ... Its a dump full of whores. ... Shannon is a national park in Western Australia (Australia), 302 km south of Perth. ...

Whilst the 1960 rainy season over the affected region had not been excessively dry, rainfall had been below average over the region affected by the fires ever since August of that year - thus the forests were perhaps even drier than they would normally be by January. However, the underlying cause of the Dwellingup fires lay far to the north in the Pilbara, where a tropical cyclone formed on 18 January north of Onslow and moved steadily southwards, hitting that town on the 20th. With a strong high pressure system to the east of the cyclone remaining almost stationary for some days, hot northeasterly winds developed and became so intense that by the 20th maximum temperatures throughout the south west were uniformly above 40°C (104°F) and remained at that level for the following five days. During this period, the cyclone moved slowly along the coast and as it drenched Onslow and the neighbouring district, only dry thunderstorms occured in the southwest, which started fires that spread extremely radpily in the hot, windy conditions. The Pilbara is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. ... Onslow is a coastal town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 1386 km north of Perth. ... In meteorology, an anticyclone (i. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The first fires were reported from Dwellingup, 110 km south of Perth, Western Australia on the 19th and the following day, fires erupted in the timbered country of the Darling Range around Mundaring and Mount Helena. Although as the cyclone tracked down the west coast some rain came around January 24 to ease the fires, not all of them were fully extinguished. Moreover, as the normal dry summer weather evaporated further moisture from the forests, when another (more severe) cyclone hit Onslow on 24 February it caused even stronger winds (sustained at up to 60km/h or 37 miles per hour with much stronger gusts) and as this cyclone did not produce any rain since it moved inland and lost intensity, decaying bushfires were re-ignited to fatal effect. Perth is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Western Australia, and is the fourth largest city in Australia, with a population of approximately 1. ... Darling Scarp, Perth, Swan River estuary. ... The Shire of Mundaring is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. ...

The fire from Dwellingup consequently moved downslope toward the major town of Pinjarra where it burned a significant portion of the town's buildings. 123 people were left homeless and as the karri forests near Karridale began re-ingiting, the entire population of Karridale and a number of other mill towns was relocated to Dwellingup in the following days. As the fires continued to burn owing to the strong winds, many tiny timber towns were completely burnt out - Holyoake, Nanga Brook, Marrinup and Banksiadale were never to be re-built. The townsite of Pinjarra is located in the south west agricultural region, 87 km south of Perth and 21 km south east of Mandurah. ...

Ironically, it was the rain from Onslow's third cyclone in five weeks that finally put out the burining fires. However, in all it is estimated that the fires burned a total of 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) of bushland, and property damage far exceeded this. It is indeed a major miracle that no lives were lost in the fires, although many people's lives were thrown into turmoil as a result of losing their homes.

Following the fires, there was extensive investigation into their cause and in the following years many recommendations were made to improve backburning in the tall eucalypt forests of the southwest. However, many critics have noted that backburning in Western Australian forests was already widely practiced before the 1961 fire disaster. Species About 600, see text Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of trees (rarely shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ...

External links

• Cyclone and fire in South West Western Australia
• Fires of 1961 - 41 day inferno