Kilmore East

The Black Saturday fires began with the Kilmore East fire when fallen power-lines started a blaze in farmland at 11.47 am. This fire spread quickly through a pine plantation and crossed the Hume Freeway at 1.58 pm. The fire burnt through Wandong and reached Mount Disappointment at approximately 3 pm. Strong westerly winds blew the fire towards Humevale and Kinglake with embers causing spot fires up to 20 - 40 kilometres away. Between 3.30 – 7 pm, the fire entered Kinglake National Park and continued onto Strathewen, St Andrews, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Chum Creek, Steels Creek, Arthurs Creek, Flowerdale, Broadford, Healesville and Toolangi. In this fire, 119 people died, 232 were injured and 1242 homes were lost.

Kinglake

The most significant fire was the Kinglake Fire Complex, named following the merge of the Kilmore East and Murrindindi fires on 8 February. This forest crown fire swept through state forest and national parks with flames more than 30 metres high. The extreme temperatures and wind created convection clouds above the flames that further fuelled the fire and propelled embers far beyond the fire front. 

Murrindindi

The Murrindindi fire reportedly began about 3 pm and quickly spread through the Murrindindi State Forest and Black Range. The fire continued through state forests before it reached Narbethong at 4.20 pm, destroying most of the houses in town. A back-burn was attempted outside Marysville at 6 pm but was abandoned as the fire-front moved quickly towards the town. At 6.45 pm the fire hit Marysville razing all but 14 properties. The fire then burnt through Buxton and Taggerty. The fire continued to burn for 26 days and was finally declared under control on 13 March. There were 40 deaths, 73 people injured and 538 houses destroyed.

Other major fires

• The Bunyip fire broke containment lines in the Bunyip State Forest on the morning of 7 February. This fire destroyed 31 houses across the townships of Jindivick, Labertouche and Tonimbuk.

• The Horsham fire broke out as a grassfire at 12.20 pm. The very strong winds blew the fire out of control, eventually destroying 13 homes.

• The Churchill fire started in a hardwood plantation at 1.32 pm. It impacted the townships of Hazeldene, Koornalla, Callingnee and Jeeralang, where 11 people died and 145 homes were destroyed.

• The Redesdale fire began at 3.11 pm with 14 homes lost.

• The Narre Warren and Upper Ferntree Gully fires began at about 3.30 pm. Given the density of housing and their proximity to the Dandenong Ranges, there was the potential for widespread destruction. A total of seven homes were burnt.

• The Bendigo fire began about 4 pm in Maiden Gully. The fire continued through Long Gully and Eaglehawk, where 58 homes were burnt and one person died.
• The Beechworth fire started at 6 pm and burnt through farmland and state parks. Two people died, 12 were injured and 38 homes lost.