18 January 2003 firestorm - Mount Stromlo stories Overview of events by Bart Meehan Associate Director (Business & Site Services), ANU Facilities & Services

On 18 January 2003, a major fire front climbed the western face of Mt Stromlo and raced through the Observatory. In its wake, it left more than a dozen buildings, telescopes and residences in ruins.

The bush fires had been threatening the ACT for most of the previous week and, while there was some general community concern, it was tempered by advice that the fires remained within containment lines.

Tim Borough, Fire Safety Officer, Facilities and Services was serving as part of the volunteer bushfire brigade for most of that week. The situation he was seeing in the field on Thursday and Friday (16 and 17 January 2003) ran contrary to the generally optimistic reports being provided to the public. He felt the situation was deteriorating and that the Mt Stromlo campus would come under direct threat from the fires by the weekend. He passed this information back to both Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) staff and the Facilities and Services management.

On receiving this information, Facilities and Services established contact with the Emergency Services Bureau (ESB) who advised that their modelling suggested the fire would not reach Mt Stromlo before Sunday (19 January 2003) or Monday (20 January 2003) "if at all". They also stated that protection of the Observatory would become their highest priority. At this point, no one was predicting the disaster that hit the site (and Canberra's southern suburbs) on 18 January 2003.

The Facilities and Services Division had assessed the risk to the Mount Stromlo campus following the bushfires of Christmas 2001/2002. Fire engineering reports had recommended a series of actions be taken and the most critical were completed by late 2002. These included external sprinklers on the workshop and clearing of vegetation on the top western face of the mountain. On 17 January 2003, with the potential threat of bushfire looming, the Division leased a diesel generator and placed it on the site. The generator was intended to provide emergency power to the water pumps in the event normal power supply failed.

Divisional management also established contact with the ESB and RSAA management.

On 18 January 2003, Tim was still in the field as a volunteer fireman (at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve). His observations of the fire and wind conditions reinforced his belief that Mt Stromlo would be under threat at some point during the day.

Tim contacted ANU Security and advised them of the potential threat, then contacted Florian Steinbacher (Project Coordinator, Facilities and Services), a friend who lived in Lyons. He asked Florian to visit Mt Stromlo and make a visual assessment of the fire threat. He also asked him to ensure that the generator was ready for operation.

Florian arrived on site at approximately 8.30am and proceeded to the operation area at the top of the mountain. He observed the fire in the distance and felt that it was travelling quickly towards the site.

He tried to contact Graeme Blackman (Mt Stromlo Site Officer, RSAA) to discuss the possible evacuation of the Red Belly Black Café, Observatories, administration areas and residences. Graeme was not on the site, but rather travelling back from Tumbarumba. (He arrived back at Mt Stromlo at approximately 10.00am.) A little before midday, the ACT Fire Brigade arrived on the site and recommended that all non-essential personnel be evacuated. Subsequently, staff and patrons of the Café left the mountain, along with RSAA staff working in the administration buildings (Though, Vince O'Connor, Business Manager, RSAA, noted that some staff were still in the Duffield and Woolley Buildings working, when he did a final check of those areas at approximately 1.45pm. He instructed them to leave at that time).

Jim Pollard (Electrical Engineer, Facilities and Services) and Duncan Taylor (Manager, BMS, Facilities and Services) arrived at Mt Stromlo at approximately 12.30pm and proceeded to connect the generator.

Florian noted that, while all non-essential staff had been evacuated from the site, many of the residents had remained. They were milling round the operations area observing the fire. There was no sense of panic. Florian felt this also was the case when he had talked with the firemen around midday. While advising the need to evacuate the site, they were generally sanguine and there was no indication in the discussion that they believed the fire threat was extraordinary.

Duncan and Jim left Mt Stromlo at approximately 1.30pm. Florian stayed until approximately 2.00–2.30pm. During that period he noticed that the fire had gathered momentum and estimated that it travelled about 10 kilometres in 15 minutes. He suggested to Graeme that they evacuate the residents. Graeme believed that he did not have the authority to order people off the site. As Florian left Mt Stromlo, he noticed there was still no sense of panic, despite the fact the fire was already at the base of the mountain. He saw a woman planting trees and another sitting in her car at the forest edge speaking on a mobile telephone. Yet another (a young girl) was riding a horse along the forest trails on the Uriarra Road side of the site. Florian advised the AFP Officers manning the roadblock on Uriarra Road that there were still residents on the mountain and that an evacuation should be initiated. Florian then headed home (his suburb was already threatened by fires). As he passed Weston Creek, he noticed that the University property on Heysen Street was already burning.

The police went up to the residential area using their sirens, to draw out the residents. Graeme also made his way through the residences, advising people that they should leave the mountain. By this time, the fire was already on the mountain and flames from the fire could be seen above the rooflines of the buildings in the operational area. The remaining residents were now concerned and many left the mountain, driving at relatively high speed along the access road.

Graeme met students from the Bachelors Quarters on their way off the mountain. He asked whether there was anyone left in the building and was advised it was clear. This information was inaccurate. Oliver Schnurr (a Visiting Fellow from overseas) was sleeping in his room.

The police went door to door (with the exception of the Bachelors Quarters) advising residents to leave. When they came to Residence 8, they met Mark Bacon and Andrew Thompson. Mark was the tenant of the residence. He was also a volunteer fire fighter and he had decided to stay and protect his house. Andrew, a friend, had come up to the mountain to help him (bluffing his way through two police roadblocks, largely by wearing fire-fighter's overalls). Mark told the police that he intended to stay and protect his property. They advised him against it, but moved on. Mark observed that the police officers looked "terrified".

Mark and Andrew had a similar conversation with Graeme, at which time, Graeme indicated that he might also stay and fight the fire. He subsequently decided to evacuate.

The fire was on the top of the mountain when the police and last evacuating residents left. This was somewhere between 2.30 and 3.00pm. Mark and Andrew had devised a plan to deal with the fire. They would remain in the house, allowing the fire front to pass through the site, then fight the spot fires left in its wake. They had two fire extinguishers as well as bins filled with water that they intended to use. If they were unable to save the house, they would cover themselves in wet blankets and sit in the open until it was safe to walk off the mountain.

The fire hit the residential site at approximately 3.00pm (all interviewees had difficulty identifying the specific times of events). The fire front was approximately 40m high and stretched across the mountain. The radiant heat from the fire ignited items up to five metres in front of it. Leaf and other materials were ignited and carried up into whirlwinds that circled inside the fire.

The electricity and water both failed before the fire hit the residential site. As it moved through, the car inside the garage beside Mark's house caught fire. The wall from the garage collapsed, hitting the outer wall of the house. Concerned that this might have caused a breach in the perimeter, Mark went outside to check. He covered his face with a wet nappy, but even with this protection, it was too hot to breathe. He stayed out just long enough to confirm the wall was intact (approximately 30 seconds) and then returned to the relative safety of the house.

The front took approximately 20 minutes to pass through the site. Once it had, Mark and Andrew moved quickly. They checked the perimeter of the house, looking for and putting out any spot fires. Mark climbed up to the roof checking the eaves. He noticed a small fire and broke several roof tiles with his hands, then used the extinguisher to put the fire out.

While fighting the spot fires, Andrew noticed a figure walking towards him out of the smoke. This was Oliver Schnurr.

Oliver was an overseas visitor, working at the site. He had been working at the Observatory the night before and had returned to his room in the Bachelors' Quarters on in the morning of 18 January 2003. After speaking with two house mates (who were moving to another residence that morning), he went to bed (around 11.00am). He did not hear the sirens or distant shouts to evacuate around 2.30pm. When he woke up around 3.00pm, the room was brightly lit. His first thought was that it was twilight and he should be heading back to the Observatory. However, he quickly realised that the light was fire from the passing front and flames in the ceiling.

He remembered reading a brochure he was given by someone when he first arrived in Australia. It explained what to do if you were trapped in a bushfire: stay inside until the front passes, then get out quickly and find an open space. At the time he thought the advice was 'stupid'. Now he followed it to the letter. He took towels into the bathroom to wet them. He noticed flames coming through the vent. He turned on the sink taps and there was no water, just steam. He knew there was a bottle of water in the fridge, so he used these to wet the towels and a blanket.

The Bachelors' Quarters were divided into two residences. He noticed flames at the top of the dividing wall, and realised it was only a matter of minutes before his part of the house would be burning. He decided that now was the time to make for open ground. He went to the front door, covering himself in the wet blanket. He knew from 'Hollywood movies' that once he opened the door, the rush of air would fuel the fire, and accelerate the destruction of the house. There would be no turning back.

Once he was outside he made his way in the general direction of the playground, the only open space he could think of in the circumstances. As he walked, the smoke was so thick he could barely see the ground below him. In the playground, he sat and waited to be rescued. After about 15 minutes, he noticed Andrew, through the clearing smoke.

Mark was 'annoyed' when he saw Oliver. His plan had been based around him and Andrew. Now he had a third person to look after, and he had no idea how Oliver would react to the situation. Mark asked him what he wanted to do and Oliver said, "Go to sleep!" They took him inside residence 8, gave him some water and the task of putting out any embers that managed to find their way in. Then they went back to fighting the spot fires.

When Mark and Andrew were satisfied the immediate danger to residence 8 had been removed, they ventured further a field. They noticed House 18 was on fire. At first it appeared as though the flames were consuming it, then Mark noticed that what was actually burning was a dog blanket on the porch. This had ignited the wooden window frames. Mark put out this fire, exhausting the last extinguisher. They then went down to Graeme's house. There was already a fire on the roof and with no extinguishers left, there was little they could do to save the property. At this time, they were not sure whether Graeme was still in the house (given he had earlier indicated to them he was considering staying). It was too dangerous to go inside but they checked to see if he was there, through the windows. Satisfied he wasn't they went back to House 8.

Mark and Andrew spent the rest of the afternoon fighting spot fires round the residences, but eventually went up (with Oliver) to the operational site around 5.00pm. By that time, most of the buildings were on fire (the exceptions being the Woolley and Duffield buildings, Visitors' Centre and the Reynolds telescope). The domes on the telescopes had already collapsed, as had the roof on the Workshop. They noticed an acrid smell, which they assumed was coming from the Workshop. They were concerned that the emissions may be poisonous and did not venture beyond the Administration Building.

Around 6.00pm, Susannah (Mark's wife) made her way up to Mt Stromlo. She had told the police on the blockades that her husband had stayed to fight the fire. They let her through, though they gave the impression that they did not think anyone could have survived. Once she had confirmed Mark was okay, Susannah took Oliver off the mountain. Mark and Andrew stayed (in fact, they remained for the rest of the week following the fires.)

As night fell, the side of the mountain was littered with small spot fires. (Both Mark and Andrew described them as looking like the campfires of a bivouacked army.) They could not sleep. Around 2.00am, they noticed a fire truck moving through the site, on its way up to the operations area. Mark and Andrew followed it and found out that it was a RAAF fire crew who were patrolling areas behind the fire front, putting out spot fires.

On the way up to the operations site, Mark noticed that a small spot fire had started under the Duffield Building. He told the RAAF crew, who put it out, probably saving the building from extensive damage. There was very little more they could do on the site. Most of the damage was done by then.

Early the next morning (19 January), University staff began arriving to assess the damage while, back on the Acton campus, the Vice-Chancellor convened a meeting to begin the recovery.

Bart Meehan

16 June 2003