18 January 2003 firestorm - Mount Stromlo stories

Don Faulkner

This description of the fire is based on the Epilogue of the Frame and Faulkner Stromlo history "STROMLO–An Australian Observatory" published by Allen & Unwin in 2003. It was written by Don in February 2003, about a month after the event.

During the summer of 2002–03 Australia experienced a prolonged drought, particularly severe in the southeast. In many places it was the worst in living memory. The month of January, usually a high-risk one for bushfires, was awaited with apprehension. This was not misplaced; fires broke out in every Australian state.

Canberra – the 'bush capital' – is especially prone to wildfire attack. The Namadgi National Park, a mountainous reserve of natural bushland comprising 45 per cent of the area of the Australian Capital Territory, lies to the southwest of the city and comes within 10 kilometres of suburbia at the nearest point. Across the border there is more of the same, with the much larger Kosciusko National Park stretching southwards into the alpine region of New South Wales. There are also three extensive pine plantations to the west of the city, the nearest of which actually surrounds Mount Stromlo Observatory and abuts the nearest suburbs in the Weston Creek area. Between the wilderness and the city lies the Murrumbidgee river valley, always thought of as a natural containment line for any fires approaching from the west (although, since it is quite a small stream at this point and its valley has been retained in its natural bushland state, the protection it offers is perhaps more psychological than real). The Stromlo Pine Forest lies on the city side of the Murrumbidgee Corridor.

Most bushfires arise from natural causes (such as lightning strikes) and, in early January, outbreaks began to occur to the west of the city. By Monday 13 January, fire crews from across Canberra and elsewhere in Australia were battling three blazes in particular. Some of Canberra's water reservoirs lie in the Namadgi Park and water-dump helicopters were in action. The battle took a dramatic turn on that day, when one of the helicopters accidentally ditched into the Bendora Dam and began to sink with its Queensland pilot trapped in his seat. As it happened the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Jon Stanhope, and the Emergency Services Director, Peter Lucas-Smith, were assessing the fire situation at the Dam at the time and assisted in the pilot's rescue.

Thereafter the fires made daily headlines in theCanberra Times. By Wednesday two of the three Namadgi outbreaks had combined into a single blaze, and the third was still raging. An even larger fire was burning in New South Wales just across the Territory's north-western border. Throughout the week interstate volunteer fire fighters arrived to boost the defensive effort; by late Friday 450 were deployed. The weather predictions towards the end of the week had become dire – a four-day period of searing 40°C temperatures and 35 kilometres per hour north-westerly winds. Saturday's headlines brought grim news: 'Bushfires break through'. Wind gusts of up to 65 kilometres per hour had caused spot fires well ahead of the main fire fronts, and within 12 kilometres of the outskirts of the city.

The threat to Canberra was but one element of a much larger picture; equally dangerous fires spread over a wide area, particularly to the south in the alpine district. Emergency Services were stretched to the limit and were forced to redirect their efforts from trying to control the fire-fronts to protecting property. The authorities issued increasingly urgent advice on what action residents should take in the event of their homes being threatened.

In the end it all happened very quickly. The firestorm generated its own fierce wind and attacked with devastating force. The Murrumbidgee Corridor was breached at about midday on Saturday, 18 January, and the storm then swept up the mixed pastoral/forest land towards Canberra, reaching the suburbs by mid-afternoon. The Weston Creek area suffered horrific devastation. Four people died; hundreds were injured, many seriously; thousands had to be evacuated; and about 500 homes were destroyed, including nearly 250 in Duffy, the suburb lying at the foot of Mount Stromlo. The four fatalities also occurred in or near Duffy.

The emergency services were completely overwhelmed. Indeed, had they had ten or even a hundred times the number of appliances to deploy it is doubtful whether they could have prevented the catastrophe. Seasoned fire chiefs later commented that, in all their experience, they had never witnessed such a phenomenon. The storm was quite capricious. One man and his son were on their roof hosing down their residence when a fireball came and knocked them to the ground, only to leap-frog their home, leaving it unscathed, and race on to destroy the house behind. Stories of despair, heroism, miraculous escape, and individual and community compassion abounded, swelling the pages of the newspapers for weeks.

Preliminary damage estimates ran to $250 million, making this the second most costly fire attack in Australia's history. Thirty farms in the region were destroyed, with the loss of thousands of animals. Virtually all of the Namadgi National Park was burnt.

As the fire raced eastwards the Stromlo Pine Forest was overwhelmed, and with it the Observatory. The order to evacuate was given at 2.30pm. By the end of the afternoon, most of the heritage areas had been destroyed. No fire-fighting effort could have saved them. Many Observatory staff live in Weston Creek because of its proximity to the Observatory. Four staff couples lost their homes and several others only narrowly managed to save theirs as they fought spot fires around their properties in quite terrifying circumstances.

It was the next day before the emergency authorities permitted any access to the Mount Stromlo site. When the Observatory’s Director, Penny Sackett, Associate Director, John Norris, and the Observatory's Executive Officer, Vince O'Connor, were able to inspect the damage, a horrific sight awaited them. The domes of the 74” reflector, the 50” Great Melbourne Telescope, the Reynolds 30” reflector, the Yale–Columbia 26” refractor, and the Oddie 9” refractor were all gutted, and the telescopes themselves had suffered irreparable damage. In the case of the 50”, the 26” and the 9”, their lenses or mirrors were found lying on the dome floors. The 1920s Commonwealth Solar Observatory buildings (now housing the Administration, the Mechanical Design Section and the Library) were also completely destroyed, as were the workshops. Perhaps the most heart-breaking single loss was that of the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph, four years in the building, and undergoing final testing prior to its mid-2003 delivery to the Gemini North observatory in Hawaii. Seven of the twelve residences on the mountain were destroyed, leaving their occupants – many of them graduate students – bereft of all their possessions.

It is noteworthy that of the Observatory's major buildings, the three most recently constructed survived: the Duffield Building (completed in 1964), the Woolley (1995) and the Visitors Centre (1997). The Duffield and the Woolley buildings house the astronomers' offices. Damage was slight: broken windows and a little water damage from the fire sprinklers. The Computer Section staff and the network servers are also located in the Woolley Building and back-ups are routine. Thus the Observatory's electronic environment was quickly restored, with minimal loss of information, following the return of staff to the Woolley and Duffield buildings on 10 February 2003.

The firestorm seemed to have swept over the entire site and it is surprising that anything at all survived. Why was it, for instance, that the Visitor Centre was left intact although the adjacent 74” was gutted, and even a wooden storage box in the Centre's undercroft was burnt? Why did Agris and Leslie Kalnajs's house fail to catch alight although its garden was completely destroyed, as was the residence next door? Although the heritage buildings of the old Commonwealth Solar Observatory were completely destroyed, the wooden park benches in their enclosed courtyard survived entirely unscathed, including the memorial bench to Su Khouri, Director's Secretary in the 1970s. The dynamics of the firestorm must were absolutely bizarre.

The support of the ANU in response to the tragedy was immediate and unstinting. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Chubb, convened a meeting of all Mount Stromlo staff in the Chancelry at 9am on Monday 20 January 2003. He announced that everyone at the University had but a single agendum – the reestablishment of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at its Mount Stromlo site with the minimum possible delay. Staff members were found immediate desk-space on campus, and some of the Observatory's computer servers were brought down from the mountain to establish a temporary network. Following the disaster, Mount Stromlo staff meetings were held daily. Five working groups were also established to plan key aspects of the reconstruction.

The Observatory staff were absolutely amazed by the expressions of sympathy and concern that flooded in from all over the city, the country, and the world. Even more overwhelming were the offers of assistance and practical help in the post-fire recovery. One of the most touching gifts was five dollars from the piggy-bank of a nine-year-old girl who had received advice on her school project a few days before – "now it was her turn to help the Observatory", she wrote. At the other end of the scale, the ANU's Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, and the Australian Defence Force Academy made workshop facilities available, allowing work on Mount Stromlo's instrumental contracts to proceed with a minimum of disruption. Offers of replacement items for the Library were numerous and substantial.

While the fire losses were massive, it is worth noting that much remained. The Research School's Siding Spring Observatory is entirely intact. It is worth reflecting, too, that since it joined the University in 1957 it has been at Siding Spring that the Observatory has sited all major new telescopes. The spirit of Mount Stromlo staff remains high. The new Mount Stromlo will obviously not be an exact replica of the old – nor would anyone want it to be – but quite enough of its heritage landmarks will be restored to leave no doubt, in anyone's mind, that it is still the same Observatory.

Support was also been forthcoming at the highest possible level. The Prime Minister, John Howard, inspected the damaged Observatory on Tuesday, 21 January, and the Minister for Science, Peter McGauran, was another early visitor. On 4 February McGauran issued a media release detailing the Prime Minister's reaction:

Tragically, the famous Mount Stromlo Observatory was decimated. One of my saddest experiences of going around in the aftermath of the fires was looking at the mangled remains of those wonderful old telescopes – in particular, the Victoria telescope.

The scientific community has suffered an enormous loss. In an appropriate way, Mount Stromlo must and will be rebuilt, because it is a very important element of our national identity and of our excellence in science and astronomy and because it is a very important symbol of our national capital.

Penny Sackett's leadership in the trauma of such a major loss, so early in her directorship, was truly inspirational. Almost her first words to the assembled staff on 20 January 2003 were: "Fortunately, the Research School's three most valuable assets remain entirely intact – its people, its reputation, and its spirit". Indeed they do, and everyone is absolutely determined that Mount Stromlo Observatory will rise from the ashes stronger and better than ever.