Entry 8 - Sunday 20th February 1983

Ever since the 16^th of February 1983, that Wednesday has now been called Ash Wednesday. The fires that ruined so many lives lasted 4 days, ending on Sunday the 20^th. The winds had cooled down and the fire-fighters finally got a chance to calm the fires, eventually extinguishing the fire.

Entry 7 - 16th February 1983

As the cold front moved inland, winds became much stronger, moving the fires south in long, narrow strips. Spot fires joined the narrow fire strips, forming a much larger one ahead of the main fire. Fire-fighters hired extra staff, equipment and aircraft. The CFA volunteers joined in to help with the fire-fights, riding on the back of the trucks and trying there hardest to put out the fires. SES volunteers came to help as well, declaring that Ash Wednesday was a disaster.

Entry 6 - 16th February 1983

The fires spread across the Otway Ranges, Adelaide Hills to the east of Melbourne and down along the Great Ocean Road. 8 areas in Victoria were considered severely affected by the fires, these places were:  Cudgee, East Trentham, Otway, Belgrave Heights, Cockatoo, Monivae, Branxholme and Warburton. In total 75 people in both South Australia and Victoria were killed and 2,894 buildings/homes were lost.

Entry 5 - 16th February 1983

Chaos struck. Over a hundred fires started that day in the Otway ranges, burning down almost anything in its path. Since the drought had dried everything out, it made the leaves and trees easier to catch fire. Not only did the drought play a big role though, that landscape did as well. Since the ranges at Otway are steep, it aloud the fires to jump from one hill to the other without having to go into the valley. That, combined with the cold from heading inland made a match in hell.

Entry 4 - Wednesday 16th February 1983

It was the 16^th of February when I planned to leave, a full week after the dust cloud incident in Melbourne. It was late afternoon when many fires were reported, and most in the driest and hottest areas of Victoria. I hadn’t thought it was that bad considering the many others fires in Victoria and south Australia, but as the winds became stronger it became clear this was by far the worst.

Entry 3 - Sunday 13th February 1983

It had been a few days since the dust cloud disappeared and nothing seemed to have happened. A few bushfires here and there but other than that, it was a quite week.

Entry 2 - Wednesday 9th February 1983

I had come to Victoria to write an article about the dust cloud that surrounded Melbourne, 9^th February. It was an incredibly windy day in Melbourne when suddenly a large cloud of dust swept across the city. Everyone was in hysterics as the cloud was so thick and huge, it had actually blocked out the sun. When looked into later that day, it was discovered that strong winds had lifted up 200,000 tons of dry soil from the ground and pushed across South Australia. The dust combined with smoke from burning fires reduced visibility, which gave the fire-fighters little warning of approaching fires.