Bushfires - Costerfield District
It has been established that Australian Aborigines had inhabited what became Campaspe Plains Station and, as nomads, their use of fire in the district for various purposes at different times (e.g. Jones 1969, Hughes and Sullivan 1981, Nicholson 1981, Kershaw et al. In Press) can be assumed.
It is not known to what extent, if any, the district was burnt during the ‘Black Thursday’ bushfires of 6 February 1851. Fires were reported to have been deliberately lit in the 3 February and 17 March 1865 issues of The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser. The Heathcote newspapers often reported bushfires in the surrounding districts, and smoke was described as being in all directions about the township in the issue of 5 February 1874. Following an intense summer storm in 1898, the dams and household tanks had been filled by runoff and were overflowing.
| "... People however soon began to find that the water caught has an unmistakably smoky flavor, which may easily be accounted for by the fact that the atmosphere during the rain and for a long time before was much thickened by smoke from bushfires ..." (The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 17 February 1898). |
A bushfire which probably affected parts of the Heathcote-Costerfield area occurred in January 1862 (Randell 1982), and others were described in the 1 January 1874, 21 January 1875 and 29 December 1892 issues of The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser. Fires which were known to have affected allotments in the area occurred on 22 January and 25 December 1892 (The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 28 January and 29 December 1892 respectively) as well as 10 February 1894 (The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 15 February 1894). The December 1892 fire was thought to have been caused “... by a spark from a log left burning ...” as a result of a fire the previous week, which may, in turn, have been started by “... some one shooting and using paper wads or smoking out rabbits” (The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 29 December 1892). The February 1894 fire originated on land which was part of the present study area and was thought to have been caused by “... shooting with improper wads” (The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser, 22 February 1894).
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