In The Arsonist: Mind on Fire, Chloe Hooper tells the story of this disastrous event, and its devastating impact on its victims. Less than a week after the fire began, investigators were able to determine that it was caused by arson. Eleven people died as a result of the fire, 145 houses were destroyed, and more than 25,861 hectares were burnt. The fire travelled rapidly, impacting on several towns in south east Victoria. One of the blazes, known as The Churchill Complex fire, started in the early afternoon on 7 February 2009 in the Latrobe Valley. By the time they were extinguished 450,000 ha (1,100,000 acres) of land had been razed, over 3500 structures (including homes, commercial premises, and agricultural buildings) were destroyed, stock and crops were lost, and 173 people lost their lives while hundreds more were injured. On Saturday 7th February 2009, as temperatures soared to the mid 40’s, there were as many as four hundred separate fires burning in Victoria. Of these blazes however, Black Saturday has the dubious distinction of claiming the most lives in recorded history. Bushfires are practically synonymous with Summer in Australia, and there have been several severe and deadly conflagrations since its settlement including the recent large scale fire of 2019/2020.
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