Australian bushfires razed parts of the Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia in the summer of 2009.
The Australian bushfires were particularly horrendous in Victoria where it destroyed at least two towns and burned hundreds of hectares of bushland and a number of relatively sparsely populated areas.
More than 200 people died as a result of the Australian bushfires in Victoria.
Black Saturday
The deadly Victorian summer bushfire event has been dubbed Black Saturday, having achieved ferocity on the Saturday, although the fires raged for some days more.
In the number of deaths, Black Saturday's bushfire disaster surpassed those of the Black Friday fires of 1939 and Ash Wednesday in 1983.
More than 70 people died in Victoria's 1939 Black Friday fires, and 75 in 1983's Ash Wednesday bushfires which raged through areas of Victoria and South Australia.
Traveling in bushfire country
For visitors to Australia, the prospect of being thrust into bushfire danger can be worrisome.
Unless visitors wander off into the bush during the bushfire season — and disregard safety warnings from the authorities — there is extremely limited likelihood they, the visitors, as well as locals, would be in danger.
Most visitors have only major cities and tourist resorts as their destination which certainly aren't in any bushfire danger area.
In relative terms, the areas prone to Australian bushfires are certainly minuscule.
Heed official warnings
Visitors touring Australia by road should heed official warnings about traveling through bushfire country in the bushfire season, particularly when bushfires are raging nearby or where real danger exists.
If planning on traveling through bushfire areas when fires are present, the hard and fast rule is: Don't.
