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Ash Wednesday MemorialPrint Page Print this page

Ash Wednesday Memorial Park : 20-February-2013
Ash Wednesday Memorial Park : 20-February-2013

Photographs supplied by Scott Cunningham

The park was established to commemorate the people who were killed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of February 1983.  21 lives and 186 homes and other buildings were lost in this community.

On February 16, 1983, 75 people died when fires swept through communities in Victoria and South Australia. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. For many of those who lost loved ones, life has been a struggle ever since.

The town of Upper Beaconsfield, in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, was one of the hardest hit. In near 40 degrees Celsius heat, strong winds whipped up a huge fire that surged through the tinder dry bushland to the west of the town. 

A dozen volunteer firefighters were among those killed. Their trucks were unable to protect them from the intense heat. 21 lives were lost at Upper Beaconsfield that night : 12 firefighters and nine residents. 

Location

Address:Salisbury Road, Ash Wednesday Memorial Park, Beaconsfield Upper, 3808
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -38.005398
Long: 145.411423
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Park
Monument Theme:Disaster
Sub-Theme:Fire
Actual Event Start Date:16-February-1983
Actual Event End Date:16-February-1983

Dedication

Front Inscription

This park is a memorial to those who lost their lives as a result of the "Ash Wednesday" bushfires in Upper Beaconsfield

16 February 1983.

Residents

Betty Adamson           Allison Medwin

Lionel Stephens         Kerry Medwin

Margaret Stephens     Dorothy Bredin

Chris Griffiths              Kathleen Andrews

                                    Shirley Thomson

Narre Warren Rural    Panton Hill Rural
Fire Brigade                 Fire Brigade                                

John Minett                    Bill Marsden

Dorothy Balcombe         Peter Singleton

Lloyd Donovan              Maurice Atkinson

Murray Forsythe             Stuart Duff

Neil Henry                     Neville Jeffery

Darrell Wilkes

Casual Firefighter  
Keith Busbridge

                             

Source: MA,VMR,RHSV
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au