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Ash Wednesday MemorialPrint Page Print this page

14-July-2017
14-July-2017

Photographs supplied by Mary Beaven

The memorial commemorates the firefighters who fought the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Mount Lofty Summit was greatly affected by Ash Wednesday when fire destroyed all that remained of the kiosk and parking facilities. An additional plaque was added to the memorial in 1997.

The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983, which was Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 kilometres per hour caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia.

Years of severe drought and extreme weather combined to create one of Australia's worst fire days in a century. The fires became the deadliest bushfire in Australian history, until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

 

Location

Address:Mount Lofty Summit Road, Mount Lofty, 5152
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.974168
Long: 138.708911
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

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

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 16th February, 1984
Left Side Inscription

In honour of all firefighters who fought the fires in South Australia on Wednesday, February 16, 1983 and especially those who gave their lives in the protection of oOthers

Unveiled by His Excellency, Lieut. General Sir Donald Dunstan, K.B.E., C.B., K.St.J., Governor of South Australia,

February 16,1984

Right Side Inscription

The adjacent plaque is reset overlooking the path of the devastating 1983 Ash Wednesday fires

In ongoing recognition of the efforts of Firefighters in protecting life and property throughout South Australia

Unveiled as part of the Mount Lofty redevelopment by the Hon David Wotton MP Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources

February 27, 1997

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