"EXTREME"

The warning sign says it all.   January, temperatures are in the 40s, the Australian bush is tinder dry. >

A careless act, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle can result in disaster.  Landing in dry grass, it soon ignites.

Ranger patrols notice smoke in the distance.  The alarm is raised, but already it is too late!

Rangers and volunteer firefighters from many areas respond immediately, on arrival they are met by a wall of fire, the bush is well alight.  They work as a team to protect each other as they fight hard to save property.  All this destruction though carelessness!

Police, FESA and Rangers set up road blocks to prevent residents trying to return to their homes.

Aerial support as heli-tankers fly in through thick smoke, dropping thousands of litres of water to assist ground crews.

Fires of this nature can take days to control with the loss to life and property immense.  Rangers put themselves at extreme risk during fire season and take their responsibility to protect and care for their communities very seriously.

AUSTRALIA'S battle with bushfires:

Jan 2003 CANBERRA - Four people killed and more than 500 homes destroyed in the national capital.

Dec 2002 NSW - Nearly 50 homes destroyed, one man dead in fires around Sydney's outskirts.

Dec 2001 NSW - Black Christmas, with 170 homes and hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland destroyed.

Dec 1998 VICTORIA - Five bushfire fighters from Geelong killed near Linton, southwest of Ballarat.

Dec 1997 NSW - Widespread bushfires across state and around Sydney. Two firefighters killed near Lithgow.

Jan 1997 VICTORIA - Three people killed sheltering in house in Dandenong Ranges. More than 40 homes lost.

Dec 1994, Jan 1995 NSW - About 185 homes lost in one of worst fire seasons ever. Sydney and eastern NSW besieged by fires. Two firefighters and two civilians killed. More than 24,000 evacuated from homes.

Feb 1983 VICTORIA - Ash Wednesday fires in Vic and SA kill 76 people in Australia's worst fire disaster in terms of loss of life. Two thousand homes destroyed.

Feb 1977 VIC/SA - Fire sweeps through western Victoria to the SA border, killing five people and destroying 80 houses.

Jan 1969 VICTORIA - Some 23 people killed in one day, 240 buildings gutted.

Nov-Dec 1968 NSW - Bushfires in the Blue Mountains burn for four weeks, claiming 14 lives and 150 buildings.

Feb 1967 TASMANIA - 62 die as much of SE Tasmania consumed by Black Tuesday fires, 1400 buildings lost.

Jan-March 1965 NSW/VIC - Eleven die in bushfires lasting almost three months over two states.

Jan-Feb 1962 VICTORIA - Nine die, 600 homes lost.

Jan 1944, VICTORIA - 51 people die in eight weeks of bushfires in the Beaumaris, Gippsland and Yallourn areas - 700 buildings destroyed.

Jan 1939 VIC/NSW - Black Friday bushfire destroys Victorian town of Noojee, killing 71 people. 1000 homes lost. Bushfire in southern and eastern NSW kills six.