On Black Saturday, 9 Feb 2009 there were 173 bushfire deaths but 374 deaths due to heatwave conditions in the previous 5 days. In Victoria this year there has been 1 bushfire death compared to 139 contributed to heatwave, a 2.8 fold increase in cardiac arrest was recorded during the January 2014 heatwave compared with the same period in previous years.
Heatwave-induced confused thinking, bushfire emergency and vulnerable people is a potent and sometimes fatal mix. The WCA Be Ready Warrandyte campaign is seeking to address this in our Heatwave project which has the support of Manningham and Nillumbik City Councils.
Letters of Support
CFA
Manningham City Council
Nillumbik Shire Council
Ryan Smith MLA
Steve Pascoe
Warrandyte Housing Support Services
Warrandyte Neighbourhood House
WCA letter of support