Bushfires Effects On Society

What are the effects of bushfires? As they rage through the bush, they can burn houses to the ground, ruin crops, farmland, destroy whole communities and businesses. Large fires can often take many lives, be it those of people who are trapped in burning buildings, from breathing in too much smoke, or animals, from loss of habitat or being unable to withstand such high temperatures. Not only are many lives claimed to the fire, but many of those who survive the disasters suffer bad or permanent injuries, loss of homes and personal possessions, loved ones, and can even suffer from mental illnesses such as depression from being unable to cope with the situation.

Aside from the personal impacts, fires also largely impact Australia economically. Depending on the size of the fire and the amount of damage dealt, Bushfires can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage, sometimes even millions. Insurance companies pay out massive amounts of money to help people rebuild homes. Sometimes, if the fire is particularly large and the impacts are too great, extra taxes will be added to those who were not affected, to help rebuild the communities. Because the
In the Black Saturday fires of 2009 in Victoria, we can really see some of these impacts. The RSPCA have estimated that well over a million animals were killed by the fires, and many of the animals that managed to survive ended up with bad burns. The catchment areas in Melbourne that carry water to 5 of the major dams were polluted with ash and other fire related material, contaminating the water. In March 2009, it was found that some of the smoke from bushfires had leaked into the atmosphere at high altitudes over