Linton bushfire
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On 2 December 1998, a wildfire burned through private land and state forest near the township of Linton, Victoria. Firefighters from the Victorian state government's Department of Natural Resources and Country Fire Authority were deployed to fight the fire. At approximately 8.45pm two firefighting appliances and their crews were entrapped and engulfed in fire following an unexpected wind change. The crew of one of those appliances - five men from Geelong, all volunteers from the Geelong West CFA Station - were killed. The coronial inquest examining the fire and the deaths was one of the longest-running inquests in the history of the state. It was this inquest that led to changes in safety operating procedures in the SA Country Fire Service and Victorian Country Fire Authority, relating to the Dead Man Zone.
The five Geelong West volunteer firefighters that died in the Linton fire were:
- Christopher Evans
- Garry Vredeveldt
- Stuart Davidson
- Jason Thomas
- Matthew Armstrong
A memorial for the firefighters was placed in West Park, Geelong West and also one in Linton, Victoria.
[edit] References
- Report of the Investigation and Inquests into a Wildfire and the Deaths of Five Firefighters at Linton on 2 December 1998, State Coroner's Office, Victoria (11 January 2002)(pdf)
- Reducing the Risk of Entrapment in Wildfires: A case study of the Linton fire, 2 December 1998(pdf)
