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What i could find was there were two main fires in Sydney and the more i look at it this first one on should have it's own thread. But to get the ball rolling this is what i could find and if any other Aussie would like to add to it please do.
The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed by John Young, at a cost of ₤191,800 in only eight months. This was largely due to the importation from England of electric lighting, which enabled work to be carried out around the clock.
Sydney’s Great Fire of 1901By Lisa Pasolli with research support from the Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University. Though an event of great destruction, the aftermath of Sydney’s Great Fire acted as an impetus to rebuild and expand.
In 1901, Sydney was a town in the midst of a remarkable transformation. Just a decade earlier, it had been what one historian has generously called a “sleepy colonial town.” At the end of the 18th century, though, the coming of the steel plant would usher in a series of extraordinary changes. Workers arrived from all over the world, new neighbourhoods sprung up, and commerce and businesses multiplied.
One of these small businesses was Gordon & Keith’s Furniture, on the west side of Charlotte Street. On the afternoon of Saturday, October 19th, 1901, in a back storeroom (according to one report) glue was being melted on an oil stove. A fire started and there was no water immediately available because of pipes under repair; within just a few minutes strong winds meant that the fire spread to several buildings.
Fire brigades from Sydney, North Sydney, Glace Bay, and the force from the steel plant responded to the fire, but it quickly became out of control. In just over an hour, as historian David Newton says, the “heart of Sydney was gutted.” With the exception of one home, businesses and houses in the two squares blocks bounded by Wentworth, Charlotte, Pitt, and Bentinck were destroyed. The total damage amounted to over $500,000, with 67 buildings destroyed. About $250,000 in insurance was paid out, and 31 families were left homeless.
Also see:
From Wikipedia: the Great fire of Brisbane was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of Brisbane in the Colony of Queensland (now a state of Australia) on 1 December 1864. For two and a half hours the fire burned out of control in large parts of Brisbane's central business district with entire blocks being destroyed, mainly in Queen, Albert, George, and Elizabeth Streets. It consumed 50 houses, 2 banks, 3 hotels, 4 draperies, and many other businesses as well as a "considerable amount of small houses". Considering the extent of the fire, casualties were very few; there was no loss of life, and four people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Port Adelaide has been ravaged by fire several times in its history, but three blazes in particular, in 1847, 1857 and 1885, were particularly devastating and are known as the Port's 'Great Fires'
Not much came up on any of these fires that i could find anyway.
Garden Palace Fire, 1882
Just three years after it was built, Sydney's Garden Palace building was destroyed by a great fire. The palace was engulfed by flames in the early hours of the morning on 22 September, 1882.The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed by John Young, at a cost of ₤191,800 in only eight months. This was largely due to the importation from England of electric lighting, which enabled work to be carried out around the clock.
Sydney’s Great Fire of 1901
In 1901, Sydney was a town in the midst of a remarkable transformation. Just a decade earlier, it had been what one historian has generously called a “sleepy colonial town.” At the end of the 18th century, though, the coming of the steel plant would usher in a series of extraordinary changes. Workers arrived from all over the world, new neighbourhoods sprung up, and commerce and businesses multiplied.
One of these small businesses was Gordon & Keith’s Furniture, on the west side of Charlotte Street. On the afternoon of Saturday, October 19th, 1901, in a back storeroom (according to one report) glue was being melted on an oil stove. A fire started and there was no water immediately available because of pipes under repair; within just a few minutes strong winds meant that the fire spread to several buildings.
Fire brigades from Sydney, North Sydney, Glace Bay, and the force from the steel plant responded to the fire, but it quickly became out of control. In just over an hour, as historian David Newton says, the “heart of Sydney was gutted.” With the exception of one home, businesses and houses in the two squares blocks bounded by Wentworth, Charlotte, Pitt, and Bentinck were destroyed. The total damage amounted to over $500,000, with 67 buildings destroyed. About $250,000 in insurance was paid out, and 31 families were left homeless.
Also see:
From Wikipedia: the Great fire of Brisbane was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of Brisbane in the Colony of Queensland (now a state of Australia) on 1 December 1864. For two and a half hours the fire burned out of control in large parts of Brisbane's central business district with entire blocks being destroyed, mainly in Queen, Albert, George, and Elizabeth Streets. It consumed 50 houses, 2 banks, 3 hotels, 4 draperies, and many other businesses as well as a "considerable amount of small houses". Considering the extent of the fire, casualties were very few; there was no loss of life, and four people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Port Adelaide has been ravaged by fire several times in its history, but three blazes in particular, in 1847, 1857 and 1885, were particularly devastating and are known as the Port's 'Great Fires'
Not much came up on any of these fires that i could find anyway.
