1943–44 Victorian bushfire season

[2] Many personnel who would have been normally available for fire fighting duties had been posted overseas and to remote areas of Australia during World War II.

[1] The first major fire was a grassfire at Wangaratta on 22 December which burnt hundreds of hectares and resulted in the deaths of 10 volunteer firefighters near Tarrawingee.

It is unclear how it started but the fire spread quickly and headed in a south easterly direction towards Tarrawingee.

The fires near Oxley Flat were first to be brought under control and the Ovens Valley section was stopped by the end of the second day.

[1] To the west of Melbourne, a series of bushfires broke out between South Australian border and the outskirts of Geelong.

[8] A fire that started on Mt Sturgeon in the Southern Grampians flared up and raced down the slopes, burnt out Dunkeld and kept going, then razed the towns of Dundonnell, Darlington, and Derrinallum; the only Derrinallum buildings left standing were the Mechanics' Institute, two churches and several business premises.

[11] Another fire that started on the Warrorie Estate near Irrawarra destroyed 20 houses and burnt out Warncourt and threatened the township of Birregurra from three sides.

In the Melbourne area, 63 homes were destroyed in the tea tree lined streets of Sandringham, Beaumaris, and Black Rock.

Another fire in the northern suburbs of Melbourne burnt down 5 houses in the Glenroy – Pascoe Vale area.