Why didn't old Melbourne town burn during the 1851 fires ?
Most buildings in 1851 Melbourne had wood shingle roofs that used to catch fire fairly regularly even with out bush fires. During the great fire of 1851, Melbourne residents were terrified by the wall of flame bearing down on them....why did old Melbourne town survive ???
Via
Our Antipodes, (Mundie, 1852) pg 597, we find a comment about Melbourne just one month before the 1851 big fire;
20/01/1851;
Melbourne is a well-laid-out ugly town, containing about 20,000 inhabitants. The adjacent country, visible from the highest look-out, is but poorly sprinkled with trees, and is, at present, herb less to a degree that i never saw elsewhere, even in New South Wales...
The reason methinks why old Melbourne didn't burn in the big fire of 1851 were the large fire break all round the town.
And lessons for today's bush towns.....