Red Tuesday

Red Tuesday bushfires
Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898 (John Longstaff)
Location	South Gippsland, Victoria
Statistics
Date(s)	1 February 1898
Burned area	260,000 hectares
Fatalities	12

The Red Tuesday bushfires took place on 1 February 1898 in South Gippsland, Victoria. The bushfires claimed 12 lives, destroyed over 2,000 buildings and affected about 15,000 people, leaving 2,500 homeless. A total area of 2,600 square kilometres (1,004 sq mi) of bushland and farmland was destroyed by the fires.