bushfire

plural bushfires · alternative bush fire

1. AustraliaNew ZealandAn uncontrolled fire in a wooded or grassy area; a wildfire.

   1985, Australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, Weekly Hansard, Issues 4-6, page 1322, Many homes, a great deal of property and a number of lives were lost as a result of the bushfires in this country.

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   It should also be kept in mind that often bushfires start and move quickly and the information relating to their location and activity may take some time to assemble and make available.

   2011, Tracey Dickson, Tonia Gray, Risk Management in the Outdoors: A Whole-of-Organisation Approach for Education, Sport and Recreation, page 199

   The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of apocalyptic blazes that burned on – and for some weeks after – Saturday, 7 February 2009. As a result of the bushfires, 173 people died. It was the nation′s largest loss of life from a bushfire event, and 414 people were injured.

   2011, Larry Writer, The Australian Book of Disasters, unnumbered page

   Synonyms: forest fire, wildfire