<sod>The '''Black Friday bushfires''' of 13 January 1939, in [[Victoria, Australia]], are among the worst natural [[bushfire]]s (wildfires) in the world. Almost 20,000&nbsp;km² (4,942,000 acres, 2,000,000 ha) of land was burned, 71 people died, several towns were entirely destroyed and the [[Royal Commission]] that resulted from it led to major changes in forest management. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burned, and 3,700 buildings were destroyed. It was calculated that three-quarters of the State of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster.  The Royal Commission noted that "it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939".<ref>{{cite book | author=[[Wendy Lewis]], Simon Balderstone and John Bowan | title=Events That Shaped Australia | pages=154–158 | publisher=New Holland | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-74110-492-9 }}</ref><eod>
<sod>The '''Black Friday bushfires''' of 13 January 1939, in [[Victoria, Australia]], were among the worst natural [[bushfire]]s (wildfires) in the world. Almost 20,000&nbsp;km² (4,942,000 acres, 2,000,000 ha) of land was burned, 71 people died, several towns were entirely destroyed and the [[Royal Commission]] that resulted from it led to major changes in forest management. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burned, and 3,700 buildings were destroyed. It was calculated that three-quarters of the State of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster.  The Royal Commission noted that "it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939".<ref>{{cite book | author=[[Wendy Lewis]], Simon Balderstone and John Bowan | title=Events That Shaped Australia | pages=154–158 | publisher=New Holland | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-74110-492-9 }}</ref><eod>