The bushfires of 1926 devastated the town of Noojee, destroying nearly every building,
including 45 homes, the school, and vital timber infrastructure.
Only the hotel, the Methodist church, and a garage remained intact. The landscape was
left as a scorched wasteland, with extensive areas of valuable Mountain Ash forests
destroyed and nearby mill settlements completely flattened.
The fires peaked on “Black Sunday“, February 14, 1926, leading to the near-total
destruction of Noojee, and many contemporary reports deemed it unlikely that the town
would be rebuilt.
This catastrophic fire season across Victoria in 1925–26 resulted in the loss of 60 lives
and the destruction of 1,000 buildings. Overall, almost all buildings in Noojee, including
homes, businesses, and parts of the railway infrastructure, were obliterated.