 On 1 December 2006, over 70 fires were caused by lightning strikes in the Victorian Alps, many of which eventually merged to become the "Great Divide Fire Complex", which burned from December 2006 to February 2007 (69 days) across approximately 1 million hectares.Fifty-one houses were ultimately lost in the fires.One man died in a vehicle accident while assisting a property owner to prepare for fire impact.