Victorian Fires

[Graeme]

I'm sorry, but I should have thought of this before. ABC Radio (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has been providing non-stop bushfire news since Saturday. You can listen online from the ABC website. At the bottom of the page is a link for a live stream of 774 ABC Melbourne.

The good news is that they have just announced that they are currently no urgent alerts in the state. I hope that continues.

[blue]

I just got home this afternoon/evening after a week away, aside from a few hours at home in between.

I was hugely relieved to learn Graeme and his family and Des and his partner are OK. (Yes, we Americans don't know Australian geography well.)

My thoughts and prayers go to Graeme, Des, and their loved ones and neighbors -- to all our Aussie visitors, too.

[Graeme]

We have to rebuild the homes and infrastructure destroyed by the Victorian and NSW bushfires and QLD floods.

I've got tears in my eyes at the moment. I've just heard on the radio that some of the victims from the Queensland floods want to donate their recovery money to the Victorian bushfire appeal, because they felt that what they had gone through is nothing compared to the people here.

I've always had a lot of faith in the general population of Australia (we have our fair share of idiots and fools), but this has just raised my opinion. Australians are very generous people when other people are in need.

[colinian]

The bushfires in Australia are awful because of the huge areas involved. The deaths and destruction are beyond comprehension. I've looked at a lot of the pictures online and it's frightening. We have some of the same conditions in California due to an extended drought. There have been similar fires in San Diego County over the past few years. In California we call them firestorms instead of bushfires, but the conditions and tragic results are very similar.

I feel for those who have lost their homes, family members and friends, and stock and pets in Australia. When I took California History and Government in my freshman year in high school we studied the 1991 Oakland Hills fires. This was an urban (or, more correctly, suburban) fire that burned a huge number of homes. This summary of the fire is from a Wikipedia article:

The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 was a large urban fire that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California and southeastern Berkeley on Sunday October 20, 1991, almost exactly two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake. The fire has also been called the Oakland hills firestorm, the East Bay Hills Fire, and the Tunnel Fire (because of its origin above the west portal of the Caldecott Tunnel) in Oakland. The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acres (6.2 km?) destroyed included 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion.

The cause of these fires, whether blamed on nature or man, is basically a change in global weather. People can debate whether this is global warming or just part of a natural process, but it's something that's happening and we need to find a way to preclude it from creating such massive suffering and cost.

Colin

[DesDownunder]

Thanks Colin, I was aware of the similarity between firestorms and our bushfires. Basically we have suffered with these for as long as I can remember, but the Victorian is the worst in living memory.

I am heartened to read that President Obama has contacted our Prime Minister and offered Australia any help the USA can provide.

Whilst our cultures differ in detail I have always thought of us as at least, kissing cousins.

Graeme is evidently quite near some of the tragic events, but he and his family are safe. Thank goodness!

I am in the next state some 400-500 miles from the fires, but we are very nervous as we have much dry undergrowth, under drought-like conditions. We have experienced similar fires here in the past.

Guys, thanks for all your thoughts and concern, they are much appreciated.

[Drewbie]

I hope des and greame can stay safe, I don't understand why they would want to start these fires or was it an accent, at like a camping site. last I heard they suspect it was arson.

[The Pecman]

Hope the situation has improved, guys. I know the people out here in California are struggling, because the fires cleared a lot of shrub brush away, and now the heavy rains are causing mudslides and a lot of other problems.

I casually knew one of the people burned-out in the fire (Bob May, the man who played "The Robot" in Lost in Space), and he was so affected by losing his home, he died of a heart attack two months later. Very sad story.

[DesDownunder]

Hope the situation has improved, guys. I know the people out here in California are struggling, because the fires cleared a lot of shrub brush away, and now the heavy rains are causing mudslides and a lot of other problems.

I casually knew one of the people burned-out in the fire (Bob May, the man who played "The Robot" in Lost in Space), and he was so affected by losing his home, he died of a heart attack two months later. Very sad story.

You make an excellent point Pecman, in that the danger is not just fom the fire but from the flow-on effect the disaster has on the quality of our lives. So many deaths and incapacities are not attributed to the deprivation and depression that these disasters cause.

[Graeme]

I hope des and greame can stay safe, I don't understand why they would want to start these fires or was it an accent, at like a camping site. last I heard they suspect it was arson.

The information I have heard on the radio is that out of the six major fires, four are not suspicious, and two are. One of the ones that is suspicious is the one that destroyed the town of Marysville, where they are estimating 100 people have been killed (they don't know, because they are still working their way from home to home, checking for bodies. When a body is found, there is a lot of work involved to try to identify them, as well as collecting evidence for any court case -- the police consistently refer to the fire areas as 'crime scenes').

There have also been several minor fires that they are sure were deliberately lit, but they were extinguished before they could do much harm.

[JamesSavik]

*Hugs Graeme* Stay safe bro.

[Graeme]

Thanks, James

For those who are cynical about human nature: Strangers step in to rescue Flowerdale wedding

The part that really got to me was the last line. It's the people who give without wanting anything in return that show how generous humanity can be.

[Graeme]

As it is beginning to look like the fires are being brought under control, I thought I'd give an update.

Homes lost: 1830

People homeless: 7000 estimated, of which 3000 are living at emergency relief centres scattered around the state

Area burnt: over 440,000 hectares. That's more than a million acres.

Lives lost: 181, but they still expect that to rise, with some estimates exceeding 300.

They have someone they are expecting to charge for deliberating lighting one of the fires that ended up taking a confirmed 21 lives (so far).

[Cole Parker]

What horrible statistics. I read something yesterday that suggested over one millions animals had also been killed. And the aftereffects will certainly bring more tragedy. Mental heath of victims and their relations will be affected, and community resourses will be stretched beyond their limits.

This isn't over, and won't be for the forseeable futhre.

C