Australian Bushfire Disaster
 

I've never been moved to make a post like this before, but we have never experienced such a severe bushfire before either.

Australia is used to bushfires of course, and we are normally well prepared for them, but this one was different. Nature did in a few hours what the military would take weeks to achieve.

The death toll from the current bushfire is 108 and counting, with over 750 homes destroyed. See http://www.abc.net.au/news/.

The native bushland will recover by itself, but people can't.

If, like me, you are numbed by it all and feel the need to help, please consider making a donation. See http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...018723,00.html

If you are concerned about security, double check first or use a local relief agency (Red Cross etc.).

There is a very good write up on what it was like to experience this bushfire first hand here: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...2-2702,00.html

Victoria's largest trauma hospital has run out of morphine with which to treat burn victims:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25027002-2,00.html

Emergency supplies were called in from other hospitals. It's a pity this article focussed on a problem, rather than the surperb work they do in rebuilding people's burnt bodies.

Their normal "average" is one severe burns victim a week (not a day), but this was not a normal day.

Yesterday they had 22 severe (10 critical) and over 70 major burns victims in one day, enough to put any system under stress. The other 108 never even made it that far.

It boggles the mind to think that some fires may have been deliberately lit.

I read that of 60,000 fires in Australia each year, around half are deliberately lit or suspicious, see http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=123424.

Police have firebug psychologists working on the problem, see http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...988648010.html.

Everyone hates an arsonist, especially right now, our PM called it Mass Murder. The difficulty in tracking them down is that much of the evidence is destroyed in the crime.

That is horrible hope all you aussies down under are OK.

I think the point of the article was simply to show the severity of the problem.

I've heard as well that some suspect arson. I really hope that's not the case. It wouldn't change anything but it would make this hurt a great deal more for those affected.

Mikey-San I hope you are right, this is not time for point scoring or sensationalising.

The death count now stands a 131 and our Prime Minister has warned us to expect many more.

Yes, arson is suspected in several cases and a Royal Commission has been set to investigate all aspect of the fires: cause, prevention and response.

If and when they are caught, the perpetrators will not be popular, in or out of prison, for harming innocent people, particularly children. Do you have any room left in Guantanamo Bay?

We're closing Guantanamo, actually. How about the Moon? Can we ship people to the Moon yet?

I don't know from Australia, and this may not be relevant at all, but when Portugal suffered devastating forest fires a few years ago, they reckoned it was not firebugs seeking kicks but property developers. Men in suits, it was said, would turn up after the fire to make the shell-shocked landowner an offer. Same in Greece. Of course, this may be merely a variant on the MiB meme, a bit of healthy anti-plutocratic paranoia, but the Aussies should bear the possibility in mind.

The areas hit by the fires aren't really prime development. If anything properties would be devalued by the destruction of the forests that bring tourist traffic. Maybe if we start seeing soy or palm oil plantations... I know there are plenty of threads around here about the evils of capitalism but I'd like to think they wouldn't stoop to murdering over 100 innocent people for personal gain.

There was a big fire here in Utah a while back (actually, we have a few every summer, they just stay up in the mountains most of the time), there was arson involved. It usually ends up that it's just some kid, or teen, who was playing with matches or fireworks, or maybe started a small fire where they shouldn't have. Not really intending to hurt anyone, but just making a really stupid and uninformed mistake.

I had to be that person, to be honest. To start a fire, assuming nothing was really going to go wrong, and end up harming people... that would be awful. Doesn't mean I think they shouldn't be punished, but I still imagine it would be an awful feeling.

Other causes in the Iberian tinderbox are said to include smoking, not least people throwing inadequately extinguished dog-ends out of the car window, and the bottoms of discarded coke bottles, which make really good "unmanned" burning-glasses. Again, ignorance. But let's not forget lightning! There were forest fires also before we came along.

I have heard it said that forest fires are part of, and play a valuable role in, the natural ecology; and that they get excessively destructive when we try to prevent them, because then the undergrowth gets too dense. I have no idea whether that fits the Australian situation, though.

That relates to a question I'd like to ask the Australians here: I am seeing news pictures of burnt-out house sites, surrounded by trees whose canopies appear to be still green. Am I seeing right, and if so, how come the canopy didn't burn?

It does appear that way but I think the highly inflammable oil in the leaves of eucalyptus trees and many other Australian native plants burns away fiercely, leaving the leaf skeletons which are grey/green colour. See http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...20-101,00.html

Green timber and leaves don't burn to ash but dry grass and the timber that houses are made from certainly do.

The trees in this photo are all burned although they look greenish. http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...020-55,00.html

Regrettably the death toll has now reached 173 and still climbing, and 5000 are homeless. And when you've lost everything, you can't even prove your identity.

The ferocity, size and speed of the fires just made escape impossible. How can you combat this with a hose on your back verandah? http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...20-119,00.html and http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...20-108,00.html

Woodsman is right on the money. Australian forests do need some fires to maintain themselves. Many eucalypt tree seeds do not germiate until scorched by a hot fire. In a pre-european Australia natural fires (lightning) and fires lit by the very sparce aboriginals using fire to hunt out game for food did the job.

Up to say 50 years ago farmers and rural dwellers maintained fairly good bushfire safety by winter burning, keeping firebreak areas and fire trails to allow hazard reduction. however the movement of city dwellers to rural 'retreats' and a general introduction of 'political correctness' to preserve natural vegetation and fauna at all costs has meant a huge increase of the likelyhood of the fires we have just experienced.

The real criminals in this case are those local council 'Endangered Species Officers" and others who in between hugging trees prevent sensible landowners from carrying out winter hazard reduction or clearing of regrowth.

I'm not one to go on about Political Correctness, but I'm afraid for what has happened to the conservation movement.
Oaks and elms that have been here for over a century are being labeled "woody weeds" and cut down on the basis that they are not native. If that's the yard stick us white fellas had better move on too.
If this sort of thinking is behind the disaster then we've got some work to do.
For the record:
I live on the northern outskirts of Melbourne in an "interface zone". That means our development is surrounded on all sides by marginal farmland that is being given over to housing. One windy day and a fire and we're in trouble.
On Saturday morning I could smell the fire at Wandong (it's just up the road a bit) but we had no idea what was going on. At lunch time we could see the smoke like big cumulus clouds to the north. Probably that was the start of Kinglake.
The hardest to believe (because I don't want to think about the deaths or I'll weep) is that Marysville is gone. To people of my age (I'm 66) Marysville was where you went for your honeymoon. It's all gone.

Tonight on TV, Phil Koperberg, former Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Services, said that these fires were so extensive, and the conditions so extreme, (long drought, followed by heatwave, coupled with hurricane force winds) that no man-made control measures could have had any significant effect on their progress, except the total denuding of the environment.

It's not a conservation or development issue, although these might have exacerbated the results.

A fire ecology expert from the University of Melbourne called it the perfect firestorm, generating "80,000 kw/meter of heat" (not sure quite what that means but it sounds a lot), equivalent to 500 Hiroshima bombs, (see http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...018723,00.html).

Statistically, these conditions do and will reoccur at regular intervals (1908, 1939, 1983, 2009) and we can't stop them, we can only put better plans into place to minimise their impact on human habitation and the natural environment. eg. in some council areas wide firebreaks are mandatory, at the same time there are laws prohibiting clearing of native vegetation.

In 5 years time there will be no visible evidence of the fires in the natural environment, it's been happening for millions of years, but it will linger for ever in the memories of the population. I lived through the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires in South Australia, fortunately unscathed, but I can still see the black sky and feel the hot winds of that awful day.

It seems to me that the only thing to do is try and find a way to make it so the houses don't burn...

Marysville was a beautiful spot. We've been there many times. It is hard to believe it was all destroyed.


I remember the evening sun being just this huge red ball from all the smoke in the air.

Latest update:

181 confirmed deaths, at least 80 people still missing. The coroner has made provision for 300.

70 people injured, 20 critical, 9 still in ICU on life support.

1,033 homes destroyed with 7000 people now homeless. The army providing tent cities resembling refugee camps.

4,000 square kms of bushland burnt out so far. Countless native and domestic animals lost.

At least 20 fires are still burning and several more towns are under threat as temperatures rise once more.

Several new fires have been lit by arsonists. Where's Superman when you need him most?

$AUD 50m raised so far from non-government relief appeals. Relief agencies overwhelmed by donations of clothing and supplies.

I know expressions of support and offers of help have been received form all over the world and I assure you it is appreciated by all Australians.

It would be tempting to let this disaster drop off the radar screen and get back to normality, but too many people have been too badly affected to do that just yet.

Who on earth would be heartless enough to do that. Before, I was claiming that people were possibly just irresponsible, but how could that be construed as anything but malicious? I hope you guys find them, and when you do, I hope you drop them in the middle of the great barrier reef!

Keep us updated. News (domestic or international) tends to fall of my radar quickly, sadly. We're all pulling for you dandj, and the whole country. Hopefully this gets under control soon.

PS- It is somewhat heartening to read the articles you linked and see that there are notes and comment from all over the world at the end, most of the people have offered money to help with this tragedy. That is one nice thing about global media (and the internet), we can all help each other just a bit more.

Zalister, thanks for your support.

These sites contains the latest links to many good reports and videos of the bushfire tragedy. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/ind...018723,00.html and http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/

Fire-fighters from the US and New Zealand are on the way to assist, because, whilst the initial dramas are receding, 30 fires are still burning, with the potential for further devastation as the temperatures rise once more.

Unfortunately, in the midst of the heartening global response to our crisis, there are reports of looters stealing from fire ravaged properties. If they got caught by residents, who are already at a high state of distress and tension, they would not be handled gently.

I was also saddened to hear that the US is not immune to tragedy with 8 people dying in a tornado today. Isn't it a bit early in the season for tornados?

Maybe there are common needs in tornado and bushfire shelters that we could share.

My parents moved to tornado alley right before I moved out of the house. It's kind of odd, but you get used to it after a while. I used to panic whenever I heard there was a tornado, but they happen so often... All I'm really saying is that there's not a season for tornados, there more likely in the summer, but they can happen whenever they feel like it.

Don't some of the local Councils in " Tornado Alley "require storm shelters in new houses over there?
I think it is a brilliant idea and should be mandatory here if you live in a bushfire prone area.
Built into the side of an embankment or even on flat ground a concrete floor and roof with masonry walls - you would certainly be able to ride out even the worst fire.

Stewie

Fire refuges in the forests are usually built on the bomb-shelter principle. Poured concrete chamber under a couple of feet of earth.
During the '83 fires we were finding carbonised gumleaves falling from the skies. Though there was heat aplenty in the fires there was very little oxygen. Survivability, even in a shelter, would be limited. It was calculated that the radiant heat lethal zone from the firefront last Saturday was 200metres. Again, the shelter might not be much help.
According to the newspapers the fire at Wandong (33K north of me) had an average speed of 120Kmh (70MPH) as it moved across to Kinglake. Not much time to react.

The fires got about 2.5 km from a friend's place in Kilmore. If that was the speed of the fire front then they were very lucky a change in wind direction happened when it did.

Australian Bushfires
 

I have been trying to place these on their own post as a tribute to both man and animal that suffered terribly in the Australian Bushfires. Can someone help me to post them? I am still a bit juvenile at this posting business.
Rayw1

For We Are Aussies And We Care
Raymond J Warren
Brisbane Qld
February 9th 2009

Did you see that fireball a’rolling, down the valley fair
And the timber smoke a’rising, from the beauty that was there?
Did you hear the bird’s loud calling, in fear as they flew,
And house dogs barking loudly, at the fright that they felt too?

Did you hear the wind loud roaring, like a jet plane overhead,
Did you see the roadway littered with the dying and the dead?
Did you hear the crackling bushland and see the volunteers fight,
Did you watch the orange horizon in the darkness of the night?

Can you hear the men hard yelling, as they run this way and that,
Can you hear the horses screaming as they gallop on the flat?
Do you hear the child calling as she stands now safe alone,
“Where’s my daddy have you seen him, I want my daddy home!”

Do you know that sinking feeling of the loss and loneliness,
As you stand before your once proud home and feel the emptiness.
Do you know that heartache, as you sift through ashes bare?
Does a tear come to your reddened eyes, for memories stolen there?

Can you hear the deathly cry go up, to meet the burnished sky,
Of fathers with their children gone and a mother's mournful sigh.
And those who search the empty roads, for loved ones, who don't come,
The old and wise who blame themselves, for not telling them to run.

But please don’t worry strongly, there is something you should know,
We can’t bring back your loved ones, or the tokens for to show.
But we can share your pain, for our shoulders we lay bare.
So lay your head upon our breast, we are Aussies and we care.


SAM AND BOB OUT THERE
February 2009
Raymond J Warren

How ever did you make it Sam, how did you get away,

Why did fire spare you when it burned your home that day?

Did you have a special charm to keep alive out there?

Or did the god of animals, feel sorrow for a Koala Bear?


You sat beneath a blackened tree your tongue thick with thirst,

Your feet they felt like red-hot coals, with pads about to burst.

The fire took the lives of all and anything that moved,

But somehow you came through it safe, a volunteer bottle soothed.


They say that Koalas do not drink, that gum leaves do the trick,

But you showed all they were wrong, as you gave that bottle lick.

Oh how you loved that fireman and his water bottle there,

Sitting on your bottom, with your sore feet in the air.


And now you’ve found a domicile, away from fire and smoke

And you found yourself a male bear, a true Koala bloke.

Sam and Bob they speak of now, in hesitating terms,

How did you ere come through it, with only minor burns?


Sam is now receiving care at the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson, where she's made a special friend -- another injured koala named Bob.
Bob, who suffered third-degree burns to three of his paws, is one of about 20 koalas who've been brought to the Southern Ash shelter in the last few days, according to shelter staff member Colleen Wood.
Bob and Sam, Wood explained in an interview with Reuters, "keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs. They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all this. It's been horrific." From Reuters

A final tribute to the australian bushfire victims
 

I was just checking the CFA incident updates. Thankfully there's no major incidents currently but I noticed the area of the Kilmore East Murrindindi North Complex is listed as 164,180 ha. That's just huge. Looking at the fire area on the map really shows the extent of it.

Those fires are certainly covering a huge area, that's for sure. Is the fire getting close to dying down at this point?

I think they are pretty much under control but they were worried about some extreme winds today.