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.