The Bush fires in Oz

Margaret Pilkington · 09-02-2009, 21:52

This may seem to be a subject that is far removed from the interests of Accyweb.
And the term 'Bush' fire makes you think that it involves the vast uninhabitated places of that big country. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Currently the fires are raging and taking lives of whole communities just about 30 miles from Australia's second city,Melbourne.
We have family and friends out there, and are thinking of them and feeling very impotent.
All I ask is that during a quiet moment in your life you think of these people for a minute......after all, a thought is as good as a prayer...for those who do not believe in such things.
We do have contributors from Oz and we should think about them too and hope that they and their families stay safe.

Thanks in anticipation.

cashman · 09-02-2009, 22:08

have been thinking about that terrible situation fer days, hope south aussie n family are safe, no idea where exactly they are but thats the area.

katex · 09-02-2009, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

have been thinking about that terrible situation fer days, hope south aussie n family are safe, no idea where exactly they are but thats the area.

Me too Cashman .. remembered his post on the 40 degrees temperature ... if you out there South Aussie .. let us know you OK. Will put on weather thread .. he will get it then.

BERNADETTE · 09-02-2009, 23:53

Must be terrifying to be any where near these fires. Thinking of people and praying for their safety.

Mancie · 10-02-2009, 00:20

Hope the tragic happening ends soon..and hope your loved ones come out of it in the best way possible.

garinda · 10-02-2009, 00:34

Terrible.

Dreadful enough when nature starts these fires, but when they are helped by arsonists, they should be charged with murder.

Eric · 10-02-2009, 04:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by chithanh119

There are 108 dead people in this fire currently.

Latest figures I got from CBC: 166 and climbing. But with temps in the 40s and high winds, it was a disaster waiting in the wings, even without arson. Terrible times in South Australia. Weather patterns are changing folks; let's hope we don't become immune to disaster.

Alan Gilmartin · 10-02-2009, 07:30

Its up to 178 now, they have predicted it will go over 200 maybe 300. I feel sick by the sheer size of it we are getting the smoke haze here in Tassie, firefighters and eqipment from here South Australia, NSW, helping out, many people not insured. one guy left his house with only the clothes he was wearing, he is worried that he cant identify himself, all his documents, passport, drving licence, credit cards , wallet, photos, everything went up with the house. The stories coming out is unbeievable. We are out in the bush and surounded by forests, its as dry as hell. I made sure we have a fire break around the house just in case. it was 42c last week, it was a bit stressy to say the least.

jambutty · 10-02-2009, 13:22

CFA volunteer David Tree helps a distressed koala in burnt-out forest at Mirboo North. Pic by: Russell Vickery.

Please make a donation here - http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm

MargaretR · 10-02-2009, 14:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

Latest figures I got from CBC: 166 and climbing. But with temps in the 40s and high winds, it was a disaster waiting in the wings, even without arson. Terrible times in South Australia. Weather patterns are changing folks; let's hope we don't become immune to disaster.

I don't want to in any way minimise the tragedy happening in OZ, but this post by Eric set me off webrowsing.

I found that a volcano in South Alaska is due to blow up any day now and there are webcams trained on it.

Disasters are happening more often, or are we just made aware of them more than we used to be?

The links that I have explored today have given me food for thought and put me off my breakfast

Try googling ........Niburu planet X
........ Horizon project
which leads to youtube - 5 videos - 2012 how to survive

This webbrowsing is NOT recommended for anyone who is already depressed

lettie · 10-02-2009, 17:45

It looks horrendous at the moment in Victoria. I was browsing the fire map on BBC website yesterday and most of the fires are not that far from Melbourne. Some of them are actually at places that we visited 2 years ago. I hope that my friend in Victoria is ok and the fantastic people that we met there on our travels, it must be a nightmare for them at the moment...

tosh · 10-02-2009, 19:42

my brother and his family are out there but i don't think he is in Victoria.but haven't heard from him

Eric · 10-02-2009, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I don't want to in any way minimise the tragedy happening in OZ, but this post by Eric set me off webrowsing.

I found that a volcano in South Alaska is due to blow up any day now and there are webcams trained on it.

Disasters are happening more often, or are we just made aware of them more than we used to be?

The links that I have explored today have given me food for thought and put me off my breakfast

Try googling ........Niburu planet X
........ Horizon project
which leads to youtube - 5 videos - 2012 how to survive

This webbrowsing is NOT recommended for anyone who is already depressed

I don't think that seeing what is going on in the world in general trivialize the terrible events in South Australia ... one thing that makes this disaster stand out is the large number of casualties ... I realize that many of you will have noticed that when a major ecological disaster happens, the number of casualties seems to be a function of the wealth and sophistication of the area suffering the disaster: casualties in the First World are usually much smaller than those in the Third World ... here we see a modern, developed natioin, with excellent emergency services, suffering large numbers of dead. This, I believe, indicates that this is an event of major proportions ... like Katrina ... one that overwhelms even the best prepared nations.

For those who are interested in all that is going wrong with our planet, take a look at what is going on in the High Arctic ... and remeber, what goes on there will affect the North Atlantic Drift ... the thingy that determines what your weather in Accy will be like. And, as Margaret says: this is not for those who are already depressd.

jambutty · 11-02-2009, 05:55

Victorian bushfire survivor, Sam the koala, a global star
Article from: Herald Sun

Megan McNaught

February 11, 2009 12:00am

SAM became the most famous koala in the world when firefighter David Tree stopped to give her a drink amid the devastation.

Pictures of Sam, who turned out to be female, travelled around the globe and featured in major newspapers including The New York Times, London's The Sun and on CNN.

The image provided a much-needed picture of hope in a week filled with news of despair. Yesterday Sam was recovering in Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter.

Buy the famous picture of Sam at our online shop
All proceeds go to the CFA

Carer Jenny Shaw said she suffered burns on her paws and was in a lot of pain, but was on the road to recovery.

She was put on an IV drip and is on antibiotics and pain relief treatment.

"She is lovely - very docile - and she has already got an admirer. A male koala keeps putting his arms around her," Ms Shaw said. "She will need regular attention and it will be a long road to recovery, but she should be able to be released back into the wild in about five months."

Mr Tree said he was surprised by the reaction to the photograph, which was snapped by a fellow CFA volunteer on a mobile phone.

He said he was in the middle of backburning at Mirboo North when he saw the stricken koala. "I could see she had sore feet and was in trouble, so I pulled over the fire truck. She just plonked herself down, as if to say 'I'm beat'," he said.

"I offered her a drink and she drank three bottles.

"The most amazing part was when she grabbed my hand. I will never forget that."

Mr Tree and his brigade then received an emergency call-out to save a house, but minutes later Sam was picked up by wildlife carers.

She is one of 22 koalas, 14 ringtail possums, several wallabies and eastern grey kangaroos that have been handed into Gippsland carers.

south aussie · 11-02-2009, 13:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

have been thinking about that terrible situation fer days, hope south aussie n family are safe, no idea where exactly they are but thats the area.

We thank you for your concern for our wellbeing
Adelaide is a 10 hour drive from Melbourne, so the bush fires are not that close,and we have been very lucky
The memories of the 1983 fires here are still quite vivid.
temps are forecast to rise again next week to 40 degrees