# Australia's Fires



## jabbur (Feb 8, 2009)

Here's hoping none of our friends down under are in the path of the wildfires!  I just saw that 84 people have died.  Stay safe down there and know that us Yanks are thinking about you and praying for you and your families.


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## Toots (Feb 8, 2009)

I just saw this on the news  - I hope our Aussie boarders are not affected by the terrible fires - and are keeping cool during their unusually warm summer.


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## bethzaring (Feb 8, 2009)

pretty scary stuff that Mother Nature.....thinking of our southern friends....


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## kadesma (Feb 8, 2009)

Prayers being sent to our friends Down Under

kadesma


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 8, 2009)

Thoughts to all "down under."


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## Barbara L (Feb 8, 2009)

I'm praying as well.  I hope they get them out soon, and with no more loss of life or homes.  It's terrible.

Barbara


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## jeninga75 (Feb 8, 2009)

Wow, I didn't even know about this until now.  Hope everyone stays safe.


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## justplainbill (Feb 8, 2009)

Haven't heard from Attie lately.  Hope he's ok.  Guess he's not to pleased about that toasty warm weather that he seemed to relish ragging us about.


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 8, 2009)

I just read that the death count is up by 20 since about noon my time.  It's really sad that this is happening.  I hope everyone is okay.


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## texasgirl (Feb 8, 2009)

I know that Brooksy and mrsmac have not been on in quite a while, but, along with Attie, I wish them the best and pray that they are out of the way. Attie is in Queensland and mrsmac is in Sydney. I don't know where Brooksy is.


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## Cath4420 (Feb 8, 2009)

Hi All and thank you for your thoughts,

The update from down here is loss of life 111, in excess of 750 homes lost, 3 schools and two total communities wiped out. One community had 85 people and 75 of them perished in the fire. They are expecting the loss of life to climb to about 170. It is the worst in our history. We are used to them down here but the conditions over the last couple of weeks have been horrendous, day after day of over 105+ temperatures and then raging winds. The Country Fire Association were saying that some of the flames were up to 10m high. Even here in NSW the hot weather is unbearable, it is starting to cool a little but the humidity is still high. The crazy thing about it is in the north of the country they have been flooded in twice with the flood waters still rising due to monsoonal cyclones and rainfall. 

Again, thank you so much for your thoughts, all Aussies are still coming to terms with it. There is so much anger that some of these were deliberately lit. 

We see the massive snow storms and cold you are experiencing and we are thinking of you as well.

Cath

PS - I think Attie is somewhere along the mid north Queensland coast, they should be fine, the floods are up around Innisfail and Townsville which are further up.


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## Barbara L (Feb 8, 2009)

I just PM'd attie, since we haven't heard from him in several days.  

I have a good friend in one of the suburbs of Melbourne.  I know that towns as close as 50 miles north have been devastated.  I need to write to him and find out how they are doing.

Barbara


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## Cath4420 (Feb 8, 2009)

Barbara

On Fox, one of the young presenters in Melbourne said it had cooled quite considerably in the city but they were experiencing a dark orange haze over the city from the winds dragging the smoke south.  They are near a town called Whittlesea and if you log on to www.whereis.com.au it will show you how close they are to Melbourne.  I hope your friend is doing ok.

Cath


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## Barbara L (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks Cath!  I just wrote to my friend, and he wrote right back.  I hope he won't mind me sharing part of his email here:

Hi Barb,
yes we are all ok.
But many fires so close is very scary. I am currently listening to the 
radio the fires are still burning and we have, at the moment 126 dead and still rising.
It was so hot on Saturday 46.4 C with fierce winds blowing. The 
devastation is shocking.
One town Marysville has been wiped out.
Apparently the fires travelled so fast people were caught in their cars.
Many crashing into each other due to the smoke.

Having said all that we are safe.

I'm thankful they are ok, and praying that it is all over soon.

Barbara


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## Barbara L (Feb 9, 2009)

Attie is ok.    He said they are waiting out the storms.  I pray that the storms (rain and fire) all subside soon.  

Barbara


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## attie (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks for your concern people, as Barbara says, it's rather wet where I am but I'm not complaining. 

It is quiet amazing to see this in one part of the country http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/744864/at-least-93-dead-in-victorian-bushfires  
then this up near where I live http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/06/2484820.htm

This dam is spilling in excess of 200,000,000 cubic metres of water per hour over it's spillway at the moment.


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## attie (Feb 9, 2009)

Just going to bring you up to date, it is 7pm Monday night here and it is not good news.
"A wind change this afternoon is causing the huge fire in the Latrobe Valley to flare up along its northern edge and authorities have issued an urgent threat message to residents in the area, telling them it is too late to try and leave."
These poor people are now relying on self preservation to survive.







 This metal is what's left of an engine block


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## Barbara L (Feb 9, 2009)

That's awful.  

Barbara


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## Toots (Feb 9, 2009)

How terrible.  I hope the fires get under control.  I am also wondering about Bilby and how she is doing.  I'm not sure what part of Australia she lives in.  I hope she is safe too.


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## les (Feb 9, 2009)

I received this photo from family in Oz, i haven't posted a photo on here so forgive me if it's not the right size.

It has been so hot in SA for over a week…40+ degrees Celsius everyday, very dry also. 

A guy at work lives at Maude.  His wife sent him these photos of a little Koala which just walked into the back porch looking for a bit of heat relief.  She filled up a bucket and this is what happened!


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## mikki (Feb 9, 2009)

The first I heard all this was on this mornings news. Instantly thought of all our fellow DCers I hope everyone is doing OK and staying safe


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## attie (Feb 9, 2009)

I thought I would post these amazing pics of some firemen running for their lives


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## MexicoKaren (Feb 9, 2009)

Oh attie, those pictures are terrifying. I cannot imagine. I'll stay tuned to the news to see what happens to those poor folks in the Latrobe Valley. Thanks for staying with us...this is not good news to report and I know it is painful.


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## Constance (Feb 9, 2009)

I saw terrible pictures on the news of burned-out cars, where the people had tried to escape and the fire overtook them. One firefighter said he'd seen things no one should ever have to see.

God bless the people...they are all in my prayers.


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## Barbara L (Feb 10, 2009)

I also read that they now believe it was arson, which makes it even more horrifying.  

Barbara


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## attie (Feb 10, 2009)

Just sitting around with the family watching the news about the fires and the floods and my wife made the statement "Did you know that these two catastrophes are just two hours flying time apart" that sure hit home.


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## Erinny (Feb 10, 2009)

Oh My God! I'm praying hard for anyone in its path. I remember when we had a fire close to here, it was so terrifying!!!


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## greg muir (Feb 10, 2009)

i live in melbourne and as we all know its terrible, the whole city and surroundings were covered in smoke, there is talk that the death toll will be close to 300, i hope they are wrong, but everyone is doing there bit to help in whatever way they can, food, clothes, etc, there has been about $15 million donated already for the people that have been affected by this, very sad.


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## MexicoKaren (Feb 10, 2009)

Thanks for posting, Greg, and welcome to DC. I hope we have better news from your embattled home very soon.


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## Bilby (Feb 10, 2009)

Hi All.
I am fine and am on the other side of the country. I have been getting up and down for the past half hour with very loud bangs - either the metal fence and someone on it or a thunderstorm trying to get started.  It is only going down to 72F tonight here so we are on arson alert in a big way.  We have had several arson attacks in Perth these last few weeks, wiping out lots of our national parks and bushland but we are minor compared to Victoria - thankfully.  Think they just said the toll was 181 but are expecting further dead to be found.  Just doesn't bear thinking about.


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## kadesma (Feb 10, 2009)

How awful, here I sit in my home safe and sound and so many people ae in peril..There is not much I can do from here but I can pray and I will..Take care Penny.
cj


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## les (Feb 10, 2009)

Sorry to read that Bilby, got family south of Freo, Warnbro. How's it at Kings Park? Stay safe.


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## GB (Feb 10, 2009)

This is the first I am hearing of the fires. How horrible!!! It looks like hell on earth. I am thinking of you all and praying for no more deaths.


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## Bilby (Feb 10, 2009)

Kings Park is looking pretty black.  The other week that was arsoned in a couple of places with several hectares going up.  Think there was another attack the following week. Further up the coast it was something like 20 hectares. Bridgetown also got arsoned.  All of this pales into insignificance though when you think of Victoria.  This morning's headlines (which are often sensationalist) are suggesting the toll will reach over 300 and they think that there will be quite a few bodies that will never be identified.  The Queen is even making a private donation to the appeals for help.  Perth is sending several truck loads of goods over to Vic today and everywhere you go there is a collection happening.  

Part of Australia's stimulation package for the economy was to be up to A$950 per worker as a bonus. Quite a few people are talking about donating this when (if) they receive it to the fire victims.

One of the fires that killed around 20 people may have a result - the police think they know who the arsonist is.  Think that person may need protective custody though when they get him/her. Don't like their chance of survival in prison! Or on the outside for that matter.

We may find that are highly inadequate arson laws get universally changed as a result of this tragedy though.  In a country like Australia, we should have some of the toughest laws for arson going and yet we are pretty soft on them.  We can be a bit slow on the uptake at times.


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## Cath4420 (Feb 11, 2009)

Great to hear you are ok Attie, my BIL was in Mackay a couple of weeks ago for work and he loved it.  Pen, you take care!  Les, we are all thinking about you here.

The public and corporate Australia have raised nearly $40 million dollars to aid our bushfire victims and this is climbing every hour.  It is as one politician here said, "The nation is putting its collective arms around Victoria".  It is amazing and makes me so proud.  

On behalf of "the Aussies" thank you to you all on DC for the prayers and thoughts, our common love of cooking has opened windows to wonderful people right around the world.


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## attie (Feb 11, 2009)

Here's a nice video, Koala Bears normally do not drink water but this poor critter sure was thirsty.
Video - The Courier-Mail


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## les (Feb 12, 2009)

I am sorry to hear about Kings Park Bilby, I hope they catch the arsonists! It was over 40 degrees when we visited! Far too hot for us & permantly on bush fire alert. I loved the video Attie has posted, my family had literally just sent me the photo of this, which is why i dropped in here, to post it, but the vid is so much better, that's what you call "a helping hand". :0)


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## attie (Feb 12, 2009)

Tonight is not good news I'm afraid, several small towns have disappeared and those who escaped are not allowed back because there are many bodies in the burnt out homes. It is now estimated that there will be over 300 lives lost and some people will never be found.

There is also a wind change forecasted for this weekend which will make things extremely dangerous again.
============
On a lighter note here's a picture from my neck of the woods of a guy shutting his gate -- why is he doing it in so much water you ask?? -- to keep the crocodiles out of course -- true dinks


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## les (Feb 12, 2009)

Attie,
I keep hearing about the worry of the winds changing, on the news bulletins, that's the scarey thing about it. They said there are still more than 30 fires that are not under control, but they have managed to set a "fire wall" around a lot. Also the weather is a bit calmer now, what the temp now? Any chance of rain?


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## Bilby (Feb 13, 2009)

The Victorian police charged someone today with arson for one of the fires that resulted in over twenty deaths.  His identity is under wraps.  He comes from one of the towns that burned.


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## SierraCook (Feb 14, 2009)

It has been just horrible over in Australia.  The U.S. Forest Service is sending over 100 personnel over to Australia to assist.   I would have liked to have gone to help, but I don't have a current passport.  I hope that things are getting better and I feel for all the folks that lost their homes and family members.


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## Bilby (Feb 16, 2009)

Here's the latest...
Gippsland arson accused fails to appear in court | PerthNow


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## MexicoKaren (Feb 16, 2009)

It's difficult to imagine a worse job than searching these fire sites. I am so sad for the workers who must do this. There is not a punishment harsh enough for the person(s) who did this.


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## LPBeier (Feb 16, 2009)

A few years ago we had horrid fires in the interior of our province.  They weren't arson but they were pretty awful and destroyed everything for miles.  We had friends who almost lost the home on a lake that they have been building in summers for 15 years.  Our niece's husband is head of the Search and Rescue in the area and DH's cousin at the time worked in disaster management for the government.  They were both in the thick of things for months.  

It really gave me an appreciation for the horrid danger and devastation this can cause.  

My heart goes out to everyone involved in Australia.


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