84 killed in deadliest wildfire

[#juan]

Bam! I think the sh*t just hit the fan:

'Greenies' blamed for fires' fury
'Greenies' blamed for fires' fury - Yahoo!7 News



Sent to me by my GF...

A co-worker of mine said this morning similar things are occuring here in Canada too. Where she lives there have been a crap load of trees that died from the spruce bud worm problem we had in the last couple of years..... they have yet been allowed to clear much of that dead wood, which has been sitting around and drying out more and more each year. There are still thousands of trees that have yet to be properly cleared and removed from Hurricane Juan.... this whole place is building up to being a box of matches here in NS..... and I bet it's similar accross the country.

I drove to Calgary last year and driving in from the coast you could see where the live trees ended and the dead trees started. The Pine beetle or whatever killed the trees were a lot further inland than I thought they would be. What used to happen was that a good frost would kill them off. It still does but the damn beetle have gained as lot of territory.

 

[L Gilbert]

Man in conflict with nature.... Here, we have jackpine whose cones never open until exposed to fire. Sagebrush regenerates in the same way. Man just wasn't meant to have roots....

The scary part is, here in my little Shangrila, the bush floor is littered with well aged deadfall. The environmentalists have had their way so it stays where it lays. One lightning strike in a dry spell and....

..... 2003 Kelowna, BC.

 

[L Gilbert]

Thing is, I was told by an Aussie that they've had a drought that has lasted 18 years. That was last year, too.

 

[gep37]

It's true that Australia has been in drought for many many years.... and maybe enough wasn't done soon enough to make the situation different? Suburban Victoria is on Stage 3a water restrictions, and has been since 2007, but the further out from Melbourne you go though the higher the restrictions, rural Victoria is on Stage 4.

Some info on the water levels and storage levels:
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water/water_storages/water_storages.asp#2

And info on the restrictions, from 1 through to 4:
https://citywestwater.com.au/residential/docs/stagedrestrictionsfactsheet_180407.pdf

I lived in Victoria all my life, up until about a year ago when I moved here to Canada.... I was only a child when the 1983 fires happened, and barely remember them. I do know people though that lived through them, battled to save their houses and fought to have things changed so that it wouldn't happen again. I have family who work for the DSE: Department of Sustainability and Environment, and who go out and fight those fires. I have an uncle, who for longer than my lifetime has spent his summer sitting alone in a fire tower in Mt.Buller watching the surrounding areas to spot fires.

The current situation has many causes, obviously the extreme heat that the area has been experiencing over the last few weeks, the drought that has gripped for so many years, the lack of clearing and controlled burning that has been happening in part due to the protests against it.... I'm sure there are many more reasons, but they are just a few that I can think of.

The impact of this years fires is going to last a lifetime, even though I'm not physically there, to watch your home state be ravaged so badly is heartbreaking. There are fires every year, every summer Australia deals with these situations, this year surpasses all of them though. I don't think there is many people who don't know of someone who has lost something from these fires, friends of friends, friends of family....

As Melbourne and it's suburban sprawl spreads at a rate that is alarming, I wonder if those people moving further out are properly educated in the reality of fire threats? I have lots of family who live in rural areas, some have been there a lifetime, others only a few years... and when they did move there they had to attend CFA Country Fire Authority, meetings about being prepared and having a plan for if and when the threats are issued. I don't know if that sort of education and resource is available everywhere, but I do know that they should be.

The Australian Red Cross has been overwhelmed with donations, both monetary and physical, and of blood for the victims in hospital burn wards. The latest Red Cross figures and information, Australian Red Cross.
In the worst of times the true measure of people comes shining through, and I am proud to be a Victoria, an Australian and know that people band together to help those they don't know in these times. That every single person is a friend, and whatever can be done will be done.

I have a huge feeling of helplessness as I sit here and read the papers from Victoria
Herald Sun Homepage | Victoria, National & Australian News | Herald Sun
The Age - Business, World & Breaking News | Melbourne, Australia
and know that this is far from over. The undpredicatable winds, the heat that threatens to come back sooner than later, the men and women who are still out attempting to control these fires. I know that this is front page news all over the world, I know that this kind of thing happens in places other than Australia... but it's my homeland that is under threat, the pain and reality are intensified and a part of me wants to keep people aware of this, to do something that will help, even if it's just bringing awareness.

 

[Praxius]

Related Update:

Cheyenne Tree treats a Koala nicknamed Sam, saved from the bushfires in Gippsland, at the Mountain Ash Wildlife Center in Rawson, 170 kilometres east of Melbourne, Australia, where workers were scrambling to salve the wounds of possums, kangaroos and lizards Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009.

Peter Denson, right, and his daughter Amberley walk through the wreckage of Peter's home at Kinglake, north east of Melbourne, Australia Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009.

Police inspect a home where bones were found in the yard after a fire at Kinglake, north east of Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009.

Residents return to destroyed homes in Australia
CTV.ca | Residents return to destroyed homes in Australia

KINGLAKE, Australia -- Residents of towns scorched off the map by Australia's worst-ever wildfires on Wednesday returned to their homes for the first time and found scenes of utter devastation.

Police said they were looking into reports of suspicious people picking through the ruins of some destroyed houses, as rumors that looting was taking place in abandoned areas swirled.

"Where do you start? Where do you start?" said Peter Denson, standing blank-faced amid the ruins of his home in Kinglake, where at least 39 people were killed - and the town all but destroyed - in Saturday's inferno.

Denson, a carpenter, has lived in Kinglake since 1977. He said he wants to rebuild, but his house, now a blackened pile of timber, bricks and twisted metal, was not insured because he could not afford it.

"It's like a big atom bomb has gone off," said Denson.

Authorities had sealed off some towns because the grim task of collecting bodies from collapsed buildings was proceeding slowly and because authorities wanted to prevent residents from disturbing crime scenes. Embers were still posing a threat of flare-ups.

Police said in a statement Wednesday that arson specialists had completed the initial stage of their investigation and concluded that there were six main sources of fire on Saturday.

One source - near the town of Churchill, about 140 kilometres southeast of the state capital of Melbourne - was suspicious, and a suspect was being sought. The cause of one fire is yet to be determined and four others are not suspicious, the statement said.

Australia's top law officer, Federal Attorney General Robert McLelland, said Wednesday anyone found guilty of lighting a fire that caused multiple deaths would face life in prison if convicted.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the Seven Network late Tuesday "they should be allowed to rot in jail."

Victoria's Chief Commissioner of police, Christine Nixon, said there had been reports of suspicious behavior amid the destruction.

"We're having some reports of looting, but not a great deal," Nixon told Sky News television. "There are some reports from some people who are seeing strange people who are sifting through parts of houses that have been burnt."

It was not clear if those people owned the houses, or were searching for food, clothes or other necessities.

Residents were allowed to return to Kinglake, about 130 kilometres north of the Victoria state capital of Melbourne, but their progress was slow because emergency workers were still removing burned debris and cutting down trees that appeared ready to fall. Power lines - the electricity supply long cut - were strewn across some streets.

Some houses bore makeshift signs with messages from survivors to loved ones who might come looking for them.

"All out ... we shall return," said one sign.

While there is free access to many areas in the fire zone, tensions have been rising in recent days as demands rose for police to let residents back to the worst-hit places to check on their homes as well as pets and other animals left behind. Police urged people to be patient.

Victoria Premier John Brumby said some survivors had not even seen television footage of the disaster's scale and he was worried about the emotional impact on people seeing the destruction for the first time.

More than 400 fires ripped through Victoria on Saturday, fed by 100 kilometre-per-hour winds, record heat and a severe drought. The official death toll stood at 181 on Wednesday, but bodies were still being collected and Brumby said it would "exceed 200 deaths."

The Country Fire Authority said Wednesday the official tally of houses destroyed had risen to more than 1,000, from 750 earlier. Some 5,000 people are homeless, and 2,850 square kilometres of land have been scorched.

Thousands of mostly volunteer firefighters were still battling more than a dozen fires across the state on Wednesday. Weather conditions were cool, but gusting winds constantly threatened efforts to get them under control. Forecasters said temperatures could rise again by the weekend.

Donations have poured in. The Red Cross said its government-backed wildfire fund had received more than 33 million Australian dollars (US$22 million). Police and nongovernment organizations were collecting clothes, toys and homewares.

Some of the survivors were living in tents erected by emergency services on sports fields. Others stayed with friends or at relief centers.

The high death toll has forced authorities to re-examine an accepted survival strategy when blazes threaten: Get out early or hunker down and fight. Many people waited too long and died as they tried to escape.

But Brumby said the policy would remain in place until a full investigation had been carried out.

 

[Praxius]

In Addition:

Height of the fires ... a house in Kinglake is engulfed in flames on Saturday night. Picture: Jake Valance

Emergency operators haunted by Victoria fires victims final calls
Emergency operators haunted by Victoria fires victims final calls | Victoria | News.com.au

TRIPLE-0 operators listened to people "dying over the phone" at the height of the Victoria fires.

More than 4200 terrifying phone calls were made to Victoria's emergency services dispatch centres in Bendigo and Burwood as victims pleaded for help across the state.

Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority spokesman Wayne Debernardi said the sheer volume of calls was phenomenal, the Herald Sun reports.

"We are talking a number of calls of the like this country has never experienced before," Mr Debernardi said.

"Our call takers had to listen to people dying on the phone and I am sure that is something that will live with them forever."

He said speculation the triple-0 service collapsed from the huge increase in calls was unfounded.

"The only way that a call wasn't answered was if the caller hung up. We had a queuing system in place but callers would not have been on hold any longer than 75 seconds."

He said while figures were yet to be released, calls would have spiked considerably when fire tore through the worst hit areas such as Kinglake and Marysville.

The exact details of the most shocking calls would not be made public in the interests of survivors who might recognise family or friends.

But Mr Debernardi said it was fair to suggest the calls were made from people trapped in houses, cars, huddled in backyards and other nightmare scenarios as choking smoke and flames billowed around them.

Counselling has been offered to all operators who had to listen to call after call while desperately trying to dispatch emergency services.

"I just simply couldn't do their job," Mr Debernardi said. "I wouldn't have the stomach for it."

Lifeline spokesman Chris Wagner said the operators and other bushfire survivors had to act early to get emotional support.

He said the national counselling line had experienced a small increase in calls since the fires but expected the need to grow in coming weeks.

"It won't be until a number of days, weeks or even months before the reality of what they've witnessed sinks in," Mr Wagner said.

"I would encourage any person who has been through an adverse situation to seek support."

 

[Praxius]

Multimedia - Herald Sun - Victoria's Worst Bushfires on Record#

^ Current Flash Site Describing and Showing where the current fires still remain.

 

[Stretch]

One of the good images to come out of the Victorian horror story.