Author Topic: How are our friends Downunder with the fires (Read 1504 times)

frank williams · « **on:** January 02, 2020, 04:48:07 PM »

Anyone heard from our friends in Australia? The news make it look like all of Australia is on fire. Everyone OK?

Jim Hoffman · « **Reply #1 on:** January 02, 2020, 06:21:09 PM »

I keep in very good touch with Jeff Reeves who lives in Mt Colah, just outside of Sydney. The reality of the situation is every bit as grim as the media reports portray. His house backs up on a national forest which is very wooded. He has spent countless hours clearing brush, limbs, and anything combustible around his house. The air quality is dreadful

Craig Beswick · « **Reply #2 on:** January 02, 2020, 06:58:36 PM »

Fires burning in the south in South Australia, across to Victoria then up the eastern coast through New South Wales and Queensland. For those in affected areas it is a tragic and desperate time!

Lives lost, hundreds and thousands of homes destroyed, livestock and wildlife dead. Firefighters tragically killed.

In Queensland we had a brief reprieve prior to Christmas with slightly cooler temperatures and some very welcome rain. But it is heating up again and the forecast for January is extreme heat, no rain!

I was travelling through central New South Wales for a week in December. Did not see any fires, saw where they had been but there was smoke haze for over 650km, 400+ miles!

The fires have gotten worse since then. Canberra, the Australian capital city, officially having the worst air quality in the world the other day.

Sad and desperate times for those in the bush and on the rural coast. Thoughts and prayers to all those in need.

Craig

M Spencer · « **Reply #3 on:** January 02, 2020, 07:47:34 PM »

Been like this for most of a month , at the top of the hill at the back of town .

The odd clear day . A lot of its back burning . But things are pretty desperate .

If somebody parked a big ice meteorite over the place and melted it , it could damp things down .
All Saturdays are the hot days . No Flying . You start to wonder who's organising it that way .

Working in the Forest itd start raining at knock off time , or the weekend . Definately a conspiracy .

Thinking they need to stand back and reavaluate the approach to prevention . Underresourced aerially .

A few dozen Herc's or the like couldve kicked a lot of it in the teeth before it properly got underway .
Only Two Heavys for the nation , means theyre not redilly availiable when action required is instant. Prontro. Fast .

A dozen coming in line astern could at least direct / deflect the course of the fire . Particularly in the early stages .

Minly open scrub , Gum trees - which are resinous . Above around 45 Deg C. the air can be inflamable ! with the vapour / resin .

A tough game dealing with them afoot .

Gregory Hammond · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2020, 01:17:45 AM »

Have packed an evacuation bag, clothes toiletries etc
Also finished my Bug Out Bag
And packed food and water ready to go when the fire gets too close.

Burning embers are starting new fires up to 40kms from the fire front.

Its kinda scary right now. I checked my house insurance is paid up!

Az

Craig Beswick · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2020, 01:37:16 AM »

Fingers crossed. Good luck mate!

Paul Allen · « **Reply #6 on:** January 03, 2020, 02:15:11 AM »

Guys, it would be safe to say the fires here in OZ are the worst we have ever seen,some of these fires started months ago and are still burning,
thanks for asking about us.
Paul
In OZ.

Dallas Hanna · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2020, 06:11:46 AM »

Safe here at the moment around 40 miles North West of Sydney although fires only around 15-20 miles from us. Here is an area which I'm near from the south (Richmond) and Paul Allen is looking at from the north (Singleton). This fire alone is around 100 miles long and about the same width all in mountain areas. The actual fires down the east coast alone is around 1000 miles in length which stretches from Brisbane in Qld to isolated towns in the east of Victoria. No sign of rain which is the only thing which will put a stop to it all. Hopfully Saturday isn't going to cause increased activity with forecast 46 deg C again!!

Happening of course in other countries as well. Whilst on hols in Canada last September we saw the destruction of the forests there from the fires a couple of years ago. California also hit last year.

H

John Carrodus · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2020, 02:19:41 PM »

Skies have been orange, full of ash and smoke here in many parts of NZ 1500 km away. So dark mid morning one day last week, most cars had their headlights going. Wife is from Aussie, it breaks our hearts looking up at the sky. Wish we could export our rain and lower temps to our Aussie mates.

M Spencer · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2020, 09:25:30 PM »

Smokes been wet here, in the Blue Mountains ( N S W ) the last few days . and with rain at night .
The medias trying to heat things up again.
Good opertunity for polititions to stand in the spotlight .

Oops . This explains a few things .

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-monster-a-short-history-of-australia-s-biggest-forest-fire-20191218-p53l4y.html

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/15/western-australia-bushfire-emergency-continues-as-sydney-braces-for-a-smoky-sunday

looks like all the regrowth on the Nullabor's gone .

Since 1800 Australia has destroyed or utterly degraded its native forests and woodlands

http://forestsandclimate.org.au/national-overview/resources/australian-election-on-climate-change-2019/

===================================================================
heres how we did it in NZ .https://www.kauri2000.co.nz/2017/03/11/the-history-of-kauri/

https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25275/cleared-forests-around-1900

OOPS.

Map comparison of current and historic extent of freshwater ..

Pre-Māori vegetation

New Zealand vegetation around 1840

oops . . .

Of course, theyll shoot the messenger . . . . But theyve sat on heir hands for decades . still think milling virgin forests o.k. .

Oldenginerod · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2020, 10:30:53 PM »

Apart from the smoke, which has started coming in on the east wind again today, we've been ok. Far from the whole of Australia burning, as some have suggested, but you have to realise that much of the country is uninhabitable and the population gathers around costal areas. If you look at the maps, that's what's burning, right down and around the south east coastline.

I'm in West Gippsland, quite a way from the East Gippsland fires which caused the Naval ship evacuation of a whole town last week. I know some young folks who were running a school holiday program at Mallacoota for the kids who were there on summer holidays. The whole population of the town (including 3,000 visitors) spent a day and night at the water's edge to try to keep safe. They got shipped out by the Navy, leaving their tents, camping gear and vehicles stranded. The only road into the region has been cut by the fire in many places, meaning that supplies are running short in many towns where people have chosen to stay and defend their homes and towns. No water, no power, food & fuel running low.
It's great to know that people all around the world are taking an active interest in this and are donating millions of $$ for those effected. Sports people, celebrities, other "rich" folk are all getting involved.

Scariest part is that the traditionally hottest and driest part of summer is yet to come. We had fires near us last summer, and in 2009 on Black Saturday the fire came within about 500 metres of our home. Do you stay and defend or pack up and go? Hard to know. I'm expecting that we might have to make that decision some time in the next month.

The best sound you can hear is the Erickson Skycrane overhead. Amazing!! Four more fire tankers on the way from the U.S. & Canada, along with firefighters.

Those of you that see the value in prayer, keep it up please!

Rod.

Paul Allen · « **Reply #11 on:** January 09, 2020, 05:38:32 PM »

Ty
I cannot confirm the numbers re people starting fires,some of these fires started with lightning strikes
we have had a number of dry electrical storms,with much lightning and thunder, but NO rain.
Paul
In OZ

Oldenginerod · « **Reply #12 on:** January 09, 2020, 11:39:39 PM »

Quote from: Ty Marcucci on January 09, 2020, 04:36:04 PM

I see on the news that 200 people have been arrested for starting those fires. Any news on your end?

I've seen nothing on the news here about any arrests, but as Paul says, lightning seems to have been the biggest culprit. Typical of the media, "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story".

Had an email today saying how US media had been showing the "current" NASA pictures of the whole continent which makes it look like the "whole country's on fire". It turns out they were using a composite of images taken over the past 3-4 months. I don't want to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but some of the media has got a little carried away.

Anyway, we just had a major downpour over the past two hours.

Great relief. Hopefully it gets the the firegrounds to our east before it peters out.

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #13 on:** January 10, 2020, 05:07:33 AM »

Well.. the 200 arrests are a bit of a beat up.

Caveat : I live in Gippsland on a rural property and although the "coverage" is extensive the fire danger is pretty low.

At best we have lots of smoke and a bad smoke haze.

Ive got a very good fireplan and have proper measures for a fire ( which many people dont bother ACTALLY doing )
If you want to live "among the trees" then your at an increased risk of danger, if you dont backburn or clear out the dead trees as firewood then yes anything can set off a fire.

Australia has been a dangerous place over summer for fires for YEARS ! I remember back in the 80s the ground being fireprone.

Now to address the 200 arrests ;

I DO NOT WANT THIS TO BE A POLITICAL STATEMENT.

This is the facts as best as I can present;

" [Australia’s bushfire crisis has led to what appears to be a deliberate misinformation campaign started by climate-change deniers claiming arson is the primary cause of the ongoing fires, despite months of drought and record high temperatures.

Social media accounts, circulated the false claim that 183 people had been arrested for arson during the Australian fire crisis – one published in an Australian newspaper.

Seemingly adding weight to the claim, New South Wales police recently said they have taken action against 183 people for “bushfire-related offences” since 8 November last year.

However, only 24 of those people have been charged with allegedly lighting fires deliberately.

Forty-seven have been charged for discarding a lit cigarette or match on land and 53 for failing to comply with a total fire ban.

Climate change has been a divisive topic, with leading politicians dismissing it as a factor in this season's record blazes.
In November, the Australian Deputy Prime Minister dismissed those who linked the fires to climate change as “disgusting” and “raving inner-city lunatics”.

Another element of the circulated “arson emergency” story is the claim that 43 people have been charged in Victoria with arson. However, this refers to the number of people charged with deliberately lighting fires in the entire year of 2019, including much of the previous summer.

A Victoria Police spokesperson told The Guardian that “there is currently no intelligence to indicate that the fires in East Gippsland and the North East have been caused by arson or any other suspicious behaviour.”

The claim 101 people in Queensland have been arrested for arson this summer has also been circulated.

However, Queensland police said the figure includes a broader range of fire offences, including breaching of total fire bans, and was not a total of arrests, but a total of “police enforcement actions”.

Queensland police told local media that of the total reported bushfires in the state between 10 September and 8 January, around 10 per cent are believed to have been deliberately lit.

Lightning strikes have been a major cause of bushfires this season, as has been the case historically, particularly in Victoria and South Australia.
Record high temperatures and months of drought have contributed greatly to the speed and scale.

Howard Rush · « **Reply #14 on:** January 10, 2020, 01:45:52 PM »

Thanks for the report, PJ. We knew you live in a rural place, and we were worried about you.

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #15 on:** January 10, 2020, 02:01:11 PM »

Thanks JCT

M Spencer · « **Reply #16 on:** January 10, 2020, 09:28:37 PM »

" 93% of all statistics are made up. "

========================

Had the ABC / BBC say they were going to burn down Leura / wentworth Falls last night , at 10 P.M. with a northerly wind 90 kph shift , at 1 A.M. .

Luckilly theres bigger things in this universe than hysteric panic mongers with five day attention spans . or is that minutes .
No wind. Cool & wet miday today . Which beats an inferno .

NOW look what theyve done ! .

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/scott-morrison-labelled-laughing-stock-europe-climate-protests/11859988

The uninhabitable areas arnt as uninhabitable as youd think .

https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/explore/australian-animals/desert-dwellers/

Though the DRY is caused largely be DEAFORESTATION .
just imagine if the Oil Money went to reaforesting the middle east , instead of shitty consumer goods & skyscrapers . Thered be a bit of shade there
so they could cool off .

oops .

The ancient Middle East. Today it is hard to believe that in antiquity vast forests were growing in the Middle East. However, during the early part of the third millennium BCE, the mountain slopes of this region were covered with massive cedar forests. ... In doing so they needed large amounts of, mainly, cedar timber.

Then theres the Chinese in Tibet , caused the massive flooding in India etc , in the 60s . As there was no forest left to hold the water back .

========================================================================================
http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_77/rsnz_77_05_009980.html

The German Foresters Union in NAZI GERMANY would only go to within 10 % of sustainabllity ( Growth ) rather than the usual 20 %
despite any Nazi Threats .
They were the strongest union in Germany .
Whereas Scotlands Forests were decimated for war prodution to overcome the Nazi Threat .

But Politics is a lot more devious these days .

Randy Powell · « **Reply #17 on:** January 11, 2020, 12:53:35 PM »

Glad to her our friends are, so far, OK. I live out in the woods and can understand the need to clear around your house.

Take care, friends.

Steve Helmick · « **Reply #18 on:** January 15, 2020, 05:46:12 PM »

I recall one of our political leaders being crucified for suggesting that Californians needed to take care of cleaning away underbrush to help contain the bushfires. What a silly notion! The obvious solution is to put a swimming pool in every backyard.

Steve

Randy Powell · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2020, 01:37:41 PM »

Steve,

Dallas Hanna · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2020, 03:43:10 PM »

Some bad news about the fires here yesterday, Thursday, with the loss of a C130 aircraft which crashed in the south of NSW. It had left Richmond air base around midday. RIP the three American crew who were lost in the crash.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-23/large-air-tanker-c-130-water-bomber-crash-cooma/11894892

Oldenginerod · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2020, 03:34:34 AM »

Yes, a tragic turn of events.

The operators, Coulson Aviation of Canada, will be thoroughly investigating this I'm sure. They have a great record and have served Australia's needs well for many years. Witness accounts indicate that the plane dived in at high speed and at a steep angle, possibly indicating a loss of control or mechanical failure.

My sympathy to the family, friends and colegues of these brave firefighters. We Aussies certainly appreciate the global assistance we're receiving and thank all for their service.

Rod.

M Spencer · « **Reply #22 on:** January 25, 2020, 06:36:12 AM »

Bit of a shock . Couldve been very limited visability and severe sun glare at the time . Summer here obviously . White Out , a bit like Erebus ? .

Brian Hampton · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2020, 07:25:19 PM »

I've just come back (yesterday) from an 11 day trip from Oz to NZ and left on the 15th. About half way across the Ditch (Tasman Sea) and cruising at 41,000 feet I couldn't see the water and couldn't see the sky, it was like we were flying through a brown fog with absolutely nothing else visible. On the ground in the North Island everything was hazy from the smoke.