mikelincs

The rports on the TV this morning are very very frightening, and the pictures they are showing are terrible, particularly in NSW, apparently people have been warned to leave the whole area for at least a week or so, but there are fuel availability problems, the firefighters have water availability problems as well. The attitude by some people just seems a bit idiotic, one woman said they have their motorhome by the water so will go there, others with the 'She'll be alright mate' philosophy. I suppose it's easy enough to say from here, and abandoning your home and effects is a huge thing. Certainly the government is getting a lot of flak for not involving the army etc before now, and the fact that they say it will take a week before they can get fully involved. Most of all, I just want to say to everyone in the area, PLEASE, PLEASE stay safe.

Pollyana

Wonder if he'll take this oneseriously....


An evacuation order has been issued for all of Kosciuszko National Park.
Everyone in the park will have to leave the area before 10am Friday.
It's due to the Extreme fire danger rating predicted for this region in coming days.
The Dunns Road fire in the Snowy Mountains region has already burnt through 130,000 hectares and is currently at a Watch and Act alert level. Evacuation centres for residents have been set up at Club Tumut Bowling Club and the Cooma Showgrounds.

paulry

We'll probably be fine but after clearing out our gutter and getting rid of nearby dry vegetation I drove through the smoke to Bunnings early this evening to get a submersible pump so we can use the pool water to help save the house if it comes to that. It looked a bit like people preparing for the apocalypse in there - people scrambling for the last face masks in town (until tomorrow, that is) and dozens of people milling around the hosepipes aisle.

I drove home past the golf club and the car park there was chocker - so there's no shortage of people who are unbothered ...Unless they're handing out free face masks there

ozzieeagle

State of disaster just been declared for the first time in Victoria. These fires are now set to become bigger than the 11,000,000 hectares that burnt across SA and VIc in the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983. Thus far 9,500,000 Hectares have burnt.

We had ash raining down on us here in Melbourne back in 83, Hope that doesn't happen again. The road to WA from the East is cut off as well, The Eyre Highway may be shut for 5 days or more.

Makes one wonder how bad 1939 must have been.

carcajou

You won't save the house with pool water, but you will die trying.

If it really gets to the point where the house is in question - being under a watch and act warning is a good cut-off point indicator - then it is time to just pack up and go.

You cannot rely on the availability of roads to get out in an emergency. One tree falls in front of you and another one falls behind you and you are stuck.

moneypenny20

When people are called 'the brains trust' for pointing out proven inaccuracies, is it an insult or a compliment ?

Gordon Barlow

Don't you have something better to do than post snarky remarks? Not a very good example for a super-dooper moderooter...

carcajou

Why does everything and anything now need to be politicised? This is not the thread for that.

Dorothy

Being a moderator ("Super-dooper moderooter (sic)) has nothing to do with being a poster with an opinion. Perhaps if you have a problem with the post you could report it to admin?

Amazulu

I'm no fan of the Australia-hating Greens but agree that blaming them for this is ridiculous. There has been a lack of back burning in many areas on the east coast but that could be down to budgets and the fact that everything is so dry over there. Ultimately, this is about the ongoing drought and how dry much of the bush is. Difficult terrain can also make back burning hard. We took some beer up to the firefighters at Kalamunda fire station just before Christmas, and they were telling us that WA is much more proactive about back burning than the Eastern States.

It's currently 19c and partly cloudy at my place and it rained last night - in January. Crazy.

moneypenny20

You say snarky, I say it was a legitimate question. I have no clue what you mean by your 'brain' comment. I imagine, given your history and attitude, you were the one being snarky. However, you might, for once in your life surprise me and have actually accepted the truth from those that know.

Concierge/Moderator/Super Moderator/Admin are all allowed and encouraged to comment and post as 'regular' posters. However as has been stated by Dorothy, if you don't like what someone says, regardless of title, feel free to report them. If you're reporting something I've said, you can rest assured it will be dealt with by someone other than me.

KJMW

Pre-planning and investment is the only answer to these sort of situations. Politicians won't invest in fire prevention because it doesn't win votes. However, in this case the cost is incalculable. The cost in human and wildlife lives is horrendous, economically a disaster. Each year these fires occur, not on this scale but to blame a drought is ridiculous; A blind man could see this coming. The Australian and state governments have a lot to answer for.

Amazulu

So, the drought's got nothing to do with it? Err, okay. Controlled burns are inherently risky at the best of times. Look at the one in the SW of WA a few years ago - very well planned, ideal conditions when they started, yet ended up taking out a couple of houses. Burning after several years of very little rain would be extremely risky - if not impossible

Governments need to get realistic and do more planning. We've always got plenty of helitacs (many of which come from the US) and light fixed-wing bombers - but only 1 largish aircraft - a Boeing 737 leased by the NSW government. There are scores of large fire-fighting aircraft in the US and Canada - and they are very effective. In their winter, they sit idle. Lease some of them during our summer and bring them down here. Expensive yes, but peanuts compared to the human and economic cost of these fires

Moses2013

I would assume humans are the main cause rather than drought. Excessive groundwater pumping probably doesn't help, so why is that allowed in the first place. If you have an IT problem, you usually try and find the root cause.

Pollyana

There are numerous reasons for the current situation. They include:

• the drought
• recent extreme heat accompanied by strong winds
• continuing lack of rainfall to put out fires
• dry lightning - storms with no rain
• arsonists
• carelessness by people in the open camping etc
• local rules which do not allow land clearance around homes
• people lighting fires on their land without permits in dangerous conditions
• hazard reduction burns getting out of control (called other things in some states)
• lack of hazard reduction burns (for numerous reasons)

Regarding the last point, hazard reduction burns are a more complex issue than many realise. Each state has its own ideas, policies and rules around them, There have been articles in the media recently talking about the amount of paperwork and red tape that is required in some states in order to carry out these burns - where in the past people could just go ahead and burn their land clear of hazards, they now need to get rural fire services to do it,or at least attend the fire, and those services are bound by rules, policies and red tape. The whole issue is causing a lot of discussion at all levels in fire services and there is no easy answer.

Bottom line at present though is - no single cause, no easy fix. A combination of events, weather, personal actions - all resulting in an unforseen state of affairs.

(I should add that any posts I make about the current situation are personal, and are not expressing any official views)