Bushfires in Victoria, Australia

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The Australian state of Victoria has been hit by waves of bushfires amid soaring temperatures these oast few days. So far over 25 people have lost their lives and this number is expected to rise even higher. Some towns have been completely burned out and destroyed. The government has offered the services of the Australian Defence Force to help combat the flames. Many of the fires still rage out of control. Please pray for relief for the people of Victoria and for the safety of those combatting the flames. Please also pray that people can get out in time, because some have decided to stay and paid a terrible price.

New South Wales is also facing high temperatures with some areas of the state looking at temperatures of 45 degrees Celcius (113 degrees Farenheight). There are already several out of control fires and the authorities believe some have been lit deliberatly. Please pray that people will have the sense not to do so and that these fires will cause no harm.


http://www.theaustralian.news.co m.au/

[sandie]

Hi Col. We were posting at the same time - there is a thread in the Prayer section.

This is the worst bushfire emergency in Oz since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983, with 75 lives lost then.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

Hi Col. We were posting at the same time - there is a thread in the Prayer section.

This is the worst bushfire emergency in Oz since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983, with 75 lives lost then.

It's terrible. And to make things worse, it's not likely to improve anytime soon.

[sandie]

Thet's what firestorm conditions are like. People don't decide to leave their homes until it's too late. It's the hot wind that I hate - it's an eery wind.

I watched TV until 10:30 last night, and was surprised that so many homes and lives were lost during the night.

[sandie]

Now there are 35 confirmed dead.

From Yahoo news:
Killer fires in Victoria claim 35 lives

February 8, 2009, 12:39 pm

The death toll from the Victorian bushfires has risen to 35, police said on Sunday.

At least 100 homes were destroyed as nine major blazes burnt out of control across the state.

One man aged in his 40s was in a critical condition after suffering burns to 50 per cent of his body when he tried to move stock in the Colegaine area in the state's west.

More than 3,000 firefighters and many more residents worked to contain fires in all corners of the state, including major fronts at Horsham, Coleraine, Weerite, Kilmore East, Bunyip, Churchill, Dargo, Murrindindi and Redesdale.

Across Australia emergency services workers were out in full force as fires on Saturday also threatened homes in NSW and South Australia , while flash floods wreaked havoc in north Queensland.

In NSW a 31-year-old man was being questioned over a fire police believe was deliberately lit near Peats Ridge, on the Central Coast, which burnt through 120 hectares of land through the Brisbane Water National Park.

About 250 firefighters battled the blaze with five aircraft and more than 20 fire tankers.

At 9pm (AEDT) on Saturday, a Rural Fire Service spokesman told AAP the threat to nearby properties had eased.

"Fire fighters will remain on the ground all night to try to establish some containment lines that will hold in anticipation of (Sunday's) weather," he said.

Fire fighters would remain in the area until cooler weather came through, which was expected on Monday.

South of Sydney, several fires burning in the Bega Valley on Saturday night threatened people in the villages of Towamba, Burragate and Wyndham, and villagers were warned by the RFS to prepare for severe fire weather on Sunday.

At Wollemi National Park, in the Singleton area, north of Sydney, the RFS anticipated fires would burn through 2,000 hectares of countryside by Sunday morning.

In South Australia a fire that burnt through 108 hectares at Gawler River, north of Adelaide, was a major concern throughout Saturday.

A spokeswoman from South Australia's Country Fire Service said about 155 fire fighters, assisted by four fixed-wing waterbombing aircraft and helicopters, helped contain the fire.

She said crews would keep mopping up the fire overnight.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The 6pm news reported that 65 people are now confirmed dead. One town has had nearly every building burned to the ground. Every building, every home; the school, the police station, and the pub are all gone. And many of the people who lived there too. Never did we think there could be a repeat of Ash Wednesday. Tragically we were wrong. :(

[sandie]

Now 76 confirmed dead, one more than the Ash Wednesday fires.. :(

From ABC news:
Australia's worst bushfire disaster


The death toll from horrific bushfires across Victoria this weekend has reached 76, surpassing the number of people who perished in the 1983 Ash Wednesday blazes.

More than 700 homes have been lost in what is being described as 'Hell on Earth', and it is feared the death toll will pass 100.

Twenty-six fires continue to burn across Victoria; 12 of those are out of control. Authorities suspect arsonists are responsible for some fires.

The Kinglake Complex blaze continues to burn out of control and so far has burnt through more than 220,000 hectares. Communities around Glenburn, Taggerty and Rubicon are being urged to remain alert for any threats to their homes.

"Tonight our our resolve as Victorians is being tested," Victorian Premier John Brumby said in an address to the state.

"We know that tragically many lives have been lost ... and we have grave concerns for many more. We know that hundreds of Victorians have lost their houses. Out there it has been Hell on Earth.

"It is one of the most tragic events in Victoria's history. I am personally devastated by the tragedy. The scale of the tragedy defies comprehension.

"We all grieve with you. So many families, families like yours and mine, now have to rebuild. I can promise that we will not stop until you are safe and your lives and communities have been rebuilt."

There is little information about the locations of the victims, but 29 are known to have died at Kinglake, north of Melbourne, and four each at St Andrews and Wandong, all north of Melbourne.

Five people are dead in Callignee, three in Hazelwood and one in Jeeralang. More bodies have been found at Humevale, Bendigo, Upper Callignee, Long Gully, Strathewan and Arthurs Creek.

Channel Nine is reporting that veteran newsreader Brian Naylor, who had a house at Kinglake, is unaccounted for and that his wife Moiree has died in the blaze.

Seventy-five people died in Victoria and New South Wales during the February 1983 Ash Wednesday fires.


No warning

Jay Cherie from Kinglake Central said her family had no warning of what was to come.

"When the power went out I madly started to try and pack some things and in doing so it was like night-time all of a sudden. My husband came running into the house and said, 'grab the kids, grab the cat, we've got to get out'," she said.

"We got in the car and went to go down towards Yea and the flames were coming up over the paddocks towards our place and we could just only settle in the township; we knew straight away our home was gone.

"A lot of people made that same decision; there were probably about 100 cars in the same area that we were in at the time and we had gas bottles exploding around us.

"At one stage there my husband said to my children, 'get down on the floor', because we didn't know what was going to happen.

"We had fire coming in on the right-hand side of us on a paddock and we had houses to the left of us on fire; no-one knew what was going to happen.

"My little girl was saying to me, 'Mum am I going to see my friends again?', she also said to me, 'Mum am I going to live tomorrow?'."


Bracing for 'bad news'

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visited bushfire ravaged regions today and warned the nation to brace itself for the likelihood of more deaths.

"We've come through bad times before and we'll come through this one," he said

"This Government will be behind these communities. I fear in the days ahead, though, the news is going to be bad and I believe the nation needs to prepare itself as the full facts become known."

Mr Rudd announced a $10-million relief fund as well as a multi-million-dollar appeal.

He said the Army and other Defence assets such as bulldozers and bedding would be available to help communities begin to rebuild in the aftermath of the destruction.


Interstate support

More than 4,000 local firefighters are battling blazes across Victoria, backed up by volunteers from New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Country Fire Authority (CFA) Deputy Chief Fire Officer Steve Warrington says the interstate reinforcements are much appreciated.

"It's interesting in this part of the world, and I'm talking about Australia, that sense of mateship and camaraderie, we all stick together," he said.

"Victoria's gone to NSW and it's great to have NSW down with us, and that goes for every state, Western Australia, Queensland, they've all rung up and offered support to us today.

"From that point of view, it's quite heartwarming that we have this sense of culture and can-do in this country."

About 250 of the extra firefighters are from NSW, with that state also sending 25 search and rescue experts, nine identification experts and five paramedics.

The Northern Territory is sending a Disaster Victim Identification team, much like the one sent to Bali after the bombings.

[sandie]

84 dead, 700 houses destroyed.

[rossid]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489705,00.html

[sandie]

Thank you, D.

A newsreader just asked a Country Fire Authority spokesman what the death toll was. He said 108 and she replied "Oh God, sorry."

[pamcharlie]

That is so shocking i have seen the news coverage and as a kiwi my thoughts and prayers go out to all who involved in fighting the of the fires and the families and people who have lost houses etc . take care

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The current death toll has been official raised to 126 with that expected to raise by more than a hundred. That makes it far worse than Ash Wednesday when roughly 85 people died. It is now officially the worst natural disaster in our nations history.

http://www.theaustralian.news.co m.au/

[ausgirl]

Gosh this is rough, I cannot turn on the telle without crying - it's just so awful.

Ihave jsut donated to the red cross website - and I got chills reading the info there - the appeal was launched this morning, by mid afternoon Australians had donated $7million!!! That is incredible, we are an amazing bunch of people!

I, personally would quite happily let the government give my $950 bonus due in April towards this. I seriously don't need that money, not in comparison with the horror I am seeing.


And more chills - just now - one local supermarket in the area which survived is giving away what food it has to people......

I can't express how angry I am at the absolute cretins who lit fires - I am sorry, and I know it's not christian, but I wish them a death as painful and cruel....

[sandie]

Maybe compulsory evacuations will have to be instituted in future. Nobody could have imagined the ferocity of this fire.


Ben Schneiders
February 9, 2009


FOR those close to the fires, the conditions could be best described as being similar to the fire-bombing that destroyed German cities such as Dresden in World War II.

A University of Melbourne senior lecturer in fire ecology and management, Kevin Tolhurst, said the radiant heat - the heat given off by the fires - would itself have been enough to kill. "When it gets close, you have enormous radiation loads."

The "survivability" distance of Saturday's heat was about four times their height - a 35-metre high fire would directly imperil those within 140 metres.

The body would get over-stressed, the core temperature would get too high and the metabolism would break down in those conditions. He said bushfires produce their own volatile gases which in turn burn - and on a day as hot as Saturday, it does not take much for them to ignite.

Dr Tolhurst said people could be surrounded by a series of spot fires. Breathing would become difficult due to burning gases and the body would dehydrate quickly. Death from a form of asphyxiation was also possible.

He said the fires were slightly different from those on Ash Wednesday, when they moved more quickly. Hotter temperatures on Saturday meant the fire was even more intense and areas caught alight more easily. Combined with the speed of the fires generated by the volatile winds, it would have left many people with little time to respond.

A Monash University associate professor, Jason Beringer, said the meteorological conditions on Saturday were second in severity only to Black Friday, the fires that devastated Victoria in 1939.

But he thinks the fires could have been even worse. He said it was likely most of Saturday's fires were either deliberately lit or accidentally started by people, rather than by lightning.

Professor Beringer said the State Government had done a good job preparing for bushfires but the conditions on Saturday were too extreme.

[sandie]

Many politicians spoke in Parliament today, but I particularly like the way Julia Gillard expressed herself.

The text of some other fine speeches can be found at www.smh.com.au

February 9, 2009 - 3:32PM (SMH)

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, her voice wavering with choked-up emotion, has told the nation's Parliament the Victorian bushfire tragedy will remembered as one of the darkest days in Australia's peacetime history.

She offered Parliament's deepest and most sincere condolences to suffering families and to lost communities.

"The seventh of February 2009 will now be remembered as one of the darkest days in Australia's peacetime history," she said.


"A tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and really beyond words.

She warned the country to prepare for more tragedy.

"It will get worse and Australians need to prepare themselves," Ms Gillard told the nation's parliament.

She also said that the tragedy will be remembered as one of the darkest days in Australia's peacetime history.

"It will be remembered as a day when the fires raged across the state, from Horsham in the west, Bendigo and Beechworth in the north and in an arc of destruction from West Gippsland to Kinglake and Kilmore.

"It will be remembered as a day of tragedy, courage and sheer luck."

It was blacker than the human tragedy of Black Friday 1939 and Ash Wednesday 1983, Ms Gillard said, adding the bushfires were a tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and beyond words.

"The grisly reality is that the record number of lives lost will continue to rise.''

'More victims expected'

More bodies will be found and identified by our emergency services, Ms Gillard warned.

"Burns victims will sadly succumb to their severe injuries despite the intensive efforts of our health professionals.''

Australians needed to brace themselves for the increase in fatalities and be mindful of the grief and circumstances of those affected.

"To be clear and frank, it will get worse and Australians need to prepare themselves for more bad news."

Ms Gillard said perhaps the greatest tragedy of all was that children were involved.

The tragedy would remain with all Australians "today, tomorrow and beyond''.

The death of news reader Brian Naylor had put a familiar face to the deaths.

"As a Melbournian and a Victorian, the reality of the loss took on a familiar face with the death of Brian Naylor and his wife Moiree at their Kinglake West home,'' Ms Gillard said.

"I'm one of the millions of Victorians who for years only got the news because Brian told us.

"He was loved and trusted like a reliable uncle.''

But Ms Gillard said unfortunately the Naylors were just one set of parents, friends and neighbours lost in the tragic events.

Due to the scale of the destruction, the military has been called in to help with the emergency.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) was arranging bedding for firefighters, so they could get some much needed rest, and bulldozers to help deal with the destruction.

"The armed forces are also on standby to help with aerial imagery of fire-ravaged areas, chain-saw teams to help clear roads, assistance with search operations and transport and temporary site office buildings to house the recovery effort,'' she said.

Ms Gillard said the Prime Minister, cabinet and whole government would do what was required to assist the individuals, the families, local groups, businesses and communities affected by the tragedy.

Employers' support was important to ensure the release of volunteer firefighters and other emergency services workers, Ms Gillard said, adding community response to the fires had been extraordinary and consistent with the national character.

"This commitment to helping our neighbours and fellow citizens needs to be a national and ongoing one,'' she said.

Ms Gillard encouraged all Australians to donate to bushfire appeals.

"The rebuilding of these lives and communities will take months and years rather than days and weeks,'' she said.

"Just as the strength of our communities ensured many survived these very devastating events, it will be that strength and that resilience of the Australian community that will help our fellow citizens rebuild.''

Federal MPs would do everything possible to avoid a repeat of such a bushfire tragedy, acknowledging it would not be easy.

"Everyone of us here today will do everything possible that we can to respond, to rebuild and to make certain that, to the extent that we can ever combat nature's might, such tragedies cannot happen again.

[sandie]

The death toll is now 166 or 171, depending on what I read.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

I can't express how angry I am at the absolute cretins who lit fires - I am sorry, and I know it's not christian, but I wish them a death as painful and cruel....

I suggested in jest to a friend of mine that they should bring back burning at the stake. Whoever lit this fire should be strung up and put away for the rest of their life.

What has happened - what I am seeing on the news, and reading in the paper - is totally unheard of. I simply cannot get over the fact that whole town have been leveled. Even after seeing so many photos and chopper footage I am still dumbfounded. These towns are just not there.

There have been some amazing pictures though. I saw a picture in the paper today of a lone house standing alone amid the destruction. Every tree, evrey blade of grass and everything around it are utterly gone. There was also a picture of a wildlife officer giving an injured Koala a drink from a bottle of water. The officer and the koala are holding hands as they do so. Incredible.

[sandie]

That's what fire is like - it takes and leaves randomly. Yes, the photos are amazing. It must have been such an onslaught, to have scoured whole townships clean.

$28 million has been raised so far, plus donations of food, blankets, clothing from industries, truckies prepared to deliver the good to Victoria free. :) And we've just begun!

[ausgirl]

Next week, at my work, we are having a princesses and pirates dress up day - the proceeds of which were to go to child abuse, we discussed it today and feel that we should send the money to the bush fire appeal instead, as there have been many children affected. The staff will donate too - (I already have personally but will do so extra) and we are going to take some photos and have the children do some bright and colourful drawings to send off and hopefully add a bit of cheer.

[sandie]

I love it, Marg. :) What a great idea.

Each of the big four banks has put in $1 000 000. Great!

[Aussie3rddayfan]

181 could turn into 300. :(

[pamcharlie]

181 could turn into 300. :(

Oh my gosh , that is so shocking and i saw on a current events show here last night the handicam coverage of a guy in the area and his reaction to what he was seeing was of complete shock , here in new zealand we are in a fire risk situation at the moment in Gisborne and in the south island

[Pouye]

Wow.

When someone like me reads this sort of thing, Ijust can't help but think of ways to solve the problem so it cannot happen again (or the severity would be lessened). But at the same time I'm very moved by the loss of lives, and want to help in some way.

So sorry,

Rock

[ausgirl]

Yes well there are ways it can be prevented, but I won't turn this into an anti-greenies thread.
Let it be said though that with proper allowance for clearing and controlled burning off this may not have been so bad.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

This footage will show you an injured and badly dehydrated Koala being looked after by a passing fireman. The little guy drank 3 bottles of water. Incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9AoKyjjQg

And some touching photgraphy from the worse affected areas:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubfphoXt1ps&feature=related

These pictures really bring to mind the wisdom found in the all to true words of Dorothy McKelalr's famous poem My Country:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

Bring something good out of this, Lord!

[Evanescence]

Bad.

Prayers sent to ya'll down there...very sad.

[sandie]

Thank you for the prayers, guys.

Col: I mentioned "My Country" in the staffroom this week as a good poem the upper levels might use, but the teachers decided to use the newspapers to inform our international students, as they have no understanding of the Australian environment. Such a descriptive poem. :)

$48 million given so far. This is what Aussies do so well.

[sandie]

Please continue praying. Fires still burn. Kinglake has had the bodies removed and residents were allowed back to the town yesterday, but Marysville has hardly any buildings left, and the search for bodies continues. The Kinglake fire was not arson.

From Yahoo news:

Marysville inferno 'couldn't be stopped'
February 11, 2009, 11:18 pm
Related Articles

The inferno that wiped the quaint town of Marysville off the map was spewing flaming branches kilometres ahead of the fire front, a survivor says.

Alan Ryan, 59, said the town went from being under no threat to under siege in minutes and there was nothing anybody could do.

"The firestorm that enveloped the town is something that I'll never forget," Mr Ryan told AAP.

"The people that have been back have said it's absolute decimation, everything is just powder and ash, it's a modern day Dresden, you know Dresden that suffered the bombing in the Second World War."

Mr Ryan said he evacuated with about two minutes to spare and watched from the Buxton-Marysville Road as the town was swallowed by the flames.

"It was like a big cauldron that was boiling over and it was running over the lip, you could see the cloud sort of rolling, which was the fire front and the wind."

The blaze is believed to have claimed about 100 people - a fifth of Marysville's population.

Mr Ryan said the evacuation was a shambles and the fire was travelling at such speed there was no time to warn people.

He said the Marysville he fell in love with a decade ago would never likely recover.

"The place, it has a heart and a soul, everything about it, the surroundings, the flora, the fauna, the whole place is just a little place of heaven.

"To rebuild Marysville, it's died but whether it can be resurrected like the rising of a Phoenix ... whether a new soul can be developed, I don't know?"

Premier John Brumby , while warning Victorians to brace for a statewide bushfire death toll of at least 200, says he expects up to 100 fatalities in Marysville alone.

So far, police have counted just eight Marysville residents dead after the ferocious bushfire razed the town.

"In the Marysville area, for example, there could be between 50 and 100 lives finally lost there," Mr Brumby told Sky News.

"There are still deceased persons in homes, and despite a big police, Metropolitan Fire Brigade and army presence in Marysville, they've still not been able to identify and remove all bodies."

[Aussie3rddayfan]

Some good news is that the Victorian government is giving a $10 000 grant to anyone who has lost a loved one. It's fantastic to see the government do what it is elected to do for a change. It just goes to show what happens when you put politics aside.

Current donation total is more than $50 million.

[pamcharlie]

Some good news is that the Victorian government is giving a $10 000 grant to anyone who has lost a loved one. It's fantastic to see the government do what it is elected to do for a change. It just goes to show what happens when you put politics aside.

Current donation total is more than $50 million.

Excellent News that will really help the people who have lost loved ones and property and yes i agree the government is coming to the aid of the people

[Aussie3rddayfan]

So many people are getting behind this. The Aussie cricket team visited the other day and donated all of their match fees from the most recent one-day international game.

There was also a concert by some of Australia's most famous artists just for those affected. True blue!

[rossid]

http://www.kcci.com/news/18705329/detail.html

[pamcharlie]

Even Nicole Kidman and her new zealand born Husband Keith Urban and Russell Crowe are getting in to give too.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The death toll has remained at 181 for the last few days however the police believe some of the dead will never be found because the fires were simply to intense. In addition, roughly 2000 homes have been reported as destroyed. :(

[sandie]

An update from Yahoo au news:

Bushfires still burning in Victoria
February 14, 2009, 2:32 am


One week after Victoria's deadly bushfires began, thousands of fire fighters continue to battle the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

Mild conditions with light winds on Saturday are expected to assist fire fighters tackling the deadly bushfires, which have claimed at least 181 lives, destroyed 1,834 homes and burned 413,000ha.

Six main fires are still burning uncontrolled, including blazes at Kinglake, Yea-Murrindindi, Maroondah-Yarra, Bunyip, Churchill and Beechworth-Murmungee.

Fire authorities have said blazes around Mount Riddell and Mount Juliet, east of Melbourne are not expected to threaten nearby residents, but ash may fall around Healesville.

Controlled burning will continue around Toolangi and Healesville in an attempt to strengthen fire control lines.

Thousands of Victorian and interstate fire fighters will be joined by 52 officers from New Zealand on Saturday, and a further 60 from the United States on Sunday.

Meanwhile a man arrested on Friday charged with various crimes, including arson and possessing child pornography, remains in custody.

The man, whose identity is suppressed, is accused of lighting the Churchill fire, which killed 21 people.

He is due to reappear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

Victoria's weather is expected to remain mild on Saturday, with Melbourne expecting a top temperature of 28C.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The man, whose identity is suppressed, is accused of lighting the Churchill fire, which killed 21 people.

Put me in charge for a week. I'd sort things out...

[sandie]

You and the rest of Australia. :P There are other firebugs out there, too.

[sandie]

The death toll has risen to 208 and the painstaking hunt continues. What an awful job.

[Aussie3rddayfan]

The death toll has risen to 208 and the painstaking hunt continues. What an awful job.

That's some good work with the copy and paste, Sandra. ;) :P

Yes, it is indeed a terrible job.

[kiwisongbird]

Love to all in Oz coping with the aftermath of these horrific events... Blessings, Sharon

[Aussie3rddayfan]

Love to all in Oz coping with the aftermath of these horrific events... Blessings, Sharon

The reports on the news tonight were suggesting that the bushfires might be returning to Victoria this weekend amid rising temperatures.

Let's hope hot weather is all they get.

[kiwisongbird]

Let's hope that...

[bajagill]

Prayers for all our friends in Oz.........Lord, watch over all down under. Give them the wisdom to listen to the folks who are watching over them. When it's time to go, tell them to go Father. Whether it is to leave their homes or to go help with combating the fires. Father we trust in Your holy, mighty and powerful will. Amen.


I just read in our local paper of a young man whom I have fought fire with in the past being part of a team from the pacific NW U.S. that is heading down under to lend their hands in the efforts to contain the fires and with the overhaul in the aftermath. If you bump into a yank named Eric Bush give him a "good on ya" from Alvin back home. We'll keep praying for you all. Oz's, Yanks, and whoever else shows up to help.

[sandie]

Hi Alvin. A group of American firefighters arrived last weekend, about 60 in all if my memory is correct. Strategic firefighting skills. I wonder if your friend is in that group.

[rossid]

quick prayer ascending

\o/

[sandie]

Update:

The death toll stands at 209 at present. More human remains have been found this weekend in areas previously searched, so the Coroner has given instructions that clearing is to stop until the buildings and surrounds in three towns are searched again.

Today is our National Day of Morning, with a service telecast from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne at 11am today to remember the victims of Black Saturday. The Victorian Premier and Australian PM will speak and Princess Anne is here to represent the Queen.

[sandie]

Today Victoria is facing high temperatures and hot northerly winds. Four bushfires are still out of control. Please pray.