Bushfires

[_AJ_]

Iam a couple of hundered km away any last night i could see the smoke clouds clearly in the disatnce this picture is the smoke cloud from space

Residents stare hell in face
Defence forces will fight fires - PM

 

[Missec]

Wow where is that at?

 

[Smitho]

Wow, amazing photos, really brings home the scale of these things.

 

[Kurn]

Rain, rain, please go to Victoria.

 

[TriBi]

...and, of course, the other problem is that many of the areas in Victoria that are threatened by bushfires are also in severe drought - so part of the problem is actually finding the water to use to quell the fires.

The reports I saw this morning were talking about close to 50 separate fires burning - and threatening to unite - to form a fire front across a large part of Nothern Victoria from the west to the coast.

It is very bad indeed.

 

[Nonimus]

Sorry to be Mr. Clueless here, but are these things natural or was it arson/accident?

 

[BennoBoy]

I watched the news this evening, and was so sad to hear how serious the bushfires around Victoria.

Lucky we have firefighters from New Zealand flying here to help, and even our Australian Army helping too.

 

[farmerrex2002]

Sorry to be Mr. Clueless here, but are these things natural or was it arson/accident?

They were started by lightning strikes last Friday night. Unfortunately there was no rain with the thunder and lightning, so the fires started.

Whilst it has been relatively cool the past few days (24-26 C), the bureau is forecasting extreme weather over the weeekend. 37 C in Melbourne (99 F) on Saturday, there will be devastingly high strong north winds. This will mean there will be precious little humidity. North of Melbourne and in the fire area the temp shall be higher than 40 C (106 F). On Sunday a thundery change is forecast, but again little if any rain, perhaps a shower as a cold front passes through.

The fires are now out of control and all the Authorities can do is protect the inhabitants within the fire areas. Most towns have been evacuated or will be by Saturday.

48 firefighters from Kiwi land arrived today, the other Australian states cannot assist as they have to protect their own turf. Australian Defence Force personnel are on their way in to assist.

If the fires combine (which they surely will) the affected area shall be 600,000 hectares (about 1,482,000 acres).

Pray for us Victorians for Saturday and Sunday. We need divine assistance in the form of rain, and plenty of it.

 

[januaryguy]

Hope it wont cause a bad Haze situation like the one caused by the Indonesian forrest fire

 

[marvtha]

MELBO!
i just had a 'bushfire' awhile back!
after a certain run in with a odd shaped cucumber i decided to have a well deserved ciggy!

YEP.... nodded off and dropped it right on the ol' lap!!!!
and i'm talking madonna in Penthouse late 70's people!
thought i was gonna have to call the fire depatment!!!!!!

better than a brazilian wax though i must say!

 

[_AJ_]

Hope it wont cause a bad Haze situation like the one caused by the Indonesian forrest fire

even though we are to the west and the wind is blowing the other way we have had a haze all day

Bushfires could stretch 100km

its looking pretty bad
i wish the firefighter best of luck over the weekend not just in melbourne but all over australia where there are fires at the moment

hopefully it dosent reach the temperatures predicted there wont be rain but less sever conditions would be nice

 

[januaryguy]

we had about 2-3 weeksof haze end of Sept....that sucked..

 

[TriBi]

The Victorian Fires have now merged into one monstrous firefront - 240 kilometres long. The better news is that the winds have dropped and (from the morning news) they are not under control - but the flames are not advancing, giving the firefighters a chance to consolidate containment lines.

Sadly, 23 homes were lost in a blaze that started and moved very quickly on Tasmania's East Coast. Fortunately everyone was evacuated just an hour before the fire swept through.

Firefighters in Sydney's western outskirts managed to prevent the loss of homes (but not some livestock and outbuildings) in a blaze caused by lightning strikes in yesterday's storms.

 

[ImperaTodd]

I am so sorry, I hope your firefighters can contain the flames. Australia is a beautiful place and her people are more than just decent. I hope our drought ends soon. I live in the SW US and we know drought and fire. Is Melbourne in any danger?

 

[_AJ_]

melbourne is not in any danger
not yet anyway
we have been in a drought for a few years now so everything is really dry

its amazing to think that less than a month ago some of these areas looked like this

and now they look like this

 

[blankslate]

quick, come to my place until this stuff is all over.

 

[farmerrex2002]

The tiny town ship of Scamander on Tasmania's north east coast was razed to the ground overnight, 18 homes destroyed and they said on TV a popular art gallery/restaurant. The nearby townships of St. Marys and Irish Town are hoping the fire advancing on them tonight won't do any damage. Just a few hours away Mt Wellinghton that overlooks Hobart had snow.

Meanwhile in Victoria the fire fighters and people living in the fire areas are bracing themselves for another hot day with high north winds on Thursday, it could all flare again.

 

[belamy]

melbourne is not in any danger
not yet anyway
we have been in a drought for a few years now so everything is really dry

its amazing to think that less than a month ago some of these areas looked like this

and now they look like this

PENITENCIAGITE!!!!!

 

[farmerrex2002]

The tiny town ship of Scamander on
Meanwhile in Victoria the fire fighters and people living in the fire areas are bracing themselves for another hot day with high north winds on Thursday, it could all flare again.

Well it happened guys. Thursday in SE Australia has come and gone, the temperature did rise into the 30s celsius, the north wind developed. Then to top it off a cool change came through with the wind turning westerly, with fires exploding once again. The day's result? One fire fighter has been killed, nine homes have been lost in the hamlets of Gaffneys Creek and A1 Settlement, and an undisclosed number of houses lost at Cowwarr and Heyfield in the Gippsland area.

And in Tasmania, on the east coast, at least four, possibly six houses have been gutted. Residents of the coastal hamlet of Four Mile Creek were forced to evacuate to the beach when a fireball threatened the hamlet.