The Worst bushfires in Australia's history

[philw]

Gday All


just a bit of FYI


over here ( in Victoria where I have family and Mates )   we have just seen ( Still going) the worst fires in Australian History
some of which have been deliberately lit   ( hope they find them and burn them at the stake )

135 people dead, 750 homes destroyed  with 35 people alone killed in the small hamlet of Kinglake, northeast of Melbourne.

what is worse is there are still quite a lot of people unaccounted for

my thourghts go out to the Familys that have lost people close to them   

also my thoughts out to the CFA ( Country Fire Authority ) Volunteers out there fighting these fires
<http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25027055-421,00.html>  one of many reports atm 




also on a personal note,   I have 2 mates that are in the CFA over there and they are both out there,  one has been there the last 3 days

from the sounds of it..   it is  REAL BAD

[Pepper]

Just saw it in the last days on CNN. You've got some really brave firemen down there! It is looking really bad. Please tell your folks that our prayers and thoughts are with them! I really hope that things will get better soon.

[billt]

Are they employing the Evergreen 747 Super Tanker, or the DC-10 of similar capacity? They were using them in the last batch of southern California brush fires with some success.  Bill T.

[twyacht]

It made the National news here, looks really bad...

Worse by the 100+ degree heat and wind.

Is it true some may have been intentionally set?

[m25operator]

Philw, our prayers are with you and Aussie land, I hope you and your family are out of the way. Australia, could be such a blessing, to the rest of the world, if the politics got right. Chin up and keep us posted.

[Sponsor]

[philw]

thank you for the prayers, we need them

where I am has cooled a fair bit, there was a fire about 10 mins from my place here in SA   they got on to it real quick  ( thank god)


now back to Vic  with an update

firstly the fires are going  ( more have been lit) will go in to that in a sec in a rant

there are over 80 people still missing ( that they know of )
181 have passed away in the tragedy

Marysville is being identified as a potential "Ground Zero", with authorities fearing up to 100 of its population of 519 has died.
I don't know the last total on houses destroyed however it is around 1500

then there is the wildlife,  they are saying over a million,  the aria this has happened is where a few I know go hunting for Deer, and ferrel animals



Rant ON

ok a few of the fires had been deliberately lit by oxygen thieves that need to be burnt at the stake,  as of last night more were also lit  they NEED to be shot on site

another 2 were started to day  the police are on the chase of one of them

they are murders cereal killers and there is no excuse    FFS  over 200 people have lost there loved ones    they authorities had better find the people responsible for this before the locals do

to top the disaster of the fires

people's houses that have not been damaged  have had looters go through them  ( a lot of people are not allowed back in the aria) this is due to the loss of life they need to check the aria's as they are classed as crime seen for the coroner

then on top of that there are criminals taking advantage of people's generosity with fake charities in donating $$$

they all need to be locked up FFS  really shits me oxygen thieves like that. 

Rant Off  ( that is only part of my thoughts )


on a personal note

I have 2 Mates fighting these fires atm

one is on his 5th day today
he called me last night to give me an update

from the sounds of it he is in the thick of it  ( really nasty stuff)
he said that "Shitty Saturday"  was real bad,   46 Deg temp  90+km winds it was only a matter of time

one thing he did say as well was I am no hero,  I am just doing my job 
 he also says ( all the time ) the ol' firee's motto of.....
I'm a qualified Firefighter.......
                                If you see me running...
                                                                  try and keep up!

( the 4000 + people him included that are in the CFA are all volunteers)   these guys are legends

on the forum I am mostly on we  have raised so far $3240.00 (still going)  this is a site of Shooters and Hunters I am very proud of them


to top all of that,   up north in Queensland   it has been flooding and people have lost things to floods

what a great place we have here,  South   Drought and fires  and North it is flooding



once again thank you for your support for the people of Victoria

[billt]

"Oxygen thieves"??  Could you please explain?    Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

"Oxygen thieves"??  Could you please explain?    Bill T.

He means that they are a waste of life.

What I don't understand is how so many people get caught by these fires. Where I live we don't have these types of fires.

[billt]

Understood. I have a hard time understanding how so many can get caught as well. It has happened here, but rarely. I seem to recall a dozen or so smoke jumpers getting killed in Colorado some years back when a fire surrounded them. It would seem to me it would take an unusual set of circumstances for this to happen to so many.  Bill T.

[Big Frank]

At least one koala survived the fires that took the lives of so many animals and people. 46 degrees Celsius = 115 degrees Fahrenheit. That's friggin' hot!!!