Australia's Fires

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The first I heard all this was on this mornings news. Instantly thought of all our fellow DCers I hope everyone is doing OK and staying safe
 
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I thought I would post these amazing pics of some firemen running for their lives
 
Oh attie, those pictures are terrifying. I cannot imagine. I'll stay tuned to the news to see what happens to those poor folks in the Latrobe Valley. Thanks for staying with us...this is not good news to report and I know it is painful.
 
I saw terrible pictures on the news of burned-out cars, where the people had tried to escape and the fire overtook them. One firefighter said he'd seen things no one should ever have to see.

God bless the people...they are all in my prayers.
 
Just sitting around with the family watching the news about the fires and the floods and my wife made the statement "Did you know that these two catastrophes are just two hours flying time apart" that sure hit home.
 
i live in melbourne and as we all know its terrible, the whole city and surroundings were covered in smoke, there is talk that the death toll will be close to 300, i hope they are wrong, but everyone is doing there bit to help in whatever way they can, food, clothes, etc, there has been about $15 million donated already for the people that have been affected by this, very sad.
 
Hi All.
I am fine and am on the other side of the country. I have been getting up and down for the past half hour with very loud bangs - either the metal fence and someone on it or a thunderstorm trying to get started. It is only going down to 72F tonight here so we are on arson alert in a big way. We have had several arson attacks in Perth these last few weeks, wiping out lots of our national parks and bushland but we are minor compared to Victoria - thankfully. Think they just said the toll was 181 but are expecting further dead to be found. Just doesn't bear thinking about.
 
How awful, here I sit in my home safe and sound and so many people ae in peril..There is not much I can do from here but I can pray and I will..Take care Penny.
cj
 
This is the first I am hearing of the fires. How horrible!!! It looks like hell on earth. I am thinking of you all and praying for no more deaths.
 
Kings Park is looking pretty black. The other week that was arsoned in a couple of places with several hectares going up. Think there was another attack the following week. Further up the coast it was something like 20 hectares. Bridgetown also got arsoned. All of this pales into insignificance though when you think of Victoria. This morning's headlines (which are often sensationalist) are suggesting the toll will reach over 300 and they think that there will be quite a few bodies that will never be identified. The Queen is even making a private donation to the appeals for help. Perth is sending several truck loads of goods over to Vic today and everywhere you go there is a collection happening.

Part of Australia's stimulation package for the economy was to be up to A$950 per worker as a bonus. Quite a few people are talking about donating this when (if) they receive it to the fire victims.

One of the fires that killed around 20 people may have a result - the police think they know who the arsonist is. Think that person may need protective custody though when they get him/her. Don't like their chance of survival in prison! Or on the outside for that matter.

We may find that are highly inadequate arson laws get universally changed as a result of this tragedy though. In a country like Australia, we should have some of the toughest laws for arson going and yet we are pretty soft on them. We can be a bit slow on the uptake at times.
 
Great to hear you are ok Attie, my BIL was in Mackay a couple of weeks ago for work and he loved it. Pen, you take care! Les, we are all thinking about you here.

The public and corporate Australia have raised nearly $40 million dollars to aid our bushfire victims and this is climbing every hour. It is as one politician here said, "The nation is putting its collective arms around Victoria". It is amazing and makes me so proud.

On behalf of "the Aussies" thank you to you all on DC for the prayers and thoughts, our common love of cooking has opened windows to wonderful people right around the world.
 
I am sorry to hear about Kings Park Bilby, I hope they catch the arsonists! It was over 40 degrees when we visited! Far too hot for us & permantly on bush fire alert. I loved the video Attie has posted, my family had literally just sent me the photo of this, which is why i dropped in here, to post it, but the vid is so much better, that's what you call "a helping hand". :0)
 
Tonight is not good news I'm afraid, several small towns have disappeared and those who escaped are not allowed back because there are many bodies in the burnt out homes. It is now estimated that there will be over 300 lives lost and some people will never be found.

There is also a wind change forecasted for this weekend which will make things extremely dangerous again.
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On a lighter note here's a picture from my neck of the woods of a guy shutting his gate -- why is he doing it in so much water you ask?? -- to keep the crocodiles out of course -- true dinks
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Attie,
I keep hearing about the worry of the winds changing, on the news bulletins, that's the scarey thing about it. They said there are still more than 30 fires that are not under control, but they have managed to set a "fire wall" around a lot. Also the weather is a bit calmer now, what the temp now? Any chance of rain?
 
The Victorian police charged someone today with arson for one of the fires that resulted in over twenty deaths. His identity is under wraps. He comes from one of the towns that burned.
 
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