Australian Bushfires

[Cat X]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/heatwave-forces-trains-to-hit-brakes/2009/02/06/1233423476303.html

Not really... Not unless you live in Hell.... er.... I mean SE Australia! Featuring the hottes place on earth this weekend - and we dotn mean my ass. Now featuring three weeks of over 40C heat (and nights where it's still 38C at 3am), a final blazing 47-48C Sunday of roast Aussie goodness...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25016700-421,00.html

Old buggers dying in such numbers the morgues are full

http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,22056,5037244-5010140,00.html

Drop Bears attacking humans...

(Not shown)

... Server melted into a blob when air con failed....

You can even smell the heat at 9pm.

Even the local kangaroos have decided it's too damn hot and gone for a swim.

I suppose the five cats and a Stig, one bird and dog are going to be quiet curled up in the bath with the water on.

Okay, even for Aussies, this is ridiculous. Yeeesh. Is there somewhere cooler like Africa I can go to?

[Cat X]

And to top it off....

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25016998-421,00.html

The top half of this country is underwater!

[Daria Nytherciria]

Times like this I am thankful for the half-arsed weather we get in the UK.

25C is enough for me.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Is it considered global warming if its just Australia getting hot? That's more like God using a lens to focus the sun on you guys. Maybe He's trying to get rid of the rabbits for ya.

[Keerrourri Feessaarro]

And in Alabama this week we've had days of -1C for high temperature. Sometimes I think God is a prankster.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

We're expecting more snow in the next few days. Its La Nina, causes us to have a more north to south jet stream.

*watched the weather last night* :hurr

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Today is actually quite pleasant; I didn't have to bring a jacket to work with me :)

Yesterday however was frigid - even in the office - and I ended up bringing in an extra spaceheater I had at home to keep me toasty.

[Atreyu]

I migrated to my living room (including PC and bed) last week and have barely moved since. I now currently have my air conditioner, ceiling fan and 2 pedestal fans all going at MAX.

I actually thought today wouldn't be as bad as predicted. Then the hot wind started ... :eek

[Darth Turbogeek]

I migrated to my living room (including PC and bed) last week and have barely moved since. I now currently have my air conditioner, ceiling fan and 2 pedestal fans all going at MAX.

I actually thought today wouldn't be as bad as predicted. Then the hot wind started ... :eek

It's got worse. 46C in Melbourne and some suburbs broke 47

43 right here at 4pm. GG

[Cat X]

Hope your family escaped the hell that broke out Atreyu. Actually I hope *you* escaped.

Bloody hell, all of us are just numb and in shock. I know we get fires like nothing anyone around the world can imagine but that was just mind numbing. And the scale :( My g/f comes from that area and it's been a worrying 48 hours

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I was thinking about you Aussies :( Praying, too.

[Charlotte Tur'enne]

Yikes, just heard about all this myself :( Hope everyone and their familes are safe. Kinda used to fires here in Cali but nothing like that. *shudders* just scary.

[Morgan Evanar]

166 dead, small towns completely wiped off the map. :|

[Dasquian Belargic]

Holy crap :(

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Anyone heard from Atreyu lately? :\

[TheHolo.Net]

Board statistics (Total members that have visited the forum in the last 24 hours) shows that he visited the forums less than 30 minutes ago.

[Lykaios]

This is just crazy. At least the stats show he should be OK.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Ah, ok. That's good news.

[Atreyu]

Woops, sorry guys didn't mean to scare anyone. I got a phone call right at the same time I logged on so was off the computer for a little bit.

I'm prefectly fine, and so is my family, but thank you for the kind thoughts. :) We're all perfectly safe - the closest fires were at Beechworth (I'm in Albury) which are approx. 40-50 mins away.

Due to my recovery from a shoulder operation back in December I have been unable to participate with the volunteer firefighting effort like I did back in early 2002 (for those who can remember back that far) however my Dad did participate - he's a Group Captain locally (ie. the captains of several brigades report to him) and went down yesterday as a Strike Force Commander. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet to see how things went.

Today here it's a very pleasant 27 degrees Celcius so I'm hoping that the local fire effort is having a bit of a reprieve and getting the fires under control. I missed the midday bulletin however so will have to tune in a bit later.

But yeah, as Mark said the devastation has been terrible. Absolutely terrible. Already the death toll is now expected to shoot past 200. To put that in perspective, the previous worst bushfire in our history was Ash Wednesday - we lost 73 people back then.

What makes me so mad mad MAD :verymad is that the majority of these fires were deliberately lit - here's hoping that they catch the bastards and charge them will the full force of the law. To add insult to the injury, there's now been reports of looters going through some of the abandoned homes and taking what they can. Human beings can be really quite despicable.

Whereabouts was your g/f from Mark? Was it around near me or further down south?

[Atreyu]

BTW could a mod possibly re-title this thread ('Australian Bushfires' or something?) - I nearly missed it myself.

At least change the thread tag - the 'Whine' label now no longer seems very appropriate.

EDIT: Thankyou. :)

[Lykaios]

To add insult to the injury, there's now been reports of looters going through some of the abandoned homes and taking what they can. Human beings can be really quite despicable.
QFT

This is saddening and upsetting all at the same >:

Like you I hope the perpetrators are apprehended and punished with the full extent of the law.

Glad you and your fam are OK.

I tip my hat to you and your dad for volunteering, I've always admired and respected those who put themselves selflessly in harm's way to help others in need.

[Jedi Master Carr]

The situation there is awful. I hope they find the people who lit those fires. Everybody there try to save safe.

[Atreyu]

Latest reports - 181 dead. The reporter said that the total could end up over 300 (though I'm wondering if he really meant 200 because it would seem a really big jump).

Another low - some people are running 'bogus charities' - going around collecting money they say is for the fire, then pissing off. :mad :verymad

Just chatted to me Dad to see how he went. They ended up being placed to protect a switch station but also spent half the day running around chasing 'phantom fires'. Unfortunately as a result of the weekend it seems a lot of people are now freaking out over the slightest sign of smoke or flame and calling for help. Pretty much every single thing they responded to was a false alarm :\ - oh well better safe than sorry in the end I guess.

The other unfortunate thing was the amount of disorganisation - Dad put it down to being an interstate force (we're on the NSW side of the Murray River) and thus being of out of the loop with Victoria's command structure and organisation. May be something they need to look at for the future.

Oh, and quote of the day:

Some CFA guy: "You must be in charge."
::nods to epilets and badge on uniform::
Dad's offsider: "Uhhh no, that would be this guy.
::nods to Dad who's wearing only an old blue farm shirt and trousers - no rank or anything::
Some CFA guy: "Where's your rank and badge?!"
Dad: "I don't wear that shit on the fire ground. And if something burns down on my watch then at least they can't identify me."

:lol I love my Dad. :)

EDIT: oh and Dad said it's no surprise how many homes got burnt out - some of the houses he saw had full-on scrub within 20 yds of the house. WTF??? Who on earth is responsible for the planning laws in these areas?????? :huh

EDIT EDIT: never mind - seems as though some councils have been ignoring their own advice:

Councils ignored warning over trees before bushfires (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25038717-5018722,00.html)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I love Australia. And koala bears.

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Reminds me of a book I used to read all the time when I was tiny:
http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780867600209-Kippy+Koala+and+the+Bushfire

[Lilaena De'Ville]

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Truly terrifying... :cry

[Estelle Russard]

Watching the news and seeing the pictures makes me really homesick - I know that may sound odd but its horrible to see your homeland go thru such a thing and be so far away.

[Cat X]

I love Australia. And koala bears.

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Reminds me of a book I used to read all the time when I was tiny:
http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780867600209-Kippy+Koala+and+the+Bushfire


I know the guy holding the water bottle - Dave Tree. He's a A+++++ bloke and a rally driver. He's rather amused he's now world famous

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Heh, that's kind of cool. I love the part where he says "Once he's hydrated he'll fucking rip into me!"

[Darth Turbogeek]

Heh, that's kind of cool. I love the part where he says "Once he's hydrated he'll fucking rip into me!"

The media didnt tell the truth about when that video was taken I add. It was taken before the fires. Dave however DID fight the fires and deserves big respect for doing so

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99iYMfWWGS0&feature=channel_page

AND that's what a bushfire looks like. And that's not as bad as Saturdays.