I apologise for being off-topic and not being as participant as I'd like in recent history, but real life occasionally gets in the way.
I've been spending time cleaning gutters and yards, clearing any little collections of leaf litter, dry grass or other fuel, storing drums of grey water (we are on tight water restrictions, so water is a valuable commodity). I live in the suburbs, but they have cinder storm alerts expected for this week. I didn't expect (I don't think anyone did) that while living in the suburbs of a major city (Melbourne, Victoria), bush fires would threaten to wipe out our homes. The fires have come within 2km (1.5 miles) of my girlfriend's house. Colleagues have had similar close calls, with houses only blocks away being burnt. There are talks that if the fire moves northwards, the main gas and water supplies to the city may be cut - that could be interesting! :-/
It all started about a week ago - record high temperatures of 47.9oC (~118oF) - with a 45kmh (30mph) wind. It was so hot, it made your eyes smart. Human skin starts to burn at 50oC - this was only 2oC short of that mark! You had to shield your face from the wind. Some fires were accidental and a few were deliberately lit, but the results are devastating.
The extent of the devastation has been vast. This is one of the biggest bush fires by area on record in Australia. Highest loss of life to fires (or any other single event) in Australia and they haven't even accounted for everyone as yet. Last count was over 180 dead, and they haven't even cleaned up one of the major townships (Marysville) that was razed. They are expecting the death toll to exceed 300. Then there are those who have lost there homes and have nothing more than the clothes they are standing in. The estimates are around 2000 homes have been lost with about 9,000 people homeless as a result. They estimate tens of thousands of animals have been killed.
The fire front, with the wind, had been travelling up to 100kmh (60mph). If you can imagine standing on the side of a road watching a car on the freeway - the time it takes to come into view and pass you is the amount of time you would have to escape the fire front. If you look at the images in the link below, I think you agree that would be truly terrifying. The heat was equivalent of 20kW. That's equivlant 10 'bar radiators' - imagine that on your skin - over your entire body.
They have fire fighters from interstate and even over seas (New Zealand) helping out, along with the army and as much heavy equipment as they can muster.
A bloke I went to school with, Geoff Grady, and his partner Patrick Jennings didn't escape the blaze. I am friends with his sister and used to work with his father and know the whole family. They've taken it pretty hard. Patrick's parents are currently living with the Gradys since their home was also destroyed. The two articles linked below give good account of their situation. More recently to the articles, the men's remains have been found as of the weekend.
For photos of the fires and their destruction:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/bushfires_in_victoria_australi.html
Two short articles about the bloke (Geoff Grady) I went to school with and his partner (Patrick Jennings). The first article accurately conveys the shock.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25051472-2862,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25052175-5018722,00.html
For further reading or pictures, do a Google search for Victorian Bush Fire - the first 10 pages of every major newspaper has been full of articles and pictures for the last week.
It is all pretty messed up, really.
Scrapper, Black Dragon, "May you live in interesting times." - Chinese Curse.
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Received on Mon Feb 16 2009 - 18:15:56 CST