Australian Fires

dannyboy · November 12, 2019, 08:22:05 AM

Tragically, it appears that the fires affecting parts of Australia have claimed at least 3 lives and the situation is described as "catastrophic" with residents warned that they "may not get help". I have BBC News on in the background and I thought I heard Wollongong mentioned. Is this your Wollongong @Bealman ? How are you and our other Australian members being affected? Hopefully the fires are not near you.

Bealman · November 12, 2019, 08:40:42 AM

Thank you for the concern.

There is indeed only one Wollongong, which is where I live.

Today has had temperatures of 38 degrees. Sky full of smoke.

However, as I type this into me phone, my walk to the Bealman bus stop will be fine. Temperature changed to only 17!

Thanks for the concern, though, it has been very bad up north.

Australia!

1936ace · November 13, 2019, 05:33:26 AM

I live in the hunter valley which was one of two regions marked as catastrophic with the illawarra added monday.
Our kids were evacuated from their school camp on lake macquarie
We had a few close calls in nearby towns/villages but have come out ok.
I have been with my fire crew in Sydney and i think we all came away better then expected.
Shame it cant be said for those north of me around Taree and further north along the coast and those inland around Glen Innes, where it is not good
We haven't even reached our proper summer fire season yet
Its going to be a long slog.
Bart

Stuart Down Under · November 13, 2019, 06:06:47 AM

Many people have misunderstood what 'catastrophic" means in terms of bush fires. It doesn't mean we are having catastrophic fires, although those who have experienced them may think so! Three people have died, and 150 home have been lost over the past week - none actually in the area classified as "catastrophic". They have also covered vast areas this spring, already burning out more than twice the area which was burned in total over the past two years.

We have a bush fire danger system, and the level of risk is posted every day. In Sydney today, the risk is categorised as "severe" (yesterday was "catastrophic") on the scale of none-low-moderate-high-very high-severe-extreme-catastrophic. It describes how likely it is that a fire might start and how quickly it will spread, because of temperature, humidity, wind, and the dryness of the vegetation. The catastrophic risk means fires are very likely and will spread rapidly. The concern of the authorities is that there could be too many fires for the people and equipment available, and so people should stay away from bushland, if they can, because help might not come. Over 500 schools were closed. because of proximity to bushland, but the kids are all back today.

Fortunately the were not too many fires in the Sydney area yesterday, and those that arose were quickly tackled. We live in the northern suburbs of Sydney and there were five fires within 5km of us, one of which required a Boeing 737 water bomber to bring under control. We do worry, because our property backs directly onto bushland (occasional wallabies in the back yard), so we were a wee bit concerned, with our "run-away" kit ready to load into the cars, if we had to leave.

It has put us all on alert - summer doesn't even get here for another couple of weeks. If we don't get drought-breaking rain in the near future, there will be many more catastrophic risk days ahead. The risk rating is only posted one day ahead. Tomorrow the risk is rated as "none" for the entire state, so a brief respite, at least.

Bealman · November 13, 2019, 06:14:29 AM

The real tragedy is that some of these fires were deliberately lit.

I believe that a nine year old is in custody!

1936ace · November 13, 2019, 06:16:52 AM

Criminal!
19 year old charged for lighting a fire down your way Bealman and a older bloke up north.
Five other charged for being dumb lighting fires in a total fire ban

Bealman · November 13, 2019, 06:48:42 AM

Amazing. There are some

at large.

Stuart Down Under · November 13, 2019, 09:52:25 PM

Corrections to my post; (1) Greater Sydney has a "Very High" fire rating today - the Fire Service web site said "None" when I checked last night. (2) The tanker used on the fire near us was a Hercules, not a 737. The 737s are very useful, because they can deploy rapidly to anywhere in Australia.

Further to the comments above about arsonists, one of my pals saw someone, who was rather excited, driving away from the fire, and reported his description to the police. It is pretty clear that all five fires around us were deliberately lit, and it was probably the "catastrophic" fire risk rating which brought these maniacs out to play.

Graham · November 13, 2019, 10:07:20 PM

it really beggars belief that anyone can be so idiotic in such times, I understand during the last Victorian bush fires we had similar idiots.

We probably should lock them in a room with the people who lost their homes for a few hours.

hope all of you up north are coping as best you can.

Bealman · November 25, 2019, 01:11:24 AM

While my area was thankfully not seriously affected, we have had very smoke laden skies recently. Bealman's local bus stop:

Outside the local watering hole:

And just up the hill from home. Yep, that's the sun.

daveg · November 25, 2019, 04:24:18 PM

Must be really scary for those that have to live with that sort of threat.

I remember the 1980s fires that we'd learned from pals living in the Melbourne area.

Losing loved ones and homes that way must be awful. I wish all safe and well and hopefully as many animals as possible can also be saved.

Dave G