Victorian bushfires

Discussion in 'World Events' started by James R, Feb 7, 2009.

  1. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    CK no you dont, you didnt see the next frame where it riped the guys eyeballs out

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    kola's are NOT cute and cuddly, they are vicious and they sound like a snoring giant
     
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  3. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    LOL.. you ain't jealous of the cool critters, are you ?

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  5. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    They snore as well.
    Aaaaaw cute. I want one even more now.
     
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  7. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    The bushfires are once again a worry for me.

    As I write, a large fire is burning to the west of where I live. Today was a hot day with northerly winds. A fire started (or was started) in a public reserve. A couple of hours ago, the wind swung around so that it is now south-westerly and strong. The fire is threatening an area with a high population. Already, at least one house is gone. The fire is currently around 70 hectares in size.

    Firefighters are busy with many trucks, aerial water bombers and the like, trying to get the fire contained.

    The area affected is in the Dandenongs - not far from areas burnt out in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983.

    Where I live, we have had perhaps 1 mm of rain this year so far, with no sign of rain any time soon. Everything is tinder dry, and we keep getting hot days with strong winds. Meanwhile, the states of New South Wales and Queensland are experiencing record floods - apparently a not-unusual correlation for this kind of weather pattern.

    So, once again it looks like another night for me of listening to the emergency information radio station (local ABC) and being ready to leave my home with my family if the fire looks like it will threaten us.

    Getting sick of this.
     
  8. EntropyAlwaysWins TANSTAAFL. Registered Senior Member

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    Good luck James, hopefully you wont need it.
     
  9. BlueMoose Guest

    Best of luck James.
     
  10. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Thanks.
     
  11. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Wow, how long before they get it under control?
     
  12. John99 Banned Banned

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    what will happen to the earth when all the trees and creatures in the forest are burned down?
     
  13. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    It depends on size, wind, rain (if any), number of fire trucks and helicopters and people working on it, the terrain and vegetation - a whole bunch of factors.

    Apparently, this particular fire is no longer directly threatening communities, but I don't think it is under control yet. Mostly, the weather (wind) isn't quite so bad as earlier. It is almost 1 am here now, and also quite cool.

    There were about 6 major new fires across the state today, as well as the usual 100 or so minor incidents. Meanwhile, some of the fires that caused all the death and destruction a couple of weeks ago are still burning, although mostly within containment lines now. Nevertheless, a bout of strong winds, especially in a different direction, can cause fires to jump containment lines and go out of control again.

    So far, over 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) have burnt in this series of fires, and they're far from finished.
     
  14. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Amazingly, the Australian bush actually requires fire. Fire is natural in the bush - fires have always been started by lightning, and still often are. Some eucalypts actually sense the smoke from fires and use this as a signal to reproduce. So, after the fire has gone through and some rain comes, you suddenly start to see new green shoots of new gum trees sprouting out of the burnt earth. Gradually, the bush regenerates itself.

    As for animals, while many die in fires, some always manage to escape the fire. Or, once the fire is over and the bush regenerates, animals move into the previously-burnt areas from neighbouring habitat.

    The main problem with bushfires is when human beings want to live in the bush, or near it. Then, we mess with the natural cycle of fire. We try to prevent burning, but in the long run this just makes for a bigger fire when one finally comes. So, we try controlled burning of sections of bush to create firebreaks and the like, and to reduce fuel. The general consensus seems to be that not enough of this controlled burning has been done in recent years.
     
  15. John99 Banned Banned

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    obviously more resources need to be put into personnel to maintain forests worldwide. while i agree that new forest growth is spectacular to see it takes an awful long time for trees to grow to their maximum and where they are most beneficial to environment and the smoke is not good for the environment either.

    http://www.savatree.com/whytrees.html

    instead of controlled burning there should be large crew to cut back and clean up the overgrowth and dead branches etc. this can be collected and utilized and possibly sold to offset the cost of the manpower. perhaps new uses can be found for the cutting\refuse and one can be simply particle board or maybe even something better.
     
  16. Bells Staff Member

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    Take care of yourself James.

    I have some friends in the Dandenongs who had to be evacuated from their house for a while today when the firefront was about 10km's from their home. They were allowed to return with impending threat of another evacuation if the wind changed again.

    And I hope they catch whoever is starting these fires and throw them in jail till they rot to be honest. After the last horror, to imagine it could happen again because some people get their jollies out of seeing fire is sickening in the extreme.

    I hope you and your family remain safe through this terrible fire season. My thoughts are with you guys down there as my heart breaks for the destruction of the places I loved so much.:bawl:
     
  17. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Isn't there any way they could do something to prevent these constant break outs?
     
  18. Bells Staff Member

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    These current break out's appear to have been deliberately lit.

    The fires are proving to be worse because of the horrendous weather conditions recently and because of a severe lack of raid in recent years. Add to that a reduced number of burn-off's to help reduce the fire load and you end up with what they are currently experiencing. The only thing that will end this fire crisis as it stands at present is for them to get a lot of rain. So far, that is not on the cards. Current weather conditions means it is possibly too late to burn off to reduce the tinder like underbrush.

    What would be appreciated is for those starting the fires to not do so.

    It could have been much worse since today is a working and school day and I think it was lucky no one was killed.. schools also had to be evacuated as the fires came so close.
     
  19. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    John99:

    As you can see if you look at photos of the burnt-out areas, not all of the trees have actually died or fallen over. Some kinds of eucalypts are very fire-resistant. They can burn on the outside and still go on living underneath.

    A million acres of cutting and clearing? How long do you think that would take, and how much manpower? How much would it cost do you think?



    Bells:

    Hope they are ok.

    I've been watching the fire incidents near my area and have noticed at least one spate of fires lit within a small area. It suggest to me that these fires over the last two weeks have probably been started by the same person, who is starting about 1 or 2 fires per day in this small area, on average. Hopefully the authorities are also noticing the pattern - I figure that once the CFA has been called out five or six times to within a few-kilometre radius they might start making connections. The culprit in this case is either very lazy or doesn't have access to a car.

    This particular fire, though, may have been started by sparks from a slasher, probably trying to do some clearing. Though, on a day of total fire ban...

    Thanks again.


    SAM:

    There's no way to stop the fires starting. They are sometimes started by lightning. Probably 50-60% are started by arsonists.

    Arsonists, unfortunately, tend to be difficult to catch - particularly pre-emptively. A register of known offenders, similar to sex-offender registers, would not be a bad idea, I think.

    Probably the best we can hope for is to prepare so as to limit the scope of the fires once they start. Not that we're not already doing that...
     
  20. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    james that register already exists in SA, operation nomad apears on the surface to be extreamly effective at preventing fires here (though it may be to early to say for sure, it could be luck). It has a side effect of helping control the natural fires as well because so many police resorces (as well as community resorces) are out there, on the ground (and in the air i belive) that they have been spotting the fires where they start early enough that they can be controled

    SAM and John on your points about plants and animals. The plants in australia actually REQUIRE fire. Gums especially produce so much volitile oils so that competitors are burnt away leaving the gums still standing and the seeds fertile. The banksia CANT reproduce without fire, to the point that if you actually want to grow one in your garden you need to put the seeds in the oven first before you plant them.

    On animals, when the Kangroo island fires occured last year i was lissioning to a story about how the animals deal with fire. Basically there are 2 types of animals, the first group breed like rabits and just relie on enough surviving to repopulate an area. This is helped by the fact that fires are never total, they leave green pockets where these animals can survive. The kola is an example of this and the plague proportions that they had reached in KI before the fires show what happens when they are NOT controled by fire (rember we dont have large preditory animals native to australia)

    The second type can activly escape fire themselves in various ways. Wambats just go down there tunnels and hide till the fire passes for example. Kangroos, wallabies can flee the fires. This goes for the incects too i might add.

    I should point out looking at it unemotionally humans actually fall into the first catigory, we can breed VERY fast.

    james im glad your alright, belgrave evacuated compleatly... its unimaginable to think that the pub i first started working in could itself be at risk.

    James, do you know if that little aborigional artists gallery in the dandngongs is still intact? to lose that would be a MASSIVE cultural loss for victoria
     
  21. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    The firefighters once again have done an amazing job. I think only one house was lost, plus a few sheds and things. The fire is now contained, as I understand it, though still burning.

    I don't know it, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. Where exactly was/is it?
     
  22. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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  23. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    James.
    I understand that this is a new event, where previously successful strategies have not been successful.

    Are people considering taking up the policy of clearing trees within a certain distance of their houses?
     

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