1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Death toll now at 200 in Australia's fires

Discussion in 'Science & Technology' started by cnc66, Feb 8, 2009.

  1. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

    31,582
    17,137
    0
    Nov 23, 2007
    Thank goodness Penny (Darkmistress) lives to the northeast of all this. On the state of Victoria, the carnage is horrific with the fire moving so fast it overtook folks in their cars trying to escape. To make matters even worse, there has been some arsonists resetting some of the fires. Here are some BBC videos.

    BBC

    from the above link;


    This is several days old, but will give you a feel for the heatwave that the Aussies were struggling with as the fires got started. The heat makes it extra tough on suited up firefighters..those guys are hero's where ever they hail from;

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE3YU04BZoo"]YouTube - Arson blamed for Australia fires[/ame]

    Here is a gallery from the Daily Telegraph

    [​IMG]

    another one, same newspaper, Daily Telegraph

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    here is an interactive map of the fires progress;

    Google maps

    this story isn't over, the predictions call for finding more casualties as they can reenter the burned areas. Please put these folks in your prayers and best wish list.
     
  2. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    Yesterday morning I woke up it was 26 dead then in the evening it was 66. This morning I wake up and it's reached 108. It's crazy bad down south this year. Usually it's the Vics sending firefighters up north to help us out.

    It's sad to think that a lot of these fires are deliberately lit. I don't think I've heard of or seen a bad bush fire that hasn't. 108 people dead (and rising) because someone was too lazy to extinguish their cigarette. :pity:
     
    azfinfanmang and dolphan117 like this.
  3. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

    31,582
    17,137
    0
    Nov 23, 2007
    The Aussie on the weather board I hang at is from Sydney and said there had been a couple of fires in your state, but nothing like what is happening in Victoria. I also saw one of your well know Melbourne news anchors from channel 9 lost his life along with his wife.. so sad all around
     
  4. dolphan117

    dolphan117 Premium Member Luxury Box

    7,600
    2,574
    113
    Nov 24, 2007
    Man thats bad, horrible way to die.
     
  5. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    Yeah, we have been somewhat lucky this year (if you can call it lucky) but we've had our fair share of nasties in years gone by. It's part of Australia, a lot of our natural habitat demands it so we can't really prevent it. I remember a few years back they just couldn't put them out. There were several major, out of control fires burning away. They thought they had one stopped when it reached a wide river but the flames literally leapt the river and continued on. They were put out eventually though thanks to some rain and a southerly. I remember at the time having black gum leaves and little bits of ash floating into my backyard and the evening sky was just red and black, and we weren't really that close to any of the fires. You could smell it too it was really strong. I can't imagine how it would look being in the middle of it. The death toll, of course, wasn't nearly as bad.

    I can't believe how bad this one has been this year though. It is truly sad.
     
  6. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    126 dead now...

    I put this in spoilers as some may not want to read it. I think it puts the speed of the fires in to perspective.
    Six victims were in one car trying to outrun the inferno which swept through Kinglake in minutes. A resident said the town was littered with burnt-out cars and he believed many contained bodies.

    "It's going to look like Hiroshima, I tell you, it's going to look like a nuclear bomb," he told Melbourne's Herald Sun.

    His daughter told of another resident who "went to put his kids in the car, put them in, turned around to go grab something from the house, then his car was on fire with his kids in it, and they burnt".

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    And a little bit of hope... a baby sugar glider rescued from the bushfires
    [​IMG]

    God bless the me women and children down south. And God bless the firefighters and volunteers risking their lives to put these fires out. The things that some of these men and women would have seen must be horrific.
     
  7. Pauly

    Pauly Season Ticket Holder

    3,696
    3,743
    113
    Nov 29, 2007
    Horrible stuff.
     
  8. Fin Fan In Cali

    Fin Fan In Cali Dolphin fan since 1970 Luxury Box

    28,030
    13,840
    113
    Nov 22, 2007
    So. Cal
    Glad to know you are safe Penny. Prayers and thoughts to those who have lost there lives. Very sad indeed. I was watching the evening news, and they said people were passing away in the cars as they were trying to escape and the fire caught them. May they rest in peace.
     
    alen1, azfinfanmang and peastri like this.
  9. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

    31,582
    17,137
    0
    Nov 23, 2007
    BBC



    I read somewhere not an hour ago on one of these BBC pages but cannot find, a mention of blaming the "green" movement for preventing "backburning". Here in the US that term describes a method of removing the fuel in front of the fire to kill it, to save structures or something.

    I bring this up because the "context" was in reference to the ferocity of the fire. It seemed to describe that what "I" would call a prescribed burn. Here in the US we have had the same issue. Anyway, I am interested to see how this unfolds. There need to be some lessons learned from this and I'm sure much will be examined. Please put these folks in your hearts and prayers.
     
  10. anlgp

    anlgp ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

    I hope my friend is okay :(
     
    cnc66 likes this.
  11. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

    31,582
    17,137
    0
    Nov 23, 2007
    This picture is telling.. that's molten metal on the ground in rivlets. Aluminum maybe.. I would have guessed lead but there is a secondary flow from further back. Could be from leaded body panels I suppose, no matter, this was really hot.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    That may have been me mentioning it in the other forum, it was on the news this morning. And, yes, for those who don't know backburning is essentially a controlled burning of "fire fuel", as you say, to prevent the spread of fires in to residential areas etc. and hopefully keep fires contained long enough to be put out.

    This isn't the first time it has happened. In the ACT, near Canberra, a few years ago there were devastating fires caused by, what many presumed to be, lack of backburning. The then government was in big trouble. Obviously, nothing was learnt then, I doubt they'll learn from this either.
     
    Fin Fan In Cali and cnc66 like this.
  13. Fin Fan In Cali

    Fin Fan In Cali Dolphin fan since 1970 Luxury Box

    28,030
    13,840
    113
    Nov 22, 2007
    So. Cal
    Sorry to hear the latest news Penny. The fire pictures look like what went through the last few years here in California.
     
    peastri likes this.
  14. cnc66

    cnc66 wiley veteran, bad spelur Luxury Box

    31,582
    17,137
    0
    Nov 23, 2007
    Dr Masters over at Weather Underground blogged about the Australian fires today, very interesting comments.

    Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

    there is a satellite image here of the smoke on Feb 7th in his blog

    [​IMG]

    This is the temperature anomalies for Jan 27-31, 2009. Please credit The Australian Bureau of Meteorology

    sxwarren did some interesting comparisons. It is in the forum below Dr. Masters blog;

    This link come courtesy of vortfix, a respected poster on Dr. Masters blog;

    201. vortfix 9:54 AM EST on February 10, 2009

    Australia’s stay and defend approach: up in smoke?
    By James Hagengruber | Europe editor 02.10.09 Christian Science Monitor

    good read, good info. The subject Penny brought up about the green folks haveing some responsibilty is also discussed.
     
    peastri likes this.
  15. anlgp

    anlgp ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

    oh crap now i really hope my friend is okay 200??!

    :( :(
     
  16. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    Interesting stuff Marty. I was thinking yesterday, after seeing pictures of people standing over decimated land that some kind of bunker/shelter should become standard in homes built in or around rural land. This was subsequently mentioned on the radio this morning as a possible option to prevent a recurrence of the enormous death tolls and of course would still allow people to "stay and defend". Of course, we get frequent fires, but devastating fires like the ones currently raging aren't that commonplace so these shelters probably wouldn't get as much use as we would expect them to (hopefully). Still I'd much rather be safe hiding in an underground shelter than trying to outrun inferno.

    They're now expecting the death toll to top 300.
     
    cnc66 likes this.
  17. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    Animals emerging from the Victoria fires

    [​IMG]
    http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25038828-1243,00.html

    Thought I'd share this tid bit. This is good to hear. I didn't think any would survive. Even if they managed to evade the flames surely the intense heat and smoke would have gotten to them. Nature never ceases to amaze me.
     
    unluckyluciano and HolliFinFan like this.
  18. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

    53,333
    23,006
    0
    Dec 7, 2007
    just like a man trying to exploit a woman when she is at her weakest......:pity:









    smartest.
    koala.
    evar.
     
    Cuban Dave 9 and peastri like this.
  19. dolphindebby

    dolphindebby Season Ticket Holder Luxury Box

    14,752
    4,873
    0
    Nov 26, 2007
    GA
    My son met a man, Gorden Reid, in Townesville Australia. In queensland. I would love if any of you could help me out about him. He hasn't sent cards or anything for about two years. He may have already passed away. He kept saying he would send me addresses of friends to get in touch with if I didn't hear from him, but he never did.
    If anyone wants, they can pm me and I'll give his address etc. Jeff, my son, and I would love to know any info about him we can get. He's a wonderful man.
    Thanks. I don't know any other way to get any info except from some of you that live there.
     
  20. peastri

    peastri iD'Artiste Luxury Box

    2,070
    1,624
    0
    Mar 25, 2008
    Sydney, Australia
    If you want to pm me his details and maybe a little about him (Gorden Reid is a pretty common name) I can have a browse. Of Course I'm nowhere near Townsville but I'll see what I can dig up for you.
     
    dolphindebby and cnc66 like this.
  21. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

    6,312
    2,012
    0
    Dec 5, 2007
    Jerusalem, Israel
    Jews stop praying for rain in about two months. This is something that Australian Jews should pray with fervor.

    משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם
    Masheev harooach oomoreed hageshem.

    He brings the wind and causes the rain to fall.
     

Share This Page