I've just heard about the wildfires that are burning around the Sydney and Melbourne areas of Australia. I hope all our Aussie members are okay?

Regards
Eddy

It's a bit like soccer riots in Glasgow: nobody in Edinburgh notices.

I do have to reply, or you will all think that my house is the latest casualty.
The scrub fire in a Melbourne outer suburb (Seaford, 30-40 km from me) was contained, with minor damage to just one house.
See www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24938052-2862,00.html
In many suburbs, a bigger problem has been aggressive tiger snakes.

I did get a close-range view of a scrub fire when I had Jessie II at Cobdogla (SA) while trailering it to Waikerie.  2 weeks earlier, I had been there on the water.  The fire didn't come to the Murray banks, and was 4 km from the caravan park.
I enclose two photos: one cropped from a much bigger view, taken from the lookout at Kingston-on-Murray bridge.  This shows a fire-bombing helicopter, which was scooping water direct from the Murray.  The water is not the river (which is cropped out in the foreground); it is an adjacent billabong.  The closer-range one was taken by my deckhand as I concentrated on driving along the highway while other cars were halting erratically to get the view.

On an earlier cruise (Lake Eildon), I had to take Jessie II to the pub for New Year's Eve, as a scrub fire adjacent to the mooring had caused the road to be closed.  My car was safe, as it was parked on the gravel where the water had receded. On that occasion, water was being scooped directly from the lake (Goulburn River, a major Murray tributary).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Yeah,
I think a few people were pretty lucky not to lose their homes in Melbourne yesterday.

The news reports here in the UK say the fires are getting worse, and a number of people have lost thier lives - I sincerely hope all our PD members are safe. Your in my thoughts and prayers...

Regards
Eddy

Eddy and Others,
                       For the latest updates try the Country Fire Authority website at www.cfa.vic.gov.au . I am in the outer western suburbs and yesterday could smell the smoke from the fires and my son's girlfriend has family at Kinglake but fortunately all are OK.
Peter W

Hi PD's...... Roderick or Peter [W] would be the best to offer comment from Victoria....I watched the 0400 news headlines this morning reporting 14 lives lost in the past 24 hours.... ....

Mother nature can seem unkind in cases like this ....however there are reports emerging of intentional fire lighting  .....

It was in 1969....as a third year apprentice when I spent 24 hours fire fighting here in my local area ...just 80 km south of Sydney on our eastern seaboard.....Derek

Peter [W] has just posted a note as I was typing....................

Hi PD's....as the world knows we people from OZ are tough  ...we love sitting around the BBQ on a Sunday afternoon with a  with friends & smelling the gum tree branches & gum nuts burn on the fire

However there is nothing at all pleasant in searing 50 degree C temperatures with a dampened down potato sack trying to put out bush fire  flames whilst breathing that same..... but now ACRID gum nut smoke which is probably to 80 degrees C post combustion

mmmm un-pleasant is not the correct word.....more like scary & un-nerving, two bottles of Murine over the next days do not help the sting in your eyes, litres & litres of water do not help the chared vocal chords....& a week later you are still blowing great black bits of crud from the nasil passages

This is also a time to reflect that you know you have had enough......when a cold  burns your throat ....& you resort to tap water again..

May the Lord preserve those still fighting our fires.......Derek

Having fought a few brush fires when younger my sympathy goes to those doing it and I hope they all stay safe. I understand that other parts of Australia are having problems with flooding, Isn't Mother nature great.
Regards,
Gerald

This news is happening now/still.
The Sat.8.2 fires in Victoria have eclipsed the 1983 'Ash Wednesday' 1939 'Black Friday' and 1926 fires for death toll: somewhere between 100 and 130 confirmed dead, and likely to hit 200 as investigators are able to check.  The temperature recorded in Melbourne was higher than in 1939, and the highest since records have been kept: 46 deg C.
Property damage has been immense, and two resort/lifestyle towns have been wiped from the map.  The fires have not covered as much territory as the 1939 ones, but there are now more people living in vulnerable locations.  In 1939, many isolated timber-milling communities survived because dugout safety caves existed, and people huddled in them.  Today, the properties are more indivual rather than milling town, and the safety dugouts don't exist.  Some were killed on their properties; some were killed in cars trying to outrun the front (always futile).  One family survived by crawling into a wombat lair (wombats dig caves, with fairly large access adits).

One close friend has lost everything on her ancestral property at Kinglake; I have yet to hear from a friend living on an outer-urban property at Wandong, but I fear the worst.

There has been damage to tourist railways.

The fires have not attacked redgum riverbank Victoria; there should be no fear for any of our boats (old or modern, paddle or screw).
Ironically, northern Queensland is isolated by the worst floods for many years.  On average, the nation is ok, but we aren't average: we have our fire and flood extremes as northern hemisphere countries experience a snowiest winter for years.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

I'm watching the reports with horror. My thought are with you in this terrible time.

My relatives in Victoria have been contacted by email, but as of now, have not had a reply. They have a 'Place' at  'Sommers' where they spend the holidays, so they may be out of it. (if that's possible)

I hope it ends soon

Ken

Ken,
      From all reports that we have the area that your relatives are in (Somers, Victoia) is nowhere near any of the fires, they are down on the Cape area and all the fires are to the far north of this area. I hope this puts your mind at rest and thank you for your thoughts.
Peter W

We have nothing to complain about here in the UK compared to your extremes in Australia.  I echo Eddys comment that out thoughts and prayers are with you all.  Keep safe.

Quote from: Peter Webster on February 09, 2009, 10:54:34 PM
Ken,
      From all reports that we have the area that your relatives are in (Somers, Victoia) is nowhere near any of the fires, they are down on the Cape area and all the fires are to the far north of this area. I hope this puts your mind at rest and thank you for your thoughts.
Peter W

Thank you Peter. They finally got through on email and they are OK, although they say everyone know others that are not. The whole thing is terrible.

ken

I enclose two photos: one of what heat in a wildfire can do, and one of Melbourne's hottest day since records have been kept: 46 deg C on Sat.7.2.

The death toll as at yesterday was about 180, but new finds are made daily as buildings and areas become safe to search.
As the nation rallies to support a huge fund-raising task, journalists are already probing why and what next?
Royal Commissions after two earlier major fire seasons stressed the importance of regular controlled burning to reduce the amount of available fuel.  With green issues dominating politics in recent years, the required quantity has not been undertaken.  The other factor is the 'tree change' lifestyle: more people in more locations in vulnerable areas, and all without dugout fire shelters.  In the 1939 fires, communities were saved by sheltering in dugouts until the immediate front had passed.  The killer is the radiant heat.

An Australian wildfire advances very rapidly because much of the forest is eucalptus: the oil vaporizes and forms an explosive gas.  Other countries which have planted Australian eucalypts have discovered the same problem (IIRC California, USA; Greece).

In another hobby, only two of the seven vulnerable hotels were destroyed.  Today's morning newspaper showed a tradesman fighting spot fires on the roof to save National Park Hotel (Kinglake), in which 20 women and children had taken refuge in the cool room.  The proprietor believes that hotel will be trading again from next week.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor