Bush Fires in Oz ( again )

[coastie99]

Only this time, even worse.

The poor buggers seem to cop it every year and these fires are hellish and extraordinarily devastating.

My heart goes out to all of our mates in Australia; I hope you and your families and friends are spared this hell .

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/ ... ons-worsen

 

[southernGuild]

Thanks Coastie, It is pretty scary actually. The Govt warning for 'Catastrophic fire conditions', is in effect for my area.'Unprecidented circumstances' have come together for these next few days. Very dry conditions, Very High and dry winds, Very extreme heat, are all happening at once here. Fortunately NO chances of lightening strikes ( which start many fires) exists. But, the real concern across the whole state is Arson.
I'm as ready as I can be here..........But I was a bit rattled when I recieved a phone calast night from some Govt computer, distributing the warning,'Have an exit plan ready.' and 'If you Can get out, do so now'
We, like most around here, are stayng put. Quite safe really...........So far. But that's the thing. When it happens...It happens so quick!!! Especially in these winds!
The dangers of living in the mountains amongst the trees I guess. Still, I 'feel' all will be well here. Sure as heck hope so. :roll:

 

[JohnW63]

Do they suggest you have a " Defensible space " around your house, or do these fires get so big, you'd have to have 100 meters in all directions ? We get pretty good fires in Southern California, during the Santa Ana winds, but I think your on a different scale, down there.

 

[southernGuild]

:shock: Not really John. We 'prepared our land as prescribed during winter....Hazard reduction stuff. But, IF it hits with a fireball coming up the hillside, No amount of cleared area around me is going to help. Thats what happened to the state south of here 2 years ago. Wham......No time to respond!
There are times to fight, and times to run.....and not much time to make that choice if things get going.

 

[Jeff]

Studying up on Celsius; 40 deg C = 104 deg American, 50 c = 124 f, is that correct? ?

 

[southernGuild]

That's it Jeff. It's about 106 f in the shade right now. This heat, we can deal with. It will pass. So long as no fool starts a fire.
EDIT: Evening now, Much cooler winds. No fires in sight. It'll be a much better night.
Whew!

 

[laverda]

Hi guys,
We have just spent the past 2 days fighting 24hours a day to protect our village of Oura. Fire front was stopped less than 100m from the Rural Bushfire Staging area on one front and held at the highway on a second front that would have taken the entire township if it had crossed the road. Just took the wife and 2 daughters out to see the devastation earlier tonight. We still have crews out tonight dealing with tree stumps that keep reigniting... some have been 'put out' over a dozen times but keep flaring up. It was dusk as we drove out and there were easily three dozen glowing stumps that we could see and yet the fire field extented over 800 hectares most of which was out of our immediate view so who knows how many are out there.

Bare in mind this same village was devastated by flooding in March last year (2012)... One local made the comment,'the very same water that almost wiped us out last year is saving us this year!'... is that the definition of irony?

Thankfully we have one of the skycranes (Elvis) stationed at Wagga Airport which is just across the river from us... he flew to the river, filled up in 30 seconds, and hit the fire front in less than 2 minutes. The firies on the front were hugely impressed with his accuracy and without his significant air support we would have been without a home - no exageration. He must have made 100+ dumps over the course of yesterdays events (even drained a big dam on one of the properties inundated with fire with only a dozen refills, I'm not sure what he holds but some of the other firies thought it was between 5 and 7 thousand litres).

In our surrounding region there are 22 fire fronts burning so fingers crossed conditions remain favourable tonight...

John, I hope things do stay calm there for you... its been a tense few days here but we got the wind change we needed and I'm glad you have too.

Please stay safe,
Mick

 

[rampside]

Wow! scary stuff. I'm hoping the best for everyone in those danger areas.

 

[Scratch]

John: Didn't know you lived in the mountains. Australia was always one place I hoped to visit one day. I imagine a nice view from your place. Any pics you could share?

Thoughts and prayers are with you fellas. Hunker down and hang in there...

Have you heard from the rest of the 'LTG Down Under Contingent'?

 

[Zelja]

Mick - glad you guys seem to have got through it. I can't imagine the physical & mental exhaustion you have been through. All sounds way too close fro comfort.

John, I hope you don't have any issues. Cooler here today & hopefully some rain as well.

Hagmeat & I are in Sydney itself (ironically for days like these, sometimes referred to as the "the big smoke") so no issues or direct danger where we are. Lots of fires in Tasmania (the southern most island state), which is pretty unusual as it's usually cooler down there but they have had the 40+ Deg C temps for a sustained period.

A big issue as always is malicious idiots starting fires in these dry heatwave conditions. Some 14 & 15 year olds were caught but adults often do it too. It's very hard to understand some people's thinking.

 

[southernGuild]

All is well here this morning. No fires in our area at all, and this wonderous cool breeze has just come over the whole area. Yesterday, was apparently the 'hottest' day on record! Sure felt like it. This cool change is so welcome.
The fires in Micks area were on the TV this morning. Man, They were wild and widespread there! So glad you folks made it through ok. That helecopter is a real life saver, Glad it was there for you.
Hope you all have a better day.
Thanks all.

 

[rampside]

Watched a bit on the news this morning just before I left for work about the "Tornado Fires" over there and how a grandfather had saved several children when fire hit where they were. :shock:

My heart goes out to anyone who has to deal with anything like that.

 

[adorshki]

Bare in mind this same village was devastated by flooding in March last year (2012)... One local made the comment,'the very same water that almost wiped us out last year is saving us this year!'... is that the definition of irony?

Yes, it is. The first thing that occurred to me before I got to your post was that I saw a documentary within the last month regarding the extended drought and water shortage situation as a looming problem down there, but I think it might have been a couple of years old already.
Anyway, glad to hear our Assie contingent is safe at this time.

 

[adorshki]

John: Didn't know you lived in the mountains. Australia was always one place I hoped to visit one day. I imagine a nice view from your place. Any pics you could share?

Scratch, a slight veer; when I first met John he gave me his address and I looked it up on "Google Maps". The satellite view function is is a wonderful wonderful thing.
You can zoom down to the resolution of individual vehicles on a street. Or tide pools near a beach.
Me, I like zooming in on extremely remote coastlines. Or places you'd never see on the tourist routes, like central Asia and the deep Amazon. The Sahara.
It's like flying around the world from the comfort of your home.
There's some extremely intriguing looking National Park land quote close to John's house.
THAT'll whet your appetite! :wink:

 

[southernGuild]

:wink: Thanks Al.
Y'know I've never done that myself, but with the new computer, I'll give it a try. I'd like looking around historic sites, etc. That would be fun.
and Yes, This is a beautiful place. I fell in love with the whole area when I first came for a visit. Lots of trees, native wildlife, natural beauty, and a great community too.
Being New Orleans born and raised, I was used to the city, and loved that too. Sydney is a fantastic city, with so much to offer. But for my first 10 years here in Aus, I lived in the suberbs an hour outside of Sydney. No sence of 'neighborhood' or place I felt there.
In my Army years, I lived in Virginia mainly. I'd often visit the Shanandoah Mountains, and loved exploring that whole area. I thought to myself, "I'd like to live here'.
When I found this place here in Australia, It felt 'right'. and we found a home straight away. Love this place. :wink:
So glad these fires have given us a break, Hopefully others too. Gives us time to better prepare. Whew, we are feeling lucky here, But unfortunately, others elsewhere have lost everything. The fates can be cruel.
Still, cool air today....no fires in the area. what a contrast from the other day. That was a sobering site.

 

[adorshki]

:wink: Thanks Al.
Y'know I've never done that myself, but with the new computer, I'll give it a try. I'd like looking around historic sites, etc. That would be fun.

Everybody always oughta take a look at their own house first.
Then take a look at what their neighbors are doin' with their backyards.
That'll getcha goin! :lol:

 

[hagmeat]

Hi guys,
We have just spent the past 2 days fighting 24hours a day to protect our village of Oura. Fire front was stopped less than 100m from the Rural Bushfire Staging area on one front and held at the highway on a second front that would have taken the entire township if it had crossed the road. Just took the wife and 2 daughters out to see the devastation earlier tonight. We still have crews out tonight dealing with tree stumps that keep reigniting... some have been 'put out' over a dozen times but keep flaring up. It was dusk as we drove out and there were easily three dozen glowing stumps that we could see and yet the fire field extented over 800 hectares most of which was out of our immediate view so who knows how many are out there.

Bare in mind this same village was devastated by flooding in March last year (2012)... One local made the comment,'the very same water that almost wiped us out last year is saving us this year!'... is that the definition of irony?

Thankfully we have one of the skycranes (Elvis) stationed at Wagga Airport which is just across the river from us... he flew to the river, filled up in 30 seconds, and hit the fire front in less than 2 minutes. The firies on the front were hugely impressed with his accuracy and without his significant air support we would have been without a home - no exageration. He must have made 100+ dumps over the course of yesterdays events (even drained a big dam on one of the properties inundated with fire with only a dozen refills, I'm not sure what he holds but some of the other firies thought it was between 5 and 7 thousand litres).

In our surrounding region there are 22 fire fronts burning so fingers crossed conditions remain favourable tonight...

John, I hope things do stay calm there for you... its been a tense few days here but we got the wind change we needed and I'm glad you have too.

Please stay safe,
Mick

Mick, good to hear that you, your family, your house and your Guilds made it through.
Take care mate.

 

[southernGuild]

Have'nt heard from Mick for a while now. Reckon he's out there putting out whats left of the fires and sorting out things.
What a close call all around.

 

[laverda]

Close to the truth John lol, its been a busy few days and looong nights. We have had crews on site for 3 days 24 hours a day. Four crews came down from Tumut in the mountains yesterday as they are specialists in very hilly terrain and tree/stump fires. Each night there are fewer glowing stumps which is good to see and the cooler temps and favourable winds have been much appreciated.

I'm glad things went well up there for you too and I'm praying things stay that way for next week and beyond despite the return to hot weather they're predicting.

Thanks too Hagmeat, thankfully we had my wifes step brother show up and help us load up our stuff when we were evacuated.. the extra car meant room for all the guitars (and studio equipment) :lol: Thankfully we were allowed back in the village later that same night but we didn't unpack the car until yesterday just to be safe (although the guitars were stored safely in Wagga until today).

And Al, that doc must have been a bit dated. We were told that we would never again see our dams full within our lifetime due to 'global warming'... at that time Blowering Dam was at 5% capacity... 24months later they were increasing the dam wall height to try and prevent the flooding that would ensue due to not being able to hold back the 112% capacity that it reached (all the other major dams in our hydro electric scheme were also filled) ... simply put the fires we are experiencing are as a result of the increased plant growth due to the drought being broken only now its dried out by a warm cycle due to fewer cyclones in the north of the country which usually bring the monsoon rains and resulting 'cooling' winds which keep southern states cooler... I'm only 40 and can remember 2 previous similar cycles within my lifetime... and they both centered around a shift from El Niño to La Niña - the tropical Pacific Ocean is currently neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña) according to our government weather bureau.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and support,
Mick

 

[southernGuild]

Great to hear from you Mick. You've been in our thoughts. And Yes, Lets hope things stay well.
Here's hopeing.