Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

I must say Brucy your pictures give a more optimistic picture of
the events over there than we get on our TV screens over here?
I think us Brits dont realise how big ozz really is!
The impression we get is that ozz is covered by flames?
I am sure where the flames actually are things are as grim as they
are depicted, and this must be the biggest fire in living memory
worldwide?
Im keeping fingers crossed for all involved out there!

Regards Donkeyman!

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

It will surely take years for nature, the forests, the wildlife all to recover as well as what is doing to all the people and their homes.

Has it ever been this bad before, Bruce?

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

I don't think it has ever been this bad in December, there have always been fires in summer but not on this scale this early in the season. (About 100 fires in NSW alone with 50% not under control) Nor can I recall when we have had so many fires in so many states Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia have all had major fires.

BTW the reason the NSW inland is not on fire is that because of the drought there is absolutely nothing to burn.


This is still the first month of summer, January is usually the worst month for heat and bushfires so we still have that to look forward too. Even the BBC predicted it in November.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50581813

I was reading yesterday that temperature records are usually broken by amounts of about 0.25°C but recent records have been broken by up to 1.5°C. There are also rain forests burning this has never happened before because they are supposed to be too wet. I doubt they will ever recover but will turn into a different form of vegetation.



My kids from Canberra drove down yesterday, they were very lucky to get through because the Hume Highway (main road between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne) was closed again half an hour after they got through. My son is still cleaning ash off and out of his car - daft in my opinion, I told him to come Friday or today.

The Hume was also closed on Thursday because of the fire which led to a 10km traffic jam caused by traffic to Sydney trying to get down Macquarie Pass (which is really a small back road).

I don't know if this link will work from the UK but it shows all the roads closed due to fires in real time.

https://www.livetraffic.com/desktop.html

This shows the fires and their active state and warnings

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-info.../fires-near-me

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

An update

You may recall that I posted the following to show how the Currowan fire had grown:



Since then the fire has become massive



Notice that the scale is not the same as previous pictures - look at the location of Milton and Ulladulla.

The fire has grown so big that is now being controlled as two fires the western section now being called the Charley Forest fire and controlled by the Lake George Zone RFS

The next few days will be crucial with 40° temperatures, gusty winds and dry lightning. if it crosses the Shoalhaven River it could be in Kangaroo Valley within hours.

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

An overall picture of the fires in NSW from the RFS website this doesn't include fires burning further up the coast toward Queensland.



The northern tip of the Currowan fire is at the bottom of the picture while the other two areas are the fires surrounding Sydney. Big eh?

Today the danger area is the Gippsland in Victoria where 40000 people have been told to leave.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-...anger/11831632

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

I am counting my blessings.

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

The lightning is worrying especially if dry as indicared!
I suspect ozzies fire prevention policy will be much revised when
this is over?
Fingers crossed for you guys!
Donkeyman!

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

Very frightening for everyone I would think, I sincerely hope the fires can be controlled very soon.

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

Why? The policy has been developed over decades. Actually operations will be reviewed as always but I doubt there will be major changes. The biggest change over recent years was the addition of the "Catastrophic" fire warning level after the Black Saturday fires.

Most are caused by lightning strikes or power lines, some are deliberately lit, others are hazard reduction or back burns that got out of control. Nothing new there. The only difference this year is the number and ferocity of the fires so early in the season.



Sadly the only thing that ever puts large fires out is rain and there is nothing on the horizon until late January. Showers do little or nothing.

Another fire fighter was killed last night when a gust of wind overturned their 10 tonne fire truck another truck nearby was also blown over. His wife is expecting their first baby.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-...lover/11833634

Re: State of Emergancy (again!)

Just watching a sky news bulleting righ now Brucy, they have
devoted about ten minutes screen time to it, looks very serious
but even the people sheltering on the beach seem pretty laid back?
Maybe thats part of the problem? Particularly with regard to your
fire prevention laws which ae you say go back decades!
Things have changed world wide, have you changed with them?
Anyway good luck to you all, looks like a good few of you will need
itl
Donkeyman!