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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 21, 2019 18:59:26 GMT
When will this end? It just seems to be getting worse and worse.
Just a tiny bit from BBC News:
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 21, 2019 19:03:00 GMT
Indeed. I can remember as a kid that there were always bush fires in Oz but this is on a different level and quite frightening. I am glad that questa is well away from it.
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Post by mossie on Dec 21, 2019 19:06:28 GMT
Yes. This is a total disaster for Australia, the global warming deniers must really eat their words. (Trump, are you listening?)
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 21, 2019 19:24:05 GMT
Are you ok questa?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 21, 2019 21:09:59 GMT
Really worried about some rellies living in Sydney. My cousin and family liv in woodland overlooking Sydney Harbour and my auntie lives in the suburbs...she's 90 and my uncle is older. I'm sure that my cousins and the grandchildren will look after them.
How are you Questa ? Stay safe xxx
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Post by questa on Dec 21, 2019 23:59:21 GMT
The 4 day heat wave knocked me around...and most of the State. It was 44C to 47+ in places. My house with a/c was in high 30s by day and low 30s at night but it was exhausting. My son is also worn out but keeps on being sent to the trouble areas. We have had some fires locally and he says it is better on his own turf where he knows the roads and fire tracks. They had a wind change on Friday which has brought all the local fires under control. One man died and one is missing. 2 volunteers were killed when a tree dropped on them in the eastern fires. I am amazed that more haven't perished. Thanks for your good wishes and Happy Saturnalia to you all.
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Post by bjd on Dec 22, 2019 7:35:50 GMT
Keep safe, Questa, and I hope your son manages to keep going. It must be taking a terrible toll on him and the other firefighters.
It's difficult to imagine the political idiocy of a prime minister who flies off on vacation when his country is suffering from such fires.
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Post by questa on Dec 22, 2019 11:34:19 GMT
My son is employed by the Metropolitan fire service,working 4 days on then 4 off He also is the captain of the Country fire service based in his own area.They do 12 hour shifts round the clock grabbing rest when they can. What he and his crew are doing is to work their normal Metropol shift then put on CFS gear and do a few hours with them.
Of course he is not the only one doing this. It also seems that many CFS trained fireys who had left the teams (job changes, new babies etc.)are digging out their jackets and boots and climbing on the trucks again. A grass paddock surrounded by new homes caught alight...the women who had stayed home to guard their homes took it on with garden hoses and rake-hoes and had it out in quick time.
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Post by questa on Dec 22, 2019 22:42:45 GMT
Adelaide and suburbs run down the coast with a strip of low hills separating the 'burbs from hobby farms, wineries, market gardens, horse agistment, craft and artist places and old historic homes etc, Last Friday the fires got into these areas and with high, hot winds swirling the embers in all direction, the dried up creek beds just funnelled the fire into the Cudlee Creek hamlet more people. Result One man killed, several injured, 72 homes destroyed +20 out-buildings. City, burbs thick smoke, (my computer crashing) Flames along hills ridge at night, 37% wine grapes lost,
I aam OK ditto family and friends.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 23, 2019 6:20:22 GMT
Anyway, the world is not ignoring you. Here is the front page of my newspaper this morning.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 23, 2019 9:33:25 GMT
Bearing in mind these are bush fires where do they get the water from to fight them? Can’t imagine there are hydrants in the forest plus water is a precious commodity at the best of time I would have thought.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 27, 2019 2:21:21 GMT
Very very glad to hear your reassurance that you're okay, Questa. It's getting so I kind of hate to see the news photos of the fires in Australia, as they're so frightening.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 27, 2019 3:18:54 GMT
Not to mention all the other creatures exterminated by this...
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Post by questa on Dec 27, 2019 4:48:43 GMT
I will answer briefly...comp playing up Mick, farmers scoop out dams aka tanks in most paddocks. water then can be pumped into tankers or planes. This year all are dry since March water being trucked in by fleets of rolling tankers. This will have impact on towm/city supplies till next rains Lagatta in SA we have heaps of koalas.Normally they don't drink water but our mob clever...learnt to drink from waterbottle and swim in poolLots small animals killed but will recover in time ( )
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 27, 2019 4:51:46 GMT
Now I'm wondering what the biggest post-fire problem will be when the rains finally come. Too much scrub growth, too many insects, flash floods on barren ground...? The possibilites are endless since the problems do not stop the moment the fires have been extinguished.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 30, 2019 5:38:50 GMT
As we continue to get reports from Australia (obviously the koalas drinking from a gourd), I was surprised when they said that the volunteer firefighters were finally going to be paid, since apparently they do not normally receive a salary for this work. That really surprised me since in France, just about all of the rural firefighters are volunteers, but they receive a salary every time they are called to a fire. At the very lowest level, they receive 7.60€ an hour during the day, 11.40 on Sundays and bank holidays, and 15.20 for work at night. Have they actually been working for free in Australia?
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Post by questa on Dec 30, 2019 14:25:04 GMT
1st question...Australia as a continent was governed by fires for many thousands of years. The earliest were lit by lightning and for the last 40,000 as a means to hunt food from grassy land. After the fire is really out and the soil temp is more normal most of our trees and bushes sprout again...quickly and looking untidy. All the stark black sticks get covered with green. Then, a bit of rain and the pioneer plants aka weeds start covering the ground.Branches of big trees drop and soon are home to life again. The places where floods may occur are the same as where the water drains into the Artisian basin. Some areas are badly damaged they take years, specially non-native rubbish, but usually by 6 months or so It is coming good.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 30, 2019 15:50:26 GMT
This fire map looks quite grim.
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Post by fumobici on Dec 31, 2019 15:32:46 GMT
The thing that most surprises me about that map are all the fires in the enormous, nearly lifeless desert interior where almost nothing can grow. What's there to burn there except some stunted, brown scrub?
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Post by questa on Jan 1, 2020 0:02:27 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 1, 2020 0:44:43 GMT
Spoken to my nieces in Melbourne...the fires are still 500 km away. One niece and her OH just sold their house and bought a bit of land to have a house built on it. They have everything crossed....
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Post by questa on Jan 1, 2020 1:55:18 GMT
If they have an empty block it would be good for a fire to go over it, Then they can plant indigenous plants that will do well. NB not "Native" plants which may be 1000s km away from natural environment.Wish them good luck from me
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Post by fumobici on Jan 1, 2020 2:47:29 GMT
First link is interesting. I didn't know seemingly empty desert could build up sufficient fuel to feed a large fire.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 1, 2020 9:29:08 GMT
If they have an empty block it would be good for a fire to go over it, Then they can plant indigenous plants that will do well. NB not "Native" plants which may be 1000s km away from natural environment.Wish them good luck from me Thanks Questa, I will. Spoke to them again in the night and they're ok. My nephew in law is a paramedic working in the Sydney area (I think he works 6 days on, 4 off or similar) and he used to be a volunteer fireman too...so my niece hasn't seen much of him lately. He stays in Sydney whilst working then travels back to Melbourne on his days off...that's one reason they've bought land, so that he doesn't have so far to travel.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 1, 2020 16:46:06 GMT
Questa, along with everyone here I look with fear on all the news reports of the fires in Australia. It is extremely reassuring to be able to check this thread and see that you are okay, so thank you for that. How is your son holding up?
You mentioned that your computer is acting up, but it would be greatly appreciated if you can keep getting online long enough to tell us "OK" until things get back to normal.
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Post by lugg on Jan 1, 2020 17:52:45 GMT
Ditto to what Bixa said Questa - hope you and yours are/ remain safe.
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Post by mich64 on Jan 1, 2020 18:19:29 GMT
Thinking of you quite often Questa and hoping for the best for you and your family. My husband checks news sources daily following with interest and sorrow. Glad you are able to post now and again so we all can be assured you are doing okay.
I was quite surprised that the volunteers were not paid either. Our rural town firefighters are also called volunteer but have, for as long as I know, have been paid for being on-call, actual call outs and annual training courses. They also receive tax breaks on their income taxes at year end. I am glad to hear your volunteers are finally being compensated for a pretty tough commitment.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 1, 2020 18:39:38 GMT
Frankly, I have not really worried about Questa's security, because I am pretty sure that she would have told us if she was living in any sort of danger zone. But I also fully understand that sometimes people who felt that they were no danger discover all of a sudden that they were wrong.
I have also kept an eye on my brother's house since he is in an area with big fires in southern California. Google Maps tells me that he is not in any sort of danger -- no woodlands or brush anywhere near the house -- but we have also seen that an entire housing area can go up in flames from just one house on the edge of a zone if the wind is right.
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Post by questa on Jan 1, 2020 23:48:21 GMT
My dear friends, I love this forum and the people who create it because I know how we do sincerely care about each other. The fact that no-one has "sent their thoughtsandprayers" speaks volumes. Thank you all. As K2 has said, it is the wind that drives the flames and each fire front builds up its own weather pattern with small cyclones, waves and lulls. Today it is calm and cool and the fireys are mopping up and waiting for tomorrow which is said to be upper 40s and windy.
Oz is famous for its irony...How about a 13.5 million dollar fireworks display to mark the New Year when the fireys are duct taping their boots back together and watching their trucks melt in front of them. See Part 2
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Post by questa on Jan 2, 2020 0:12:18 GMT
Part 2...If I hit a wrong key and go to correct it, I lose all that went before. Good way to shut me up, innit? What do you think of the photo-journalists? Some of the pics will become classics and are already in a class of their own. Is it fair for them to risk a firey's life to get a better pic? The quality of the interviews is shocking.."How did you feel watching your house burn down?" (Get lost, bitch!).
If you wish you can look on Google Maps.GLENELG BEACH is 500m from my unit. MY sons are up in the hills.Not so good . I'll be Ba-a-ck!
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