Bush fires

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[Widdle Shamrock]

I am thinking of you all who are affected by the bush fires that are currently raging across the country.

It is so very frightening to hear about, I can not imagine actually being there.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Lightening]

Ditto from me.  Horrible stuff. 

[Jaycee]

Same here. The dust storm I drove through yesterday was nothing compared to the firestorms in Victoria.

[leechbabe]

Google Blog, mapping the fires

http://google-au.blogspot.com/2009/02/mapping-victorian-fires.html

Horrifying.

[leechbabe]

An upbeat post - How Hot Is It In Australia? - http://cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/02/how-hot-is-it-in-australia/

[Gemisht]

Its just awful. My thoughts are with everyone in Victoria and those with family and friends in Victoria. Its just staggering to watch it all on the TV.

Thankfully, Sydney hasn't been hit yet, although there is one just north of Sydney which is a worry for those closer to it.

[Anonymum]

One of my girls rang her father tonight to see how they were getting on because they're in the Latrobe Valley, then rang me to see if we'd been washed away....
Another of the girls had the car packed and the kids ready just in case, and they're in West Gippy.
Not nice at all...the extremes are what blow me away.
We have more rain than we know what to do with, and the south of the country is ablaze.....

[kathiemt]

Do we know if any of our members here are in those areas? 

Graham and I are safe - we're in inner suburbia but have been looking at homes in the past 3 months to shift to one of the affected areas. Now we're having to rethink this. It was going to be our 'tree change' and retirement home.  Our two married daughters live further out and closer to the fires. One had a small grass fire in the next street over and another had a major fire in bush on a main road only 5 mins away. She's had power going on and off ever since - that was a week ago.

My step-daughter's mother lives 90 mins away in the middle of the Bunyip area and her town was surrounded by fires but the town itself is safe so far. They've been protected by a reservoir in the path of the fire but she's lost radio reception and been dependent on Graham and I (this is his ex-wife) keeping in touch and letting her know the status of things.  She's been too afraid to leave her street and home to find out what's going on in the main part of town in case she has to rush back home for her cats and things.

We have another daughter 3 hours north of us not far from another fire and she works with horses. She's promised me she won't travel any roads near the fires, even if the fire has passed. The danger of trees falling is huge.

[leechbabe]

Being a bit lazy here because we are running late with the school morning routine:

Pictures and info on how to donate $'s to help.

[Rosey133]

Yes my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. I get quite teary watching the news coverage - people talking about calling their children to say goodbye, all the lives lost. So terrible.
I'm on Central Coast NSW in an extremely bushy area - we've had lots of smoke from small fires nearby but nothing to cause us concern about our safety. It is so cool today too. Fingers crossed for some cool, wet weather for VIC.

[Gemisht]

Being a bit lazy here because we are running late with the school morning routine:

Pictures and info on how to donate $'s to help.

Channel 9 interviewed someone from the Red Cross last night and he said that for people not near the fire affected areas it is better to donate money as the logistics of getting things to them (say from interstate) is much harder.

[leechbabe]

Being a bit lazy here because we are running late with the school morning routine:

Pictures and info on how to donate $'s to help.

Channel 9 interviewed someone from the Red Cross last night and he said that for people not near the fire affected areas it is better to donate money as the logistics of getting things to them (say from interstate) is much harder.

Indeed $'s is best and those in Australia can also donate blood.

I've blogged about it, including the info that was in the link above - http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/bushfire-appeal/

[Jaycee]

SBS have a bunch of info on how to donate money, blood, clothes etc

[janicejan]

I wish no one are harmed in that incident, my regards to all people affected by that tragic incident , thank god bush fire doesn't happen in cities 

[kathiemt]

I wish no one are harmed in that incident, my regards to all people affected by that tragic incident , thank god bush fire doesn't happen in cities 

They get close enough.  My two married daughters had fires less than 5 mins away from them - they are both in built up suburban areas.  One lost her power and it has been on and off all week.  There is a park just up the main road from them that went up several days ago before the big fires.  My other daughter had two fires, one one street away - someone lit an empty block and the other was a couple of streets away with 7 units in attendance and the helicopter bombing it with water.

[leechbabe]

I wish no one are harmed in that incident, my regards to all people affected by that tragic incident , thank god bush fire doesn't happen in cities 

Canberra 2003 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Canberra_bushfires

After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003. Over the next ten hours, four people died and more than 500 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction effort.

[Gemisht]

I wish no one are harmed in that incident, my regards to all people affected by that tragic incident , thank god bush fire doesn't happen in cities 

My family and I have survived at least 2 fires and both were in the middle of Sydney. The first one was one street behind us and I got called home from work to help Mum and Dad. The second I was away and Mum and Dad had the fires at the back fence of the house. I spoke to them on the Friday night and they had the cars facing down our steep driveway with everything important packed in the cars and they were waiting to be evacuated. I drove home into Sydney on the Saturday morning following convoys of CFA trucks from Victoria coming to help with the firefighting effort, not knowing if I was going to find my family and/or the house there. I have never been so scared and apprehensive in my whole life.

And seeing the suburbs of Sydney looking like a moonscape, that's scary. I have had a taste of what some of these people are going through and it was horrible. I can't imagine what it must be like for them. What I have seen is only a drop in the ocean compared to what has happened now.

[wchingya]

I just wanna send my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved ones/their homes. And I was worried that if anybody from aussie forum was affected in anyways. I was unable to log in this site for the past 2 days; now I'm so relieved to find that everyone is alright.

It's a dreadful sight, from what I watched from the news/papers.. and when people got interviewed,and they cried for feeling sympathy for the affected families.. that was/still is, so hard to bare..

Pray for the unfortunate, and grateful for being saved..

[kathiemt]

There have been many not so fortunate and unlike what people think, even the suburbs have been affected - especially if they are in hilly areas with trees, but even flat areas with grassed paddocks. Three locations Graham and I have been house hunting in have been hit by fires which is scary and is making us rethink what we want to do.

For those here who aren't in Australia, or near enough to our wildlife, you might like to look at these photos of koalas seeking water from the heat and the from the bushfires.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013539&l=d3a17&id=1461126876

[wchingya]

Eventhough it's a slim chance for animals to seek help from human, the Koala still do so. Surprising and unbelievable.. ! Is it like 1 in a million?

Thanks for sharing these pics, Kathie, I wouldn't have known, really. Still unsure whether they'll ever put that in the newspapers.

[kathiemt]

Eventhough it's a slim chance for animals to seek help from human, the Koala still do so. Surprising and unbelievable.. ! Is it like 1 in a million?

Thanks for sharing these pics, Kathie, I wouldn't have known, really. Still unsure whether they'll ever put that in the newspapers.

There are heaps of photos doing the rounds with koalas in them at the moment and I've just been watching a TV news report of koalas that are now in care after having their feet burned by the fire.  They are such sweet animals.

[Kelley]

Glad to hear no reports here of anyone caught up in the fires.

I hope that everyone is safe.  It truly is hell on earth.

Still trying to process what has happened, and what continues to happen.  So many people have lost their homes here, and their lives.

And still there are those unaccounted for.

Breaks my heart.

[Gemisht]

Thinking of you all Kelley. Sending more hugs your way.

[kathiemt]

Watching a couple on tv tonight, being reunited by the channel 9 news crew undid me. Neither was sure if the other had made it and they couldn't find each other because of the roads being closed. So the news crew flew her in a helicopter to her husband.  I just cried as I watched her ask if she could run to him - she couldn't get to her husband fast enough.