Fire Down Under

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Thanks everyone - we are ok, the fires are on the East Coast - I guess in comparison we are in Tx, and the fires are in DC.
We are in for some extreme heat ( 41c, then 32c, then 44c) but other places will be hotter. the ground is very dry, and with high winds, and forecast thunderstorms, we are in for a hairy few days.
The big thing here is to blame climate change, and almost ignore the 100+ who have been charged lighting the fires.
A lot of the losses are avoidable - councils allow houses to be built in dense scrub, but will not allow home owners to clear around their homes. One bloke did, and was up for over $200,00 in fines-guess what, his home was the only one not burnt down in his area. We have stupid local laws. But it's easier to blame climate change than man's stupidity!
 
over $200,00 in fines-guess what, his home was the only one not burnt down in his area.

That must have been the cheapest fire insurance in the entire nation! Live and learn by ON-THE-JOB-TRAINING. (Besides the slap in the face for the dumbshit who wrote the law) Clean forests do not burn. All the deadwood on the ground feed the fire to get high enough to burn the treetops. If there is none, the fire will only stay small and creep along the ground without damaging the entire continent. The so-called "specialists" should be re-trained...or sent out to fight the fires themselves and learn what really happens out there and not just read the books. Live free, GP
 
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_use_of_fire_in_ecosystems

Prior to European colonization of the Americas, indigenous peoples used controlled burns to modify the landscape. These controlled fires were part of the environmental cycles and maintenance of wildlife habitats that sustained the people's cultures and economies. What was initially perceived by colonists as "untouched, pristine" wilderness in North America, was actually the cumulative result of these occasional, managed fires creating an intentional mosaic of grasslands and forests across North America, sustained and managed by the original Peoples of the landbase.
Radical disruption of Indigenous burning practices occurred with European colonization and forced relocation of those who had historically maintained the landscape. Some colonists understood the traditional use and potential benefits of low intensity, broadcast burns ("Indian-type" fires), while others feared and suppressed them. In the 1880s, impacts of colonization had devastated indigenous populations, and fire exclusion became more widespread; by the early 20th century fire suppression had become official U.S. federal policy. Understanding pre-colonization land management, and the traditional knowledge held by the Indigenous peoples who practiced it, provides an important basis for current re-engagement with the landscape and is critical to correctly interpreting the ecological basis for vegetation distribution.​

From The History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians H.B. Cushman (who lived with the pre-removal Choctaws in Mississippi)
The forests were burnt off the latter part of every March

so open and free of logs, bushes, and all fallen timber, was their country then (compared to after the Choctaw were removed to Oklahoma), rendered thus by their annual burning off of the woods​
 
One of my lovely US family commented yesterday that they hoped we didn’t end up like California with these bush fires. ❤️ I wanted to explain a little about what’s happening to put things in perspective.

Like some parts of Australia, California often has bushfires in summer. In the 2019 bushfire season which was a bad one, California lost around 250,000 acres in their state to bushfires. In 2018, their worst ever on record, California lost 1.8 million acres. We are now just 3 weeks into summer here in NSW. So far since spring (around September) we have lost almost 7 MILLION acres in NSW and we have 2 months of the fire season still to go and hotter weather to come. It's insane. And unlike California where it is generally just that state, or those nearby, here we currently have fires out of control in South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria as well (there’s an additional 2.7 MILLION acres burning across other states in Australia too). This is unprecedented in its size. This is more than four times the size of the bushfires in the Amazon.

These fires are not in the remote outback. They are in country towns, they are in my area, they are in the outer suburbs of cities. Sydney is a big city and sprawls across about the same area as Los Angeles. We currently have one fire, out of control, that covers 1.1 million acres on the outskirts of Sydney - that’s just one fire. (the Gospers Mountain fire). We have bushfires pretty regularly, but not like this.

As well as size, our bushfires are very difficult to control. Aussie bush on the east coast is predominantly eucalyptus. If you’ve ever had a bottle of eucalyptus oil you’ll know it’s flammable. When eucalyptus trees get hot enough they literally explode. The oil vapor created fireballs, the embers fall and keep burning kilometers ahead of the fire and create new fires and if the fires are big enough they create pyrocumulous clouds with their own weather systems (just like volcanoes) sparking lightning and more fires.

And everything is dry. Really dry. We are in the middle of a drought and not forecast any decent rain for at least another month so these are currently almost impossible to contain. And with the country in such severe drought, not only is everything tinder dry to burn, but the water just isn't there to fight it.

Hundreds of houses and thousands of other structures have been destroyed. Entire towns have been obliterated. People have been killed and injured - both firefighters and civilians. And the devastating impact on our iconic wildlife may be irreversible. The koala population in particular may never recover - there is talk that they may face extinction once the fires are over. There are aircraft, heavy machinery and thousands of paid and volunteer firefighters fighting this (NSW Rural Fire Service is the largest volunteer fire service in the world) but they have been working continuously since September, they are exhausted and there’s no end in sight.

So sadly there is no risk we will become like California — in scale and ferocity this has gone way way past the size of California in regards to bush fires.

Thank you to all who have shared and care about us here in Australia ❤️ people have asked how they can help - help here https://www.theguardian.com/…/how-you-can-donate-and-help-t…

Edit: I have updated the stats to include updated data. Sadly the numbers keep getting bigger.

PS for the people getting their knickers in a twist and getting all abusive thinking I’m belittling the Californian experience by saying how bad it is here, I’m not. Fires are all bad everywhere. Lives and property lost to fire is tragic. I’m just giving it context and scale so people understand how BIG this is with something my US family and friends can compare to. These fires are scary huge. Unprecedented size, even on a world scale, that’s all. sheesh!
 
Australia and the US have a mutual fire aid during our fire seasons, the Aussies have trained a lot of our young fireman in fighting bush fire which is a totally different firefighting technique from forest fire, they have been here from Texas to the West coast working with us and we over their if either side can spare the manpower.
 
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the world stands in stupid neutrality and lets Australia burn. ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT of the Gross National Product would buy the planes, helicopter, boats, pumps, firetrucks and needed help for them. A world firefighting ARMY and AIR FORCE is needed. Fully funded by the bloody INSURANCE companies who could save the houses from being burned down and the people from dying, INSTEAD OF PAYING FOR THE DAMAGES AFTER THE FACT!!! BLOODY HELL; GP
 
The U.S. personnel will be representing the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. The employees are coming from Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Virginia.

This is the first time Canadian firefighters have been deployed to Australia under the Exchange of Wildland Fire Management Resources Agreement.

The last fire assistance between the U.S and Australia was in August of 2018 when 138 Australian and New Zealand wildfire management personnel worked in the U.S. for almost 30 days to assist with wildfire suppression efforts in Northern California and the Northwest. The personnel from the Southern Hemisphere filled critical needs during the peak of the western fire season for mid-level fireline management, helicopter operations, and structure protection.

The last time the U.S sent firefighters to Australia was in 2010.
 
There really hasn't been much awareness here of the fires down under. I think that is why there hasn't been more urgency. But people are starting to learn about it now, and it's starting to make headlines finally.

I think the mainstream media had delayed coverage because it was trying to decide whether the fire was for or against impeachment. (Its no joking matter, I pray they get the fires under control)
 
Maybe the lack of coverage is because they are trying to find a way to blame trump for the fires??? Dunno!!

Anyway, D Day tomorrow, and the next 7 days.
Our town is blanketed with smoke form a fire hundreds of km away. Tomorrow we are expecting high winds and temps of 44c (111.2f), possibly as high as 50c (122f).
Got the gen set primed and ready to go if needed. Also, an order of P2 masks has arrived, so feeling a bit better.
But on the East Coast it's mayhem. One town of 1500 has been abandoned - they just can't save it. At least everyone got out. The Navy is rescuing 4000+ who are on a beach escaping the fires, but it's pure mayhem and hell.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Will keep you updated.
 

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