I was shocked to learn that so many people had died in the fires this week in Australia - the count this morning is 181 dead, and they say that may grow as they discover more bodies and account for the missing.
I know nothing about what went on on the ground, but typically forest and bush fires in North America normally don’t kill a lot of people - yes their is often massive property destruction and many hectares of forest burned, but typically people are evacuated from their homes well in advance of the advancing fire(s).
So just wondering what happened or did not happen, that led to such a terrible loss of life.
Actually, the fires are in Victoria (South).
It looks like the fires were started by someone. They initially arrested 2 guys (15 and 32) but it wasn’t them, and last I checked some 40yo guy had been arrested…If he happens to be responsible, better hide the guy somewhere…
It’s so sad. From the reports that I’ve heard, the people just can’t get out. Some people have been found dead in their cars trying to get away. Others are holed up in their houses waiting to be rescued.
You get a pretty good idea of how spread it is now…very often, people just end up trapped and can’t get out, hence the high toll that may actually reach 300…
Australia has been having quite a problem with draught over the past several years. Hence the increase in forest fires. Just another bi-product of global warming probably.
terrible stuff…we lived thru our own fires here in Durango, Co in 2002. A lot of land and houses burned, but thankfully very few lives lost. My heart goes out to those folks…
I think they are still trying to work out exactly what happened but Victoria has been in drought for 10 years so lots of fuel, they had had consistently hot weather for over a week, the day of the fires the temps were around 47c (117f) and there was a southerly change with winds of over 60km per hour, I have heard stories of the fire travelling 3km in 5 mins so that doesn’t give a lot of time or warning.
I think it was a perfect and terrible symmetry of conditions…you can see lots of info on the links below
absolutely horrible news. there were scenes of cars burned up as people tried to escape.
one woman was in her house with her daughter, they saw fire and before they knew it fire was everywhere.
she wet a blanket and hid under it with her daughter as her entire house went to dust. it is a miracle she lived; they believe the fire was caught in wind gusts and travelled quickly after the house burned to ruins.
reports said the fire tore 60 miles of land, i cannot fathom it.
what kind of aid is going to happen for Australia?
surely people are in absolute dire straights…how could they not be after such devestation.
Australia has been having quite a problem with draught over the past several years. Hence the increase in forest fires. Just another bi-product of global warming probably.
Its not drought any more, dry is just the way it is.
A few things that contributed to the death toll:
Lack of prevention measures used by councils and homeowners. There is so much public anger and fear over backburning that “kindling” stockpiles on the ground. There is a lack of knowledge on how to design to protect fire damage, people not willing to spend to make their houses safer, governments not willing to legistate as it will make them unpopular.
People trying to save their houses and poor warning systems with no distinct protocols in place. Some killed were allowed to stay (or even return) in order to defend their houses. For most fires, a garden hose and some luck and you will save your house. Most that died were trying to protect their house, wait the fire out in their house, or trying to esccape too late after going through the first two options.
Fire ferocity. Temps around 45c and low humidity means everything catches alight easily - cigarette butts, broken bottles start things up easily, and combine into large fronts or to seal off escape routes. There were also very high winds that pushed the fire along grassland @ 100kph. These fires moved quicker than people have previously experienced and without accurate information on the fire, people prepared or left at their own pace.
Location. Some of the areas, such as Kinglake, are at the top of hills. Fire moves easily uphill coupled with less roads in mountain towns. You live in the bush, you should expect bushfires; you live on a floodplain, you should expect floods; you live in the city, you should expect to be hit by a car.
It was a clusterfuck. After the Royal Commission, you will see a new warning system, new federal and state bodies that can better coordinate fire information and response, new legislation that forces people to leave their homes in certain situations.
They are treating this disaster in the same way they would treat amajor terrorist attack as most of our resources are focused on that threat. CFA is a bunch of volunteers, which is separate from metro fire command and police - people are stupid to trust that any layer of government or emergency service is going to save them.
Absolutely tragic. Like America, it’s unusual for significant loss of life in Australia from bush fires. To put things in context a little, the 2 previous “serious” fires that are remembered in Australia occurred in 1983 and 1939. The death toll from the fire on the weekend will be more than triple that from the 1983 and 1939 fires.
High wind speed seems to have been a major contributing factor. This causes “ember storms” where fires race ahead of the main blaze and are upon people before they expect it. Plenty of people died in their cars trying to flee but were trapped by trees fallen across the road and fires that had got ahead of them.
A journalist who writes for Australia’s national newspaper wrote an account and describes how he was packing up his house getting ready to leave and then it was on fire. Just incredibly fast. It’s a powerful account, if you’re interested it’s here: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25026912-2702,00.html
Being based in Melbourne for 2009 (a 60 min drive to the fires) I can attest to how incredibly hot and windy it was on Saturday. The winds reminded me of the Las Vegas Marathon in 2003 (70km/h headwinds). The sun is also very powerful here and just a 30 min walk had my feet feeling like they were on fire. It was over 45 c on a hot, extremely windy day. It was also very very dry. I’ve been told that the children have no idea what a “puddle” of water looks like. It’s that dry.
Initially it reminded me of the Kelowna fire during the summer of 2003 but the devastation is far far worse. Seeing the pictures of those that have lost their lives on almost every page of the local papers brings the reality of what has happened far to clear.
I’m glad they are getting the international attention they deserve. It’s a complete tragedy.
