Vic fires, so very very tragic.

[Kim]

Peace and strength to any who may have been affected by this horrible tragedy. This is a horrible, horrible event that will scare our nation for many years. I hope the fires can be bought under control very quickly putting an end to the start of much suffering for so many.

What I see on TV is truly heart breaking and I feel so helpless that all I can offer is my hope and best wishes.

Kim

[Craig]

Couldn't agree more Kim . The headlines this morning say it all ,," Hell on Earth "

108 dead so far and still counting . A dreadful tragedy. May we please receive a change in weather conditions

[Ron Wisdom]

Man, tragedy indeed. I've seen several reports, too, and that fire is un-real.
My thoughts and prayers are with your countrymen.

Ron

[Paul B]

Really scary part is that now the nutjob terrorists will realise that they don't need bombs, or to highjack a plane or 4 to screw us up. Just a tourist visa, the right weather conditions, a 4WD, and a ciggy lighter.

One bloke in one afternoon could do a lot of damage if he was organised. Far, far more damage than we've seen over the past couple days, which appears to have been done here and there by random nutbags.

Bloody scary, and no way to stop it.

Can't bear to look at the news sites this arvo, just so much sadness...

[Lillian]

It was the evening news tonight. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone directly and indirectly involved.

[gratay]

As a fellow rural hills resident in the surrounding areas of these fires words can't describe how sad I feel for these communities and families that have lost loved ones and property.
bloody devastating
the wind is starting to pick up again in the hills in the last couple of hours..And I have seen fires in the yarra valley as I was coming up the hill..I know there is fires to the sth west, sth east, nth east and south. Hopefully we don't get another north wind or the dandenong ranges could be in trouble.

I know at the moment there is areas in and around the hills here that have officially gone on alert from the wind picking up this afternoon..So Jack Spira and Tim Kill I know you guys are in those areas and my thoughts are with you guys and your families. I hope it doesn't reach you or anyone for that matter.
If they flare up, come closer and we get a north wind I'm outa here.
Be safe.

[kiwigeo]

All a very great tragedy...but an even greater tragedy if we dont learn from it. To those of you like myself who live in high risk areas please sit down and do a risk analysis and work out a plan of action BEFORE a fire hits.

Me....Im not fully prepared like alot of people but when I get home Ill be sitting down with the boss and talking long and hard about our lack of preparedness.

Cheers Martin

[Kim]

Be safe indeed. A lot of people don't seem to understand that once these fire get going, they are so ferocious that they combust material at a rate just short of an all out explosion. To do this these fires draw so much oxygen that they create their own wind front sucking oxygen rich air from ground level and exhausting it as huge plumes of flames smoke and ash high above the tree canopy. The fire front pumps itself along this way as a >100' wall of flame moving at around 100kph.

You cannot out run that, you cannot fight it with a garden hose or a mobile fire unit, you simply must leave before it gets anywhere it can box you in. Tragically some people leave it too late forgetting that the internal combustion engine also needs air to breath. When trying to drive though flames the engine can stall and they are then at the mercy of the inferno.

I heard a story tonight of a group of people in a vehicle who were guided down the road through the smoke to safety by the white lines on the road. The smoke was so thick that you would not normally have been able to see the white lines. However it was so hot the lines of paint had become strips of bright flame as they combusted with the extreme heat.

How lucky is that? (Edit) It should be clarified I suppose that this particular vehicle was in fact a fire truck that was waiting to evacuate these people, it had engine guards activated during the dash. A run of the mill family sedan would have stood no chance.

I just hope that the news improves soon, these are all good people and they need relief. I just don't get it, 1/2 of Queensland is flooded and under water with many homes destroyed and 1/2 of Victoria and NSW is on fire. I am grateful to be in WA and away from all this but man I feel for the poor buggers on the east coast and for all her beauty I wonder at the extremes of nature.

Peace

Kim

[Hesh1956]

Truly unreal and horrible in all respects. The speed alone of this thing is nightmarish......

Hang-in everyone and let us know if we can help too!

[kiwigeo]

Heres a picture taken after fire front has passed...I assume the puddles of melted metal are all thats left of a set of mag wheels.

[Paul B]

Be safe indeed. A lot of people don't seem to understand that once these fire get going, they are so ferocious that they combust material at a rate just short of an all out explosion. To do this these fires draw so much oxygen that they create their own wind front sucking oxygen rich air from ground level and exhausting it as huge plumes of flames smoke and ash high above the tree canopy. The fire front pumps itself along this way as a >100' wall of flame moving at around 100kph.

You cannot out run that, you cannot fight it with a garden hose or a mobile fire unit, you simply must leave before it gets anywhere it can box you in. Tragically some people leave it too late forgetting that the internal combustion engine also needs air to breath. When trying to drive though flames the engine can stall and they are then at the mercy of the inferno.

Kim

Yeah, back in '94 we had some big fires around here, 7 people just up the road (like 500 yards away) were killed, 12 houses gone, school gone.

You just gotta realise how fast these things can move and run when one starts coming your way, I'll always be the first to run these days, bugger the house, grab the missus and kids and just go.

I've seen walls of flame 300 feet high (no BS) with these big sort of tornados of flame running across to top of the fire front. They start to create their own weather pattern, cause you've got all this heat rising and sucking air down below. Ain't no way you are gonna put that out, doesn't matter how well equipt you think you are. Like spitting in a blast furnace.

[Dennis Leahy]

Sad first hand account: Resident records tragedy.

I have never been in a fire, and can't imagine how scary it must be. If it is lightning strikes, how tragic. If the fires were set purposely, then I sure as hell hope the arsonists are caught and __________________.

Dennis

[Lillian]

We came up to the Pacific Northwest from the desert, New Mexico. I dealt with enough brush fires and forest fires to last a life time. What I did take from that was to keep a bag in the car with supplies for 3 days. Keep a bag by the back door with more stuff and paperwork, so you can grab it going out the door. You don't have time to be running around gathering up stuff. I keep a supply of meds in both bags so I don't have to worry about grabbing them. Because of where I live versus where I work and the propensity for weather to happen where I work, shutting down the buses, I keep a bag there as well. When you have to run, you need to focus on where you are going and how to get out of where you're at, not did I grab everything I might need.

[Bob Connor]

[Ron Wisdom]

Man, does that picture speak volumes.

Ron

[Allen]

My wife works for an insurance company that deals with a lot of properties out west and up in the Gulf. She tells me that they are getting claims from some stations that have lost most or all of their stock due to drowning. And some of these places are the size of small European countries.

It's almost impossible to comprehend how much rain has fallen to flood that much land. A country of extremes indeed.

[DarwinStrings]

Shit...

Jim