Victorian Fires.

Couple of quick links with pictures, I think one is the same as Malacasta gave.

Link 1
Link 2

Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 killed 75, those numbers include fatalities in Victoria and South Australia. Vic total was I think 45.

To put some scope on it, there are some reports of smoke from the fires as far away as New Zealand.

This link shows the current status of fires. The column on the right shows the number of trucks currently attending the fire. Each truck probably having between 4 and 6 crew onboard.
Incident Details

Malacasta, ditto to your words regarding Brian Naylor - he will be missed.

With the death toll now officially at 84, it is officially the worst in Australia's history, but it won't stop there. Extremely sad.

EDIT:
Another addition. Recording of a caller to a talkback radio show calling for help.
Radio caller

Please also don't forget that north of the Border in New South Wales they are also battling serious fires across much of the state, and a little further still (and rather ironically) much of Queensland is under water with serious flooding - with fears for a 5 year old believed taken by a crocodile after venturing into waters after his dog.

Aussie's are doing it tough at the moment.

Good luck for all of you Aussie's battling the fires. Hopefully the winds will settle down and minimize the damage..


And stay safe Krav!

Quote:

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Originally posted by Kravenar
Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 killed 75, those numbers include fatalities in Victoria and South Australia. Vic total was I think 45.

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According to a book of stats that I have, it was 46 in Vic and 26 in SA, but that doesn't make 75. Certainly it was of that order, anyhow.

2009 is now Victoria's worst ever year for bushfire death toll.

Thanks for that page of stats, Krav. Interesting to note the large number of fires listed as Small/Safe; would they be fires that have basically burned themselves out, but nobody's taken the time to go in and confirm that it's completely out? It sure seems like a LOT of fires.

Most of the fires are east of Melbourne. And if the smoke has been detected in NZ, but (unlike last time there were huge bushfires, a few years ago) has not settled over Melbourne suburbs in a thick cloud, that would imply that the wind has been fairly steadily blowing it all east. Does this mean that Melbourne city is fairly safe?

Quote:

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Originally posted by Rosuav
Most of the fires are east of Melbourne. And if the smoke has been detected in NZ, but (unlike last time there were huge bushfires, a few years ago) has not settled over Melbourne suburbs in a thick cloud, that would imply that the wind has been fairly steadily blowing it all east. Does this mean that Melbourne city is fairly safe?

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I live in the first urban suburb between the bush and Melboune and the wind was yesterday pushing the fires away from the city (post the change and the reason I'm still at home) and today not doing much at all. So basically safe, unless there is another turn in the weather.

About to head into work, but FYI ROS.

I think that is a live list of current fires, updated automatically.
In some cases it was (on Saturday) listing 5 and 6 structure fire calls in individual streets, and sometimes multiple "small" fires that would have been part of a larger complex, such as spot fires blown ahead of the main firefront that would eventually merge. As such they may not be dealt with individually.

Under the circumstances I wouldn't think any would "go out" of their own accord -although local conditinos may let you get lucky. The Narre warren South fire (took six homes) about 300metres from my folks, was reported at one stage to have most likely started from a cigarette butt. Anything large enough to be reported you would think would have flames showing, and probably unlikely to self extinguish unless it burns to a fire break of some sort such as a road.

Melbourne Metro is relatively safe, and even in the worst conditions the only houses under extreme threat from "wildfire" are those bordering grass or bushlands. This doesn't mean that small fires can't take a house quickly - but the fires being reported are not likely to burn into Chadstone etc..

The cooler conditions and accompanying wind change have a couple of effects. Firstly local fire behaviour became very erratic initially until the change settled in - this is a very dangerous time, but for the most part has passed. The other down side is that the wind now blowing from the South/South West has in many cases turned the flanks of the fire into the main front. In some cases this may mean going from a front hundreds of metres wide to literally tens of kilometres wide. It is important that these fires be contained this week before the wind again swings around to the North - changing fire direction again and also bringing hot northerly winds with very low humidity.

The upside of the change is that the milder conditions, increased humidity and lower temperatures gives good conditions to build control lines. This are often reinforced by backburning to remove ground fuels and make it harder for the fire to jump them. So the longer the high pressure system sits out in the great Australian bite, the better.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Kravenar
I think that is a live list of current fires, updated automatically.
In some cases it was (on Saturday) listing 5 and 6 structure fire calls in individual streets, and sometimes multiple "small" fires that would have been part of a larger complex, such as spot fires blown ahead of the main firefront that would eventually merge. As such they may not be dealt with individually.

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According to the help docs on that page, "Safe: A fire is safe when it can be left without further patrol". I'd be guessing that means that the fire is so completely tame that it can't wake up any more - which isn't easy. I didn't mean that they'd necessarily burned themselves out without assistance, but more that the fire, though not completely doused, is down to black embers, and the truck has left the area to go deal with more pressing matters. I assume it's not normal to have this many small fires listed, and it's only because there are the big ones keeping everyone busy?

No urgency on response. I think most people will agree that putting out fires is higher priority than explaining how you put out fires...

Wow. This is terrible. I hope all of our Threshers in the area are ok. Be safe everyone. Don't take any crazy risks.

And Kravenar: its great to know we have some real life heroes here. Be careful!

Donations etc

For anyone who wants to help ^, the link contains information to the charities and groups who are helping those who are rebuilding their lives from scratch.

it is a terrible time for these families and my heart goes out to them, one firefighter was helping others and lost his wife and child.
I do know how these people are feeling, I went thought the Canberra fires and lost all, the feeling and shock are underscrible, and you never get over the sound of sirens and the smell of smoke.
even with just seeing it on the tv I want to pack up my stuff and put it near the door.
I am glad that we have people like Krav, they are heroes but the reality of going through a fire is going to hell and back and never being the same again and I hope none of our threshers need ever go through it
hugs to you all, keep safe Krav and donate guys or help in anyway you can

have spoken to Krav and he is ok, still in Melbourne at the moment
He will try to get online and post when he can