Between our last fire and the one before that, the county installed, quite under the radar, a reverse 911 system.

heric,
If you're ever in Oz the emergency number, equivalent to your 911, to be dialled is 000; triple zero. And one of the suggestions to have been made already is the installation and use of a signalling system that automatically switches on any radio, TV and phone system and broadcasts "Evacuate" messages. Quite sensible but there were fires on Sunday that burned out houses before their presence was made known to the Fire Control Centre.

I know the Kinglake district well having lived in the area in several small towns over the years.

Andrez,
I was hoping you'd appear on the thread. Knowing that you had connections with folkies up there I was wondering if you'd had any news of people like Brent Davey, John Rasmussen & family and Norm Adams. I've been away from Melbourne for so long I don't even know if they still live up there but thought you might.

re: recriminations. Anger is a healthy part of the grieving process.

Sinsull,
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm not antagonistic to a blame and recrimination phase per se, just so long as it stays sensible; venting in such circumstances can be very therapeutic and positive. But there is a politician famous in Oz for his right wing views (his "Iron Bar" nickname dates from his use of such an implement to maintain order in the pub he owned) who is already spreading misinformation about how the conservationists are to blame because "they prevented Controlled Burning and logging". Much of the vegetation around the hills from Kinglake West to Marysville would be destroyed by Controlled Burning and most of it is in Melbourne's water catchments, where water quality is maintained by prohibiting logging.

A purely impartial observer might regard both him and me as having axes to grind, but I'd suggest his axe is more destructive of the values held by most of the people who are interested in the areas affected.

Cheers, Rowan