BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009-2020

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 08:22 PM

I'm not sure of the merits of publicising such techniques but I suppose those who are committed would be able to find them out, anyway. The one described by kat has been around for quite some time; it was described at the first Bushfire Ecology Conference (Adelaide, 1966) I mentioned above, in the session that was closed to the press. The depiction of the technique's effects was the main reason why that session was so closed.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 08:26 PM

(oh I see the Wambaugh book in question was nonfiction. . . . )

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 05:57 PM

Thanks for the links, Sandra. It's to be expected that residents in the areas of the fires are angry but statements like,

"In previous times these royal commissions have been undertaken and put into a cupboard,"

are quite wrong. The studies undertaken after the Ash Wednesday fires have added to our knowledge in a huge way. The fact that the recent fires were much more severe just means that we need to add to that knowledge.

It's still hard to be "Green" at the moment even out here away from the scene of the worst fires.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 May 09 - 08:26 AM

In today's paper there is a photo of a single tree, a new bit of green in Marysville. Can't seem to get it to link but it's worth a look.
M

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 May 09 - 11:37 AM

latest about Marysville on News Radio site

I think I remember a similar pic somewhere on the news site - & think I mentioned it sometime in the fire period, found it! - or is it?, well, its a pic of an epicormic shoot (wazzat?) on a burnt tree 4 weeks after the fire. It's the first pic on this slideshow.

I can't find a pic of shoots on 2 local paper sites.

Mary - is this the pic? if not, what's your local paper's name?

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 May 09 - 04:48 PM

No. It was on line - one of those "The Week In Pictures" but from a newspaper. Total devastation and a tiny bright green tree. I will find it and figure a way to link it.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 May 09 - 04:59 PM

Found it.
Open link
Go to browse in left hand column
Photos
The week in pictures
It is #17 or 18.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 May 09 - 07:50 PM

wow! there are some very interesting pics in that list - love the sand dunes.

info about Grass trees from an American site so you buy one if you want one.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 May 09 - 08:20 PM

Maine has frost from early October through May with an occasional Nor'easter and several feet of snow to tear the place apart. I don't think so...

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 May 09 - 10:13 PM

Oh, Mary, that is a beautiful picture! There were some other really good ones on there, too. Thanks for the link.

We might actually be able to grow them here...it rarely gets lower than 20 above zero and there would no problem with it being well-drained and plenty of sunshine. Might have to look into that! Thanks that link, Sandra!

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 May 09 - 03:09 AM

no worries, kat.

& my thanks to Mary for the link, I've bookmarked The Week in Pics URL

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 May 09 - 07:59 PM

video - Smoke haze from fires hanging over antarctica (May 28th) see Video section & scroll down

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 May 09 - 08:11 PM

story - Bushfire aftermath: smoke trapped over Antarctica

sandra

on a different note, check out the video of a huge, car-swallowing hole in a suburban Sydney street & park

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 29 May 09 - 09:34 PM

Sandra, thanks for posting those links.    Really brings home the reality that this planet really is one unified ecosystem.

Kat, I don't know anything about grasstrees, but feel obliged to offer a cautionary thought - has it been determined that they do not become invasive when moved out of their native habitat where there are natural controls?

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 30 May 09 - 03:21 AM

Janie, I doubt that grass trees (Xanthorrhoeas) would get out of control. They're very, very slow-growing. There are smaller ones without the trunk -- but they're slow too. However we do need to consider such things, don't we? Also we have to be concerned about illegal removal of them as they become fashionable. A hundred years is a long time to grow them to maturity from seed.

Sandra! I was hoping you were safe at home when that hole appeared.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 31 May 09 - 01:32 AM

Joy, I very occasionally travel to Bondi Junction in a (slow) bus that wanders around a few suburbs to make what is a 10 minutes trip in the express bus! But I used to have a friend who lived up the road & often walked past that park

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 31 May 09 - 01:37 AM

OOOOOOh Sandra. Stay away from land-slides.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 31 May 09 - 06:57 PM

The Royal Commission into the conduct of the response to the fires still has a long way to go but, so far, the evidence from participants suggests a complete breakdown in communications and coordination at almost every level; the awesomeness of the predictions (as well as the fact that almost all fire behaviour variables were well off their various scales, meaning the various fires' behaviours were essentially unpredictable) was not fully realised nor properly communicated, radio systems were separated between agencies and urban and rural areas of particular agencies, vital messages were not communicated until after their window of effectiveness had passed.

These are just some of the conclusions available from basic news reports of the Commission's proceedings.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 06:43 PM

For those of you who remember the truly remarkable photo of the firefighter giving a thirsting koala a drink from his water bottle (there was a link to it earlier in the thread but so far up I haven't found it) the sad news from Friday last is that Sam (the name given to the koala when taken into recovery care) died on the operating table in an attempt to remove painful cysts associated with a sever case of chlamydia. [Chlamydia is an infectious pestilence that has affected large numbers of koalas in several populations across Oz in recent times, and not for reasons that might occur to smutty minds.]

Sam's remains will be mounted taxidermically and used in a Victorian museum display that deals with raising consciousness about affects of human activity on the landscape.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 06:54 PM

Sam the bushfire koala dies

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 08:20 PM

Thanks, Rowan, for letting us know, and thanks, Sandra, for the link.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 10 Aug 09 - 07:52 AM

Just a small point of clarification or pedantry as the case may be but Sam, contrary to popular belief, was female not male as implied by the name.

May she rest in peace!

:-)

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: JennieG
Date: 10 Aug 09 - 07:47 PM

Poor little Sam....the thought of her taxidermied furry corpse seems very sad.

Cheers (sniff)
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:19 AM

Euphemisms, spin and the Bushfires Royal Commission

an interesting par -

The focus of the measures put in place by the Victorian Government in the days after the commissioners released their interim recommendations was an announcement of 52 towns at particular risk of bushfire this summer - and the declaration of a "bushfire preparedness" week in October.

As the summer 09/10 fire season has already started it might be a bit late.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 12:53 PM

Sydney is now a dust bowl. Can the plague of locust be far behind?
How are you all?
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 08:08 PM

Sydney yesterday

I woke at 8 to a very yellow world - unfortunately by the time I went out after showering & washing my hair it was merely creamy white. I walked along the streets I use when I have my evening walk & took photos in the usual places - I'm about half a km from the CBD & love the views of the city skylines. A few structures could be almost seen thru the dust - others like the Harbour Bridge were totally invisible.

6 photos in Scenery album along with pics without dust!

Yesterday lots of folk were holding scarves over their mouths, others wore masks, my eyes were watering by the time I came back from my 30 min walk. Fortunately I have eye drops I use when my eyes get sore, but I bet lots of folks had to buy drops. Asthmatics were warned to stay indoors with windows closed & medications close at hand.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 08:19 PM

News Radio user submitted photos - Sydney & other areas

more user submitted photos - from Sydney local radio listeners

I had intended to submit some of my pics, but time got away.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 08:22 PM

Dust storm 'started 12 months ago'

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 23 Sep 09 - 10:45 PM

Thanks for all of the links. I learn a lot from what you Oz'landers post about the environmental happenings and events on the other side of the world.

I hope this fire season is much less horrific than the last.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 05:39 AM

Just in case people around the world actually feel too sorry for Sydney siders just because they got a little dusty, you have to know that this is the town that generated the following gem sometime recently:

Dodgy Humor: Click entirely at own risk!

Now if you've been brave enough to check the link out, I ask you doesnt this kind of show make the entire town and everyone who laughed, a candidate for plagues of locusts, pestilence, dry rot eternal damnation and any other conceivable plague? I mean they even throw the football behind them when running towards their goal instead of kicking it toward the goal! What kind of a town does that?

I rest my case M'lud

:-D

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 11:07 AM

OMG Andrez. That is hysterical.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 12:58 PM

Mopping spit coffee from the keyboard!

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 03:59 PM

snork... so great.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 04:00 PM

ooops! got so side tracked by Andrez' vignette, I forgot to send good wishes to Sandra.

How's it going? Keeping your crafts clean I hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 01:25 AM

Living in rural Oz I miss out on such radio programs. But I've just returned from Alice Springs, where I celebrated a friend's significant birthday at the Araluen Homestead; she was the Director there for a while.

No dust and not even wind until I left Coober Pedy but it was a 60kph beauty all the way south; fortunately a tailwind. But no dust until Glendambo, which is upwind of Lake Eyre, where various people reckon Sydney's dust came from; once again, Glendambo provided rain in the middle of its dust storm.

The tailwind kept up 'til I got to Port Augusta, where it started to rain and filled up Adelaide's dams; the rain lasted 'til I got to Yunta but the wind kept up. Still, no dust. Stayed overnight at Mannahill (now, there's an experience) wondering if we'd still have a roof in the morning. Lots of wind but no dust, not even in Broken Hill. In fact, the place was sparkling, showing no sign that the visibility during the previous afternoon had been down to about 10 metres. All the road trains and semi trailers had stopped, as visibility was so bad and even new trucks had sand penetrating seals.

No dust until Wilcannia, where the landscape was shifting across the road; all the sheep and feral goats had stripped the vegetation so that te wind could just blow it away. The tailwind lasted all the way home (New England) but the only evidence of dust was the colour of oncoming vehicles. Today the carwash places are doing a roaring trade.

All the best, Sandra.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 03:34 AM

thanks for your good wishes, Tam, the only visible dust in my place has been here for so long I don't want to disturb it.

Big red hits NZ as dust storm crosses Tasman

Truckloads of dust ripped from barren land

Janie, Summer 2009/2010 fire season has started early & will probably not be minor as rains are down.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Stringsinger
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 02:12 PM

Much of these unfortunate tragedies are at the expense of the denial of global warming.
The desertification of the world is a major byproduct of this denial. We will see more
burnings and ecological disasters until this issue is recognized and acted upon.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Tangledwood
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 08:20 PM

Lots of wind but no dust, not even in Broken Hill. In fact, the place was sparkling,

Literally, probably - there is such a high metal content, silver, lead and zinc, in the dust which comes of the skimp dumps. I lived there for a few years in the '70s.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 26 Sep 09 - 12:03 AM

Thanks for the links on the current fire season.

I hear you Frank. I find myself wondering - how long will the water last. Without much knowledge to back up my thoughts and intuition, I can't help but think of Australia and the American West, among other places, as canaries in the coal mine.

The capacity for denial by our species is phenomenal. (Of course, we may the only species with a sufficient capacity for foresight to have developed the psychological defence of denial.)

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Janie
Date: 19 Nov 09 - 08:30 PM

I see that there is extremely high risk of bushfires in parts of Australia in the last day or so.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/6492006/catastrophic-fire-warning-for-nsw/

Hope people take the warnings seriously and err on the side of safety - and then hope it was all for naught!

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 03:28 AM

Teens front court over Black Saturday fire Two teenagers charged over the devastating Bendigo Black Saturday fire that killed a man have been granted bail in a Victorian children's court.

This morning a 15-year-old and 14-year-old boy were arrested by Taskforce Phoenix detectives.

Both are charged with arson causing death for allegedly lighting a fire in a dry creek bed at Maiden Gully, near Bendigo, on the afternoon of Black Saturday.

The court heard the fire quickly spread south-east and claimed the life of Kevin Michael Cane.

Police allege the Maiden Gully fire caused in excess of $23 million damage to private property and Crown land.

The magistrate ordered that the court be closed to the media and the public due to the nature of the charges, the defendants' age and the need to minimise any stigma.

The magistrate granted the boys bail, subject to strict conditions, including that they obey a curfew and do not attend bushlands.

It is nearly a year since the fire which killed Mr Cane and destroyed 58 homes.


Black Saturday memorials renew grief



Explore the events and stories from the Black Saturday bushfires.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 04:52 PM

And, according to the latest news, the Victorian govt is squirming under the prospect of damning recommendations from the Royal Commission. For the benefit of US people, a Royal Commission is similar to a Senate Select Committee.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Feb 10 - 04:59 AM

Artists inspired by Black Saturday fires

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 03:13 AM

10 years after the Black Saturday fires but 10 years of silence doesn't mean we haven't had any bushfires.

Our fire season is getting longer & the fires stronger, yet our Prime Minister does not believe there is a problem, we don't need to hire US Air cranes etc in the off season, we can do it all on our own! However the Northern hemisphere fire seasons are getting longer too, so authorities are using their resources for a longer period, so couldn't lend them anyway & we don't have enough to do it on our own.

National situation - the government believes in coal! not climate change. “Not today”? When fire-struck communities start talking about climate politicians must listen

This is the situation in my state - Fires rage as Berejiklian ignores advice and decimates what's left and Fire and Rescue NSW budget cuts which have led to closures of fire stations.

Closest fires to me are 20km (12 miles) across the other side of the harbour, & 100km (60 miles) to the west in the Blue Mountains.

map of fires across bushfire live blog

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 05:15 AM

Closest fire to me is about 20 minutes north. The highway is closed. That's a bit close for comfort.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Megan L
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 09:54 AM

Stay safe both of you we will be thinking of you

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 02:19 PM

The more things change, the more they stay the same ...
and the news is not good.
Thanks, though, for letting us know.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 07:50 PM

A welcome wind change is all that has stood between my Bro at Warrell Creek directly experiencing the Bushfires. He and his son have stayed to try and protect the house and animals and outbuildings.

Of course, another wind change can easily alter all that again.

And a welcome wind change for one area can mean destruction and heartbreak for others ......

R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Nov 19 - 06:21 AM

fingers cross, rich-joy.

latest fire info for NSW but there are also major fires in 2 other states, Queensland & Western Australia

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Hrothgar
Date: 14 Nov 19 - 07:02 AM

"Idyllic bushland setting" = firetrap.