BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009-2020

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Bill S from Adelaide
Date: 17 Feb 09 - 05:38 AM

Yes, great to hear about Aut, we shared a house decades ago and now I find he's just down the road.
Bouquet to K-Mart they took the survivors into the store after hours and told them to help themselves to everything they needed.
Brickbat to the cretin who lit a fire in Belgrave at the weekend, CFA stopped it from reaching the forest just in time. Good job the helicopters were handy.
Bill

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Tangledwood
Date: 17 Feb 09 - 05:00 AM

Rich-joy - thank you for the link. I haven't seen Peter for several years and had no idea what had become of him.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Feb 09 - 04:16 AM

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains,
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me.

Dorothea MacKellar

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 17 Feb 09 - 01:46 AM

no need for further test- matches, the aussies have all the ashes they need now!

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 11:44 PM

Another mate, an old Bushie, normally from Rossville via Cooktown (near the famous "Lion's Den"!) has not been able to get home since the Woodford FF at New Year!!
He's currently with Rellies in Bowen (near the Whitsundays) and they all say they have NEVER seen so much water in all their lives, as is Up North at present!!!
Pictures of the Queensland floods are also heart-wrenching, when you consider the stock losses, the homes and livelihoods lost, and the native flora and fauna destruction .....

R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 10:34 PM

All I can offer are more {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} to you all. Still so sad.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 09:53 PM

Hi Rowan, if you PM me an email addy, I'll send you the photo and other details I have received lately, of Pete. Sorry, don't know Rob Shackleton, though ....

Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 09:36 PM

I'd wondered about Aut, rich-joy. I heard the poem this morning but hadn't recognised his voice and Fran Kelly suggested he hadn't wanted his surname mentioned.

Dis you manage to get any info about Rob Shackleton, who's in the same area; it's where the tree of us used to go horseriding together 35 years ago.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 08:22 PM

Take 3?! Crikey!

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/

(Peter Auty's interview and poem, from Flowerdale, Vic)

R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 08:18 PM

Take 2

Oz Folk Identity, Peter Auty, (ex Queenslander, but citizen and lover of The World), from Flowerdale, was fighting fires elsewhere. He has written a very moving poem about his experiences and read his poem in the interview. It was on ABC's Radio National breakfast programme on Tuesday, Feb 17th - it's shown in the 8.05am time slot.

R-J

my blicky skills have gone walkabout this morning, so I'll just leave it at this :



but please have a listen ....

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 07:07 PM

2009 Victorian Bushfire coverge

Laughter lifts spirits among bushfire survivors

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: John O'L
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 06:58 PM

... Unlike the NSW govt., which has recently altered development requirements so that just about anyone can build just about anything just about anywhere.

Aged homes in fire zone

Thanks Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 06:36 PM

ABC radio talk back program last night was sensible too. Gave people with the necessary knowledge a fair go. It showed proper concern and sympathy as well as well-considered expert opinions.
Think I might start watching and listening again.
open mike my thoughts were with you again too.
We're sharing knowledge, USA and Australia, I notice. A program I saw recently was excellent. The Californian fire-fighter (he had other related qualifications) began by saying that knowledge of a specific region was the first step and then went on to give his expert opinion on the changing nature of wild fires. He spoke about complex ecosystems that are our forests, building and living in fire-prone areas, the effects of climate change, fighting fires....
So important that we listen to the right people.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: open mike
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 05:43 PM

I send good wishes, strength and healing to all those involved in this tragedy. I know all too well the pain of fire loss. Blessings to those who have lost lives and loved ones in this terrible event.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 16 Feb 09 - 04:39 PM

As predicted, the forensic teams have increased the official death toll and there are still quite a few listed as Missing.

I was pleased to see MediaWatch did a proper hatchet job on Miranda Devine; it's been a long time since I first had noted her as a bit of a hate monger. I think I'll let Michael Duffy's pathetic attempt (much like his contribution to the climate change debate) slide into the oblivion it deserves.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 15 Feb 09 - 05:25 PM

Rowan -- What are you saying!! Of course you've been involved. I believe all of us here understand how important this thread has been. It's a place we can come to express our grief, share our thoughts, give and receive hugs and messages of comfort. It's a place where we are not judged when we discuss all the sadness.
I rang my daughter last night. We talked about many things. We began, of course, with the deaths of people. My grandson's friend lost three of his other best mates. The kids are supporting each other. My daughter said, "It's so hard, Mum, they're only fourteen." We talked about friends who survived but lost everything. Others who came home to find their homes safe in the middle of blackness.
At last we talked about our walks in the Bush. My daughters shared those from before they were born. As a toddler this daughter once said, "Mummy my little legs are so tired". I reminded her about that last year when she walked 100 kms for OXFAM.
Together we find we can talk about the loss of special places -- both man made and wild -- Kinglake, Murrindindi, the towns of Marysville and Narbethong. The animals domestic and wild. We've both been wary about talking about the Bush. She said, "They're starting to bash the Greenies again". I said, "Keep your head down. Stay cool. We'll talk again soon. We're not alone."
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Feb 09 - 02:56 PM

May the parts of Australia that can, become fecund and verdant again. May the parts that cannot, reach and maintain a balance that sustains all.

{{{{Australia}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 11:53 PM

Out here in the Western District of Victoria there used to be native grassland. Aboriginal people burned it regularly and the vegetation reflects that practice. The mountain range to the north of these grasslands was not burned and the vegetation shows that. Some old stories, from the few Aboriginal people left, bear this out too. The mountains were a sacred spot and not a hunting area. There is no place on Earth quite like them. It's an upthrust from the sea-floor -- sand and granite 100 kms from the sea.
Sadly when the mountains burned 3 years ago all sorts of people became experts about the value of frequent burns -- including many of the younger members of the Aboriginal community. Those special mountains are quiet now where they were once full of birds. The fern gullys are weedy and dry. Many areas are now bare rock.
I fear they will never be given the chance to recover, even if they can survive the drought. Tourists still go there to see the rocks. People say, "See it's coming back!" But it's not. What's allowed to come back is not special and it's not unique.
But yes, you are so wise, Rowan. I too believe it will get better.

Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 11:15 PM

I was listening to Geraldine Doogue's Saturday morning program on Radio National and heard her interview Roger Underwood (a past General Manager of the WA Dept of Conservation of Land Management) and Clive Hamilton, who has been researching changes in attitudes towards the bush in Oz over the last two centuries. Underwood is yet another who is lining up against conservation-conscious attitudes. He kept declaring that the only way for land management to be properly done is by burning forests and maintained that all WA forests needed regular burning.

It struck me that he was seriously derelict in his use of the term "forest"; although there are tall forests in WA they don't have much in the way of the tall forests east of Melbourne. Many of his listeners will come from all over Oz, including places where any group of trees taller than 8 metres is regarded, locally, as forest. There was a TV program on Thursday night where the same stuff was being presented by Tim Flannery et al.

Don't get me wrong, Tim has a few really good ideas but he's no bushfire ecologist, despite losing his house and manuscripts in the '94 fires around Sydney. He's a bit like the international physicist who uses his pre-eminence in that field to give his arguments about the existence of the Christian God "added credibility." And the young woman (who comes from Cape York and has done some wonderful work representing Aboriginal communities) chimed in with her comment along the lines of "Aborigines burned vegetation all the time and they should have been doing that around Melbourne." Well, she's right about her own community's cultural practices but seriously mistaken if she believes that all Aboriginal communities in Australia had the same cultural practices, let alone applied them in their respective areas in the same way as Cape York's communities practised theirs.

Fortunately, there has been evidence of a thriving sense of humour among the people affected. A woman took a TV crew to the incinerated remnants of her house. When they proceeded to walk willy nilly through it she admonished them; holding up the remnants of the handle to what had been her front door she directed, "Through here." And the fire crew driving through an incinerated landscape went past a couple of residents blacking out a small spotfire with knapsack sprays; the crew received hoots of laughter when they commented, "You can't get a decent fire anywhere her anymore."

I'm still feeling frustrated because the surgery has prevented my getting involved but the tears have passed and, with them, any residual fragility. It will get better.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 05:19 PM

No more Fosters for this household either. I imagine they'll regret the decision.
I keep thinking about words and the images they produce. Not yet but when we look toward the future we need to understand that the Bush is seen in very different ways. It depends on your perspective and on the events that are current.
When talking about forests (and woodlands and grasslands)firefighters have to use the word, "Fuel" but the same picture emerges if you use the word, "Habitat". Fuel is a powerful word. Habitat is benign. If we get it wrong there is so much to lose.
It will get worse won't it, Rowan. I wonder if it will then get better. Stay safe.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: freda underhill
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 04:39 PM

Apalling behaviour. I'll never drink Foster's again - not a hard pledge to keep, I don't drink beer! but I do purchase it, I usually have some on hand for visiting folkies when I have a session.

In the meantime, a couple of law firms are instigating class actions against Singapore-owned electricity company SP AusNet, which is responsible for maintaining most of the power lines in eastern Victoria.

A two-kilometre stretch of power line in Kilmore East snapped during strong winds and record heat about 11am last Saturday. Within minutes a nearby pine forest was ablaze. Within six hours the fire had destroyed nearly every building in the towns in its path.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimated the cost of the fires at about $500 million. But SP AusNet's legal liability has been capped at $100 million under a deal struck by the former Kennett government with private utility operators, when the former State Electricity Commission was privatised in 1995. Legal sources said this meant the Brumby Government could be forced to cover a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Bill S from Adelaide
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 06:23 AM

Sadly, you can get lower than the above. Fosters have been reorganising and ringing up people to tell them they are sacked. So far they have rung 3 volunteer firemen while they were fighting the fires to tell them they are sacked. Another reason not to drink their rubbish brew. Bit of a challenge for their PR to dig themselves out of that hole.
Bill

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: freda underhill
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 05:45 AM

This morning I had brunch with friends from Victoria. Dot's cousin lives in Bendigo. The fires were nowhere near, the cousin decided to go to the shops and took her teenage son (who she often leaves at home playing computer games while she shops). They got home 25 mins later to find their home and everything in it completely burnt down.

At work yesterday, we had a raffloe and barbeque to support the bushfire victims, and raised $701 dollars. We'll have another one next week.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 12:37 AM

Well, it is known that certain plants grow better when beside one another, such as, I think it is marigolds, which help protect vegetable plants from infestations. Also, I once had a gardenia and one other houseplant, can't remember which one it was, but next to one another they always did well; if I separated them, same window, same amount of light, etc. just apart with one or two other plants in between, they got droopy, sick, lacklustre, etc. Back together and they would perk right up. So...they were quite social with one another.

I know there are plants in the forests, here, which help one another to grow, being sociable in nature's own way. Makes sense to me!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 12:15 AM

Plant Sociology 2. Maybe its more of that Post Modernist shite that has infected so many of our tertiary courses, these days.

:-)

Cheers again,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 14 Feb 09 - 12:11 AM

Plant Sociology? The mind boggles? Must have missed that elective in my Social Work studies!

:-)

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 11:05 PM

Watched the ABC's 730 Report last night; it was all devoted to interviews with those more or less directly involved. It included a bit of the predictable "conservationist bashing". Part was from a farmer complaining about the fact that farmers were no longer allowed to cut firewood from the roadside verges "thus increasing the fuel available to the fires." That argument sidesteps the fact that, in most parts of SE Oz that have been cleared for agriculture, all the privately owned land has been cleared, leaving only the roadside verges and cemeteries with anything like the original vegetation components or habitat (trees with nesting hollows for birds and logs with hollows for bandicoots etc) to act as wildlife corridors and revegetation banks. Tricky to find and acceptable (Let alone the "right) balance.

The other I first met when he was a new lecturer and a bit wet behind the ears and the paint on his PhD hadn't yet dried. He described himself as a "plant ecologist" (as I do) and I'm quite certain he can tell you all the details of the movement of phosphorus through various ecosystems (rather important in Oz soils) and the productivity of second-rotation crops of Pinus radiata (aka Monterey pine and a valuable 'weed' in Oz) but he had a considerable disregard for those of us researching plant sociology, succession and fire behaviour the last time I heard him before this interview.

It'll get worse before it gets better.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 07:54 PM

our national radio service is Streaming now - National Bushfire appeal (day & night, thru all programs) with interviews etc & latest news

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 05:59 PM

Yes thank you rich-joy. I'd never seen this work. The way it blends with the natural forest. So very sad along with all the other great sadness.
I believe seeing this work helps us to understand why people live in these areas.

Bill, is there anything we can think about that Di needs? Please pass on our thoughts to her.
Break a leg at Diggers Rest.

We're performing tomorrow at a local event. We're actually being paid for a change. Many of us will donate our money in some way. The local school is collecting donations as well as many other groups.
Local farmers are sending feed even though they have so little themselves because of the long drought.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 04:47 PM

rich-joy, thanks for the link. What a wondrous place. I am grateful they have the book and DVD and I wish them all the best in salvaging what they can of the garden and rebuilding. His artwork took my breath away.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 01:15 PM

Here's hoping that this respite lingers. Droughts do have to end sometime.

Kind of like Juneau, Alaska. If we don't go back to our 'normal' average of snow soon we'll have to change the norm.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Riginslinger
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 11:16 AM

My god, did they do that?

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Bill S from Adelaide
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 04:54 AM

One folkie to add to the list is Di of Brandragon morris, she is ok but lost her home and business. We were booked to perform in Marysville next weekend, staying at Di's but will be fundraising in Diggers Rest instead.
If you think the arsonists are low, how about the **** who have stolen the firefighters safety clothing while they sleep the sleep of the utterly exhausted.
Bill S from Melbourne (yes I've requested a nic change!)

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: John O'L
Date: 13 Feb 09 - 03:08 AM

Man charged over Churchill fire

Sound like a sick puppy.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 09:20 PM

heric that's so true. I've lived in bush-fire prone areas most of my life and we live in these places because of the bush. Many people, mostly new-comers to the place we last lived in, thought the State Park and the homes of everyone else should be their personal fire-breaks. Don't quite know how that would have worked.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: rich-joy
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 08:20 PM

I hadn't realised until a friend forwarded a PowerPoint slide show this morning, that the house, artworks and much of the beautiful forest garden sculpture of Bruno Torfs, had also gone from the World, with the devastating Marysville area fires ......

http://www.brunosart.com/index.htm

Gawd knows, the World could do with a little more beauty and magic ....
But, at least the family are alive, unlike many friends and neighbours.

R-J

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: heric
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 08:09 PM

Most people here don't know that our last huge fire largely traveled along a sea-to-sky ("coast to crest") riverfront park/trail system fifty miles long (when they finish it.) But we have such a shortage of green that nobody can really develop a green versus non-green schism. They all just yell at the homeowners for not clearing their own properties.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 07:11 PM

Another update for those interested. The Red Cross appeal for Disaster relief has just topped $75 Million and still rising!

ABC reports that Sky News is reporting that the economic "rescue package" stuck in the Senate has just been passed. That means even more $$$ to help make a difference in all the fire affected areas.

Sky News

There is much acrimony between Green and non-Green elements as to the need or not for burning off and fuel load reduction. Both sides make telling points especially in light of all the personal tragedies over the past week but I hope at least common sense will prevail and the need for personal safety can be reconciled along with environmental concerns without going overboard to the other extreme and bulldozing everything that is remotely flammable. The coming Royal Commission into these events will be very, very interesting indeed!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 04:48 PM

We have the same numbering in our rural shire as Joy described (it is specified in an Oz/NZ Standard) but I recall an incident before they introduced it and when I was living another 40km west.

As I came round a bend I found the copper wires of the phone line had been cut and left across the road, hazardously. I stopped and relocated them off the road and went home to ring Telstra; the copper lines to phones out our way had been replaced by underground optical fibre for a while.

When I got the Services Difficulties and Faults operator she asked me the location.
"Mrs McGrath's, just west of The Pinnacle"

Now, everyone along that road knew Mrs McGrath and all of the service techos in town did too. But, no. The Operator for our area had been relocated to Newcastle, five hours' drive closer to Sydney and she hadn't much of a clue. It took more than a week for the wire to be removed and to this day I'm not sure Telstra were the ones that retrieved it.

Thankfully I wasn't trying to report a fault in an LPG gas cylinder. A while later I responded to a house fire and (due to the incompetence of the local FCO) was required to direct a water stream from only one 1" hose to cool it; I could see the seam bulging with the heat from the fire. When we finally did get hold of the gas company, their faults responders had be relocated to Perth, clear across the continent.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 04:31 PM

Funny thing about finding our place, though Sandra, is that out here we're all miles apart -- some of us 5 or more. The numbers are the distance from the main road. So one number wrong and you're maybe 20 miles out. On the other hand everybody knows everybody's name -- and fire reference. The fire reference isn't used either -- for "reasons of privacy". AHHHHHHHHH! Of course the bush telegraph still works amazingly fast. We would have been better to have rung our voluteer paramedic friend direct and have him sort it out. Not complaining though. Just musing.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Andrez
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 04:12 PM

Update for those interested. The Red Cross appeal for Disaster relief has just topped $63 Million and rising!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 06:43 AM

lucky you.

Last year I spent a lot of time at dusk in the inner city trying to find a friend's house - many streets were not named & many houses were not numbered, & I was wandering back & forwards across a main street trying to find side-street names. At the time I was wondering how ambulances would have coped finding a sick person.

Sydney had been having a cool spell! I even threw my winter dressing-gown across my bed last night as it was too cool to sleep covered only with a sheet. And we are getting rain at times! like now.

I see your end of the state is cooler, too, merely late 20s in the next few day, but still high fire danger, tho isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening of Monday sounds good.

I hope the forecast doesn't change - apart from more rain.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Feb 09 - 04:24 AM

There's a lull. Several fires still burning but nobody's under direct threat. Latest on the cause of the Marysville fire is that it was almost certainly deliberatly lit.
Heard a report that the "early warning system", that may or may not have helped, was delayed for "reasons of privacy". It will be working before next fire season. Couldn't help being reminded that when my heart stopped last August the local paramedics, who are friends, got lost because they were given a wrong property number. Names are not given "for reasons of privacy". So I could have died in private -- isn't that thoughtful.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 10:58 PM

Our worst local fire was started by a lone and somewhat inexperienced hunter who set off a flare when he was lost at dusk. The judge took pity on him after he became a pariah and sentenced him to six months and a lot of community service.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 09:53 PM

One of the worst arsonists, if not the worst, in the US was John Orr of Glendale, CA. Joseph Wambaugh wrote a chilling True Crime book about it. It really gets into the head of an arsonist and is esp. chilling because the guy was A Fire-fighter Who Couldn't Resist the Flames.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Rowan
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 09:52 PM

It has been an acknowledged problem for some years that the firefighting services attract those who are excited about fires for all the wrong reasons. And others do it for revenge-type reasons. Some years back we got tired of the level of ("alleged"; remember that!) corruption by the local hierarchy and the captain of the local bushfire brigade. So we did some constructive enrolment (others called it branch stacking) and replaced the wannabe-farmers BBQ & social club with people who took training and responsibility seriously. Over the next three weeks we were called out to a fire every two days. Each one had been carefully lit so that, id the response was quick enough and competent enough it could be controlled; if this hadn't been the case, the entire area (downwind and uphill) would have been at risk.

Well, we were quick and effective and it rather polished our performance. After we let it be known to various people previously connected to the brigade that we had reported these fires to the police as suspected arson, they ceased.

Funny, that!

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: artbrooks
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 09:18 PM

Difficult though it might be to believe, a fire was started near here a couple of years ago by an "on-call" firefighter who thought he wasn't being called in to work enough, abn wanted more hours. He's in jail. Another was started by a Forest Service employee who threw her "Dear Jane" letter in her (illegal) campfire - the letter caught fire and then blew away.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: GUEST,A Regular
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 09:12 PM

We had a guy set 11 fires along a 10 mile stretch of road. At one point we were fighting seven fires at once. He endangered many, many people. I'd have no problem seeing him do 20 years, NO parole.

If any of these fires were deliberately set I hope the person/people are found and given a deep dark hole to live in for a few decades.

A firefighter.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Jack Campin
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 09:01 PM

In Greece, fires on a similar scale have been set by property developers (or by people working for them) so as to destroy any natural-heritage value the land might have and make it available for building (typically of holiday resorts). Nothing psychopathic about it, just the entrepreneurial spirit doing its thing.

Some of the areas hit by the Victoria fires look eligible for that treatment.

Subject: RE: BS: Bushfires in Australia - Feb 2009
From: Joybell
Date: 11 Feb 09 - 08:55 PM

Jennie -- how wonderful. So many of the people in the fire-affected areas lost handmade treasures like quilts. It's actually quite cold at night now. I feel for the families in tents.

While not ignoring the possibility of arsonists from the city it's probably more common to find local ones. Often people know the culprit. Someone will know. Sometimes whole communities know. It's proving it that will be the problem. And getting it right.
Cheers, Joy