Its soo Hot here

It reminds me of the fires in  the Peloponnese , with 60 dead and entire villages burnt. I hope the Australian government is not that incompetent as the Greek one in dealing with disasters.

Any chance of rain?

Originally posted by Sparten Any chance of rain?

The January just gone saw an average rainfall for the state of Victoria of 0.8 of one mililitre of rain. This has made conditions in much of Victoria ideal for fire storms. Not to mention we had our hottest week in exactly 100 years. Victoria is the Australian state most severely affected by the fires right now, with some of it affecting New South Wales.

It is difficult to really imagine how bad it is for people in these conditions. The eucalyptus trees, which are so very common in Australia, produce eucalyptus fumes which burn like petrol. Forest fires can rage through the air many 10s of metres above the trees due to these fumes. The fire advances quickly, as quickly as 60 miles an hour. The strong winds carry burning embers through the air which quickly engulf all of the dry vegetation in front of them and then spread further. That kangaroo was lucky to get out with singed fur, the vast bulk of our animals simply are not fast enough to outrun the surging wall of flames.

108 are the worst casualties Australia has suffered in I don't know how long. I try to think of the last time this many Australians died in a single tragedy, I just can't. The bombing of Darwin in WWII perhaps? Pehaps at some point one of our navy ships sank with large loss of life?

It is hard for people to understand how dangerous these fires are until it is too late for them. The sheer scale of the flames mean that the fire sucks in vast amounts of air from surrounding areas, creating a vacuum. People jump into their cars thinking that they can still drive away, only to realise that there is no air available and their car's carberator (sic?) will not work.

People are of course reluctant to leave their homes, and wish to defend their properties against the fire front for as long as possible. But sometimes they stay longer than they should, because they do not realise how little time they have left before things get fatal. Often the radiant heat from the massive fire front is enough to simply destroy their bodies before the smoke or flames are close enough to do their damage.

Federal Parliament has been suspended out of respect for the huge losses, and the government has been quick to organise relief services. The volunteer firefighters are doing a heroic job, and we wish them the best luck in the world in beating this thing.

Bear with me if this has already been mentioned, but the latest news reports here state the fires are now believed to have been instigated.

Originally posted by Leonidas its worse than ash Wednesday 85 dead and counting, the fires are not out, over 200,000 ha burnt so far.aftermathhe entire town of Marysville in the Yarra Valley has been wiped outthese things get hired every seasonyou need to be as fast as this to get out with singed fur

wow - intense
Not too long ago California was like that but they have a lot more people than Australia- I think 36 million in the state today. It is strange how in southern Arizona the cool time of year is the dry time and fire season and in the summer, with the Monsoons, it is very green but very hot and humid. I prefer -17 below F. but dry than 120 F. and high humidity. I also do not like wet cold like Athens, Greece in the winter or San Franciso, CA. I thought Athens was a wet bone chlling cold.


By sunhorseflower on Flickr
Green like Ireland in the summer. I will look forward to the green but not the heat and humidity.


By azrdwarr on Flickr
Another worry besides heat is the extreme lightning storms here during the monsoons.

Originally posted by Voskhod The fires aren't really that far from Melbourne, either. Healesville and Cranbourne aren't exactly the outback. This is very tragic indeed. We had a little meeting at school today on raising money for bushfire victims. Just doing our bit to help out.

Correct. The fires are not all that far from the fringes of the metropolitan region. A friend of mine in Warrandyte is barely 7 minutes from the firefront, and has already evacuated her home.

I don't expect the fires to seriously threaten the inner suburbs. If they do, I have planned what I need to take with me. I will load it on my back and quick march to Port Phillip Bay (hopefully getting a lift on the way), the fires can at least be checked at the ocean.

But again, I don't expect that to occur. The weather this week is much more temperate and I think the worst is over.

there talking of bringing murder charges down on any one convicted.

Apparently the two have been released now, no charges pressed.

I am not surprised eaglecap, there has been links between fire bugs and firemen. Maybe, like a crooked cop, there the attraction to the problem as much as the job.