No let up from the fires in Australia

Just a horrific situation going on in Australia. I pray that for the safety of all and that this gets resolved very soon.
 

I experienced 2 Ash Wednesday Bushfires in the 1980's with one so close it burnt the paddock across the road from our home.
We had 2 small children and I had the car ready to leave but at the last minute the wind changed. Bushfires have a habit of making their own weather systems. The photo of the 'Firey' (firefighter) and koala says it all really. The vineyard is right against the boundary and should never have been allowed. The greedy Developers and Councils in the Adelaide Hills and in the other bushfire ravaged Australian States will insist on building right against a National Park boundary which should never be allowed.
I am an Aboriginal Elder and there is a 60,000 year answer to this tragedy.
Indigenous Australians have been using controlled burns to reduce the fuel load for 60,000 years.
Over the last 10 years Councils have refused our Indigenous Rangers to carry out the controlled burns so necessary here.
10 years is all it takes to undo 60,000 years of controlled burns. I guess a lot of you will be angered by my post but even the Fire Services themselves said they knew this was coming.
 

I have to agree with you about the greedy developers and more so the councils for selling the land that belongs to the community,
some of the land councils are selling off to developers was left in wills to be used for community use not to,be sold to greedy developers

I live in the same state as you ,where I live our council sold a huge area ( in Kadina ) with lots of trees that could be used by the public anytime ,developers purchased the land knocked over all the trees , now it’s a huge recreation centre that is to expensive for the average working person to use / afford
@peramangkelder
 
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@Kadee46 such a sad state of affairs when thoughtless development is allowed to go on.
The Councils are only in it for the money. Instead of one lot of Council Rates they subdivide a farm and get 100 Council Rates.
Near where we live they are developing an area called Mt Barker. Mt Barker used to be a nice place to visit.
My 1st husband and I lived in Mt Barker when we were caught in the 2 Ash Wednesday Bushfires.
The Council was originally going to limit the population to 2,000 in Mt Barker.
Now it seems like 2,000 people move in every week.
I recently read that these developments have been approved up to 5 years before the development begins.
 
I still remember the Adelaide hills fires like it was only last year ..many perished on the southeast freeway fleeing from the hills areas OMG with so many housing estates in the hills now what would happen if a fire was to get out of hand in the area .

The developments are getting closer and closer to Murray Bridge so much so MB will be a suburb of Adelaide. :unsure:one day

We had a home built in Andrews Farm in 1988 soon after getting married ( 2nd for both of us )
We was assured at the time a substantial “green belt“ would be left between Munro para and Gawler
( about 10 Km ) for open space no it’s all been sold off to developer's.
We sold that home in 2004
Gawler is about 45 km from Adelaide city it was once a county town ..it’s now a suburb of Adelaide

Pera you would know the areas on Pt Wakefield road that was used for growing veggies / hot houses general open spaces ..the areas have been sold to developers ..However I’m waiting hear to the screams when that area floods if we happen to get lots of rain in winter
@peramangkelder
 
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Kadee46 said:
I still remember the Adelaide hills fires like it was only last year ..many perished on the southeast freeway fleeing from the hills areas OMG with so many housing estates in the hills now what would happen if a fire was to get out of hand in the area .

The developments are getting closer and closer to Murray Bridge so much so MB will be a suburb of Adelaide. :unsure:one day

We had a home built in Andrews Farm in 1988 soon after getting married ( 2nd for both of us )
We was assured at the time a substantial “green belt“ would be left between Munro para and Gawler
( about 10 Km ) for open space no it’s all been sold off to developer's.
We sold that home in 2004
Gawler is about 45 km from Adelaide city it was once a county town ..it’s now a suburb of Adelaide

Pera you would know the areas on Pt Wakefield road that was used for growing veggies / hot houses general open spaces ..the areas have been sold to developers ..However I’m waiting hear to the screams when that area floods if we happen to get lots of rain in winter
@peramangkelder
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Yes @Kadee46 you're right about Gawler now being a 'suburb' of Adelaide with so much development there
I know the area around Pt Wakefield well because we used to pass through there on the way to see my Mum
You know my huz Bob reckons the Developers will cause more problems by developing good cropping land
and Councils will eventually have to demolish homes so we can grow fruit and vegies
Cock-Eyed Thinking and Bureaucracy gone mad
I hope I have 'gone back to The Dreaming' before that happens
 
I don't like fire unless it is in a fireplace and these
fires are everywhere, they are very frightening and
I am sorry that all of our Australian friend are in it
no matter where they live in taht vast Country.

The news broadcast on the radio here this morning
says that the New South Wales Government is telling
everybody, locals and tourists to leave the coastal
areas and move inland, I don't know why nor do I
understand why, unless the scrub and bush comes
to the waterside, I would have thought that that was
the place to be.

Stay safe.

Mike
 
In some threatened coastal communities, many of which are full of holidaying families, there is only one road in and out. If that is too dangerous because of the fires then the beach is the only place of refuge.



 
This is just so terrible, @Warrigal. We in CA suffer from wildfires, but nothing on this order - at least not so far. When are the politicians going to wake up, smell the climate change coffee, and LEAD US out of this mess? We are destroying our planet. :cry:
 
When are the politicians going to wake up?
Only when they stop accepting money from the fossil fuel industries.
Perhaps when the people realise the cost of doing nothing far exceeds the cost of transitioning to renewable sources of power.

Sorry if my post is drifting into politics. I am not pointing to any particular political party. In my country both sides of government are equally cowardly on the subject of climate change. The people are the ones who suffer the consequences.
 
Warrigal said:
When are the politicians going to wake up?
Only when they stop accepting money from the fossil fuel industries.
Perhaps when the people realise the cost of doing nothing far exceeds the cost of transitioning to renewable sources of power.

Sorry if my post is drifting into politics. I am not pointing to any particular political party. In my country both sides of government are equally cowardly on the subject of climate change. The people are the ones who suffer the consequences.
Click to expand...
Fully agree that this is not a matter of political party, there is plenty of blame to go around.
 
Unfortunately when all this horror is finally behind us everything will go back to the way it was.
What is it they say...Ignorance is bliss. Yes the people in Government in Australia are ignorant.
They will say the fires have burnt away the fuel load but Government will not consult with Aboriginal Rangers who could have
helped with controlled burns over the last 10 years and the fires would not be so massive now and still ongoing.
Government should consult with Councils regarding Developers putting in place an exclusion zone around National Parks and Forests preventing building on the fence line of these protected areas.
Did you know while these bushfires were raging on our Prime Minister decided to take his family on an overseas holiday?
He was prompted by public outcry to cut the holiday short....that was big of him 🤬
I am aware of the non political nature of this Forum and I do not want to step on any toes
 
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New South Wales and Victoria have been declared a state of emergency ...it’s a bit late in my opinion...Agree 100% with @peramangkelder .
My SIL is in NSW they are right in the line of the fire, packed ready to flee ..but where to ?? roads are blocked by cars trying to get out of the area and no petrol as power lines have been burned
(petrol pumps operate on power)

We are holding our breaths here in South Aust , as we face another day of 42c with strong winds We are hoping we don’t get any flare ups from the Adelaide hills fires we had just before Christmas.
Pera you would know Portrush road where the freeway and PR road meet , We was travelling behind a car on that road yesterday , the passenger flicked a still burning cigarette
onto the road..... totally irresponsible IMO don’t they watch TV ....grrrrrrr :mad::mad:
 
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How totally irresponsible @Kadee46 and it happens all too often
I heard recently the laws surrounding tossing out lit cigarettes will be toughened but not till 17/1/20
Cigarette butt

Lit cigarette butts have caused many grass and bushfires. Photo: File.
Fines for tossing cigarette butts in the ACT were toughened in October, but remain well short of the fines being introduced in NSW which has declared war on tossers.
Motorists caught discarding a lit cigarette from a car in NSW from 17 January 2020 face heavy fines and the loss of five demerit points, the first time a demerit point penalty has been imposed on this type of offence.
If a motorist commits the offence during a total fire ban, the penalty will double to 10 demerit points and a fine of up to $11,000.
Penalties will also apply to passengers caught tossing a lit cigarette on or near the roadway. They will be fined $660, which will double during total fire bans.So far in 2019, more than 200 people have been caught tossing a lit cigarette out of a vehicle in NSW.
NSW Rural Fire Service Association president Brian McDonough welcomed the government’s move to crack down on fire starters.
“This reckless behaviour puts the safety of firefighting volunteers at risk,” Mr McDonough said. “I hope this makes people think very carefully about the consequences of their actions next time they go to discard a lit cigarette.”
Enact this law all over Australia and the sooner the better....C'mon Aussie C'mon C'mon....C'mon Aussie C'mon 🇦🇺
 
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My thoughts are with them, having breathed the smoke from fires in Florida (to a much lesser degree).
Mother Nature will have her way I suppose.
 
The fires in Australia have been horrific, such a tragedy for the people and the animals. My heart goes out to all who have been affected, my sympathy for the families who have lost loved ones. May those who perished rest in peace. :( Please try to stay safe.
 
Not sure that that statement is entirely correct but I do know that the lives of people with asthma or emphysema are at risk from the smoke.

One elderly woman, after alighting from a QANTAS plane in Canberra became very ill and died a few hours later in hospital. OK, she was old but my 32 yo niece has been hospitalised twice during the time fires have been burning near Sydney. She is asthmatic.
 
Here’s the information I read in the Local papers and found online
about the effect of smoke from bushfires ....it’ mentions Sydney however I’d think the effect would be the same anywhere if people are exposed to smoke from the bushfires for a period of time
*******************************************

A respiratory diseases expert has estimated the effect on your lungs of inhaling Sydney’s current fire haze is the equivalent of smoking 32 cigarettes.

And hazardous chemicals in the smoke could adversely affect the babies of pregnant women or cause heart attacks in people with underlying cardiac conditions.

Associate Professor Brian Oliver has analysed the levels of smoke-related particulate, or soot, pollution since the acrid-tasting air from the state’s bushfires moved over the city this week.

Dr Oliver, a University of Technology respiratory diseases scientist, says the current air quality conditions are “as bad as they get”.
He has analysed the latest smoke particle pollution – called PM2.5 – reading from the NSW Department of Environment.


Compared with a normal reading of between five and eight, it was a whopping 641 on Thursday, which Oliver says is the equivalent of spending the day smoking 32 cigarettes.
On Tuesday, greater Sydney’s highest-polluted areas clocked a reading of 734, the equivalent of lighting up 40 cigarettes.
And even short-term exposure to the bushfire smoke can be worse than a daily smoking habit for certain people inhaling the hazardous components.


Prolonged exposure for pregnant women for, say, a month in an area where bushfires have been continually burning could allow dangerous chemicals to enter their unborn baby's bloodstream.
 
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