Bush fires Victoria Australia

[slawie]

Over this last weekend Victoria has experienced its worst natural disaster in recorded history with lives and property lost.
Please spare a moment for some positive thoughts and/or prayers to those who are left behind.
 
See http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/ for information.
 
slawie

[white_cloud]

I was shocked when I saw the news footage over here in the UK - very tragic.
 
The fact that many of the fires were considered to have been started by arsonists really saddens me - what the hell is wrong with these people?? How can they sleep at night??
 
Sometimes I really question human nature.
 
John.

[kmh364]

That's a real shame. I have friends in Vic (Melbourne-area) that I haven't heard from.  
 
Having spent two months in Aus in '03, I can tell you that they don't need arsonists to start bush fires. It's a wide open country with land mass nearly equal to the USA, but only as many people as the NE Corridor. During the dry season, it's super easy for bush fires start and the openness coupled with winds and lack of precip cause them to spread quickly out of control. I was nearly overcome riding my (rental) 100th Aniv. Wide Glide on the motorway heading north form Surfer's Paradise towards Brisbane from the wildfire smoke on the Gold Coast...and the fires were miles away!
 
Anybody who deliberately started those fires that claimed lives and property should be punished to the full exten allowed by law.

[terryc]

I would tie them to trees as the fire apporached.
B*****Ds they are

[terryc]

I would tie them to the trees as the fire approached..
B******ds they are for doing that

[olieoliver]

We get that same problem in Texas during the summer. Dry hot spells that create ideal circumstances for wildfires.  
We'll be under a burn ban with new stories left and right about grass fires and such and you'll still see schmucks thumping their cigarette buts out the window.
In my opinion just as criminal as setting the fire on purpose.  
 
OO

[hydrargyrum]

I am very saddened to hear of this, and my condolences go out to the victims and their families.
 
Is this region prone to wildfires?  So many ecosystems that are attractive to humans have a reliance on periodic fires to clear underbrush, start seed germination etc.  I've always wondered why the park systems didn't try to have yearly controlled burns in these areas to try to discourage gigantic runaway fires.  Clearly I am missing something.

[white_cloud]

I saw the Australian Prime minister on the news describing the tragedy as mass murder by the arsonists. He is spot on.
 
He also visited some of the worst hit areas and was visibly in tears as he tried to comfort victims - I am greatly impressed by his response and reaction.
 
Such tragedies often highlight the worst and susequently the best in people.
 
John.

[dnburgess]

Kevin, there is going to be a big government enquiry which will look at all those kinds of things. One of the issues may be the extent to which tree changers (people moving to the country for life style reasons) are not as fire aware as long term country folk. (e.g. maintaining clreance between forest and house, fire breaks, etc.)
 
But when whole towns are wiped out its clearly a bigger problem than a few people not being careful.
 
The perils of the human / nature interface...

[georgie_boy]

We have friends who moved to Victoria a few years ago, and have heard nothing lately.
It's such a sad time for everyone.
My heart goes out to all those people connected to such a disaster.