Victorian Bushfires

[Ra]

700+ homes destroyed... about 85 people dead, along with a famous newscaster that I grew up watching and his wife... and one town actually burnt off the face of the earth completely.
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84 dead, hundreds of homes lost, as bushfires rage through Victoria

AT least 84 people are dead in the bushfires ripping through Victoria, in a disaster which has eclipsed the state's Ash Wednesday devastation of two decades ago.

Authorities are continuing a grim search for more bodies as horrific eyewitness accounts emerge from devastated communities. It was estimated at least 750 homes had been lost - 550 of them in the Kinglake area.

Victoria Police have confired 84 deaths, but the final toll could rise much higher as authorities move further into the affected towns.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced emergency relief funding for the state, saying "Hell in all its fury had visited ... many good people lie dead".

Whole towns have been destroyed and thousands of people left homeless with record temperatures and fierce winds sparking devastating infernos.

The town of Marysville was reported to have been wiped out, but the Country Fire Authority (CFA) said many residents had made it to emergency shelter in a local park.

More destruction and power blackouts are possible, with up to a dozen fires still burning out of control. And it has been reported that arsonists are suspected of relighting some fires after fire crews had brought them under control.

The worst bushfire to strike Victoria was the 1983 Ash Wednesday disaster when 47 people were killed in the state.
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Full story here: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...006785,00.html

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Almost every year around January-February, there are bushfires in Australia.

[Ra]

...there's a reason why I decided to post this instead of leaving everyone happily looking at headlines of celebrities having babies or dying or what not. These are the worst in Victoria's history. Or even in Australia's history, I don't know. About 130 people dead, about 750 homes destroyed, tons of bushland burnt to the ground, god knows how many animals and what-not have died tied to a fence or stuck in a tree... And there are about 30 fires blazing the last I heard of it. Put it all together, and we've got a state-wide disaster. Almost an entire state is engulfed in flames. If you guys don't think it's a big deal, that's fine. I have no idea how natural disasters go over the world or in your country, or whatever. But this is f***in' Australia. That's a good chunk of the nation burning, and it's affecting everyone, no matter if they are the ones that have lost everything, or just people like me who are sitting their fat asses down and watching the television with their mouth agape in horror. Just because "oh, it's just bushfire season" doesn't mean this is not news. These are big disasters here. VERY big.

Bushfire season or not, it doesn't change the fact that some dickhead thought it was a swell idea to light a fire and set a state in total panic.

It doesn't change the fact that I think this should have it's own section here, to at least share this news with someone.

[GK Punk]

I think this is one of those things that is so horrible... Not much can be said. It's just terrifying, even the thought of it.

[ThirdMarioBro]

My Dad had his life destroyed by a careless fire related accident, so these people have my utmost, sincere condolences.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

My sincerest condolences as well.

But since you said this is far worse than past brushfires have been in Australia, the question is why. Has it been unusually dry lately?

[Machias Banshee]

They've said on the news that some bastard has been SETTING these fires!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5691759.ece

Originally Posted by Times Online

The Australian Prime Minister accused arsonists of “mass murder” today as the death toll from savage bushfires sweeping parts of the country reached 131. With thousands of homeless families flooding refugee centres around the state of Victoria, questions are also being raised about the nation’s bushfire safety policies.

Horrific stories have emerged of death – and survival – as police continue to sift though the remains of the 750 homes destroyed by the fire looking for bodies. The Government announced a Royal Commission into the scores of blazes which have torn through 330,000 hectares (1,275 square miles). The small town of Marysville, in Victoria’s northeast, which was completely razed by a bushfire, has been declared a crime scene as it is believed that the fire was deliberately lit. The Premier of New South Wales has also announced a review of arson punishments.

“What do you say about anyone like that? There are no words to describe it other than mass murder,” Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, said, fighting back tears. “This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated.”

Up to 5,000 people left homeless by the fires have flooded into 20 Red Cross relief centres set up around the state to provide food and shelter for those left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

At the main centre at Whittlesea, Post-it notes looking for loved ones were pinned to the noticeboards and shocked and bewildered people waited desperately for news. At least 20 people were killed in Kinglake and nine in Kinglake West with dozens more fatalities in nearby communities, while at least 550 homes were razed.

Philip Chubb, a university lecturer who lives in the St Andrews area adjacent to Kinglake lost two neighbours in the fire that tore through the area. Embers the size of dinner plates fell through the air as the fire bore down on his house, fuelled by hot winds that “sounded like hurricane” But seconds later the wind changed direction and the blaze skipped their house, only to sweep through a neighbouring area. Earlier today Mr Chubb found out his neighbours Reg Evans and Angela Brunton, who he regularly had dinner with, had perished.

While full of praise for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) which manages the bushfire controls, Mr Chubb said the advice given by the authorities were based on out-of-date policies put in place before Australia’s recent drought.

“The advice we’ve all been given is out of date,” Mr Chubb told Times Online.

“What that means is a lot of people were killed doing exactly what they were told to do. The people who died in their cars probably did so because, faced with something the size of what they were looking at, deciding they had to get out it was the least bad of two options that were available. Either way they were going to die and they were going to die doing what they were told to do.”

His comments came as the Victorian Premier John Brumby announced a Royal Commission into the bushfires and a full review of the state government’s bushfire policy of “stay and defend or leave early”.

Mr Brumby said the long-standing approach of advising people to have a bushfire plan ready to either stay to defend their homes or leave well before the fire became a threat had in many cases not saved people at the weekend.

“I think when the time comes to examine in-depth all of the issues that occurred on Saturday, obviously fire policy will be one of those areas,'' Mr Brumby told a local radio station.

“People will want to review that, examine that, it may be right, it may not be. It's served us well for 20 years or more - that is, if you decide to leave, leave early and if you decide to stay make sure you've got a fire plan.

“But there is no question that there were, you will talk to them there at Whittlesea, there is no question that there were people there who did everything right, put in place their fire plan and it wouldn't matter, their house was just incinerated.''

Meanwhile more than 300 firefighters are struggling to contain blazes that continue to burn in Victoria, and there are some alight in New South Wales. Beechworth in Victoria’s north remains on high alert as a nearby blaze threatens the town

I hope they find them and FRY them. This is despicable. All those lives ruined....

[ThirdMarioBro]

I'd like to fry the bastards that did this.

[Voltron]

I saw it last night on a muted television in a Chinese restaurant. The patrons had no idea what had happened, but the pictures alone were enough to silence the dining room.

[Ra]

It's now one week later.

The official death toll stands at 181, but an estimated 300 are missing or dead.

I donated some money today. It wasn't much, but I just want to help out so badly...

[TristanHuwJones]

I've donated wherever possible. You could see the fires from the roof of my friend's house during the night. ****ing creepy. Really tragic too. I hope the bastard responsible gets what he deserves.