Bushfires In Victoria Australia

[kaydee]

Hi all -

I used to live in the bush (Victorian National Forest), and always used to fear a real bushfire (its the fear of the unknown and uncontrollable for me) but I am getting involved by doing what I can (not enough probably) to help the bushfire appeals and victims from afar and not watching the news - too much raw emotion for me.

 

[epaklt]

Thanks for your thoughts..

Things are settling down now, starting to come back down to earth. We were on alert again this afternoon because of a wind change, and there was a fire burning on the last hill with trees. It would have come our way if it picked up and it was only about 1km away. With the speed the fire moved last time that is nothing. A bomber helicopter spent the afternoon dropping great volumes of water on it and it seemed to have worked so we are looking pretty good for now. They have even given us special wrist bands that allow us to pass the police road blocks so we can go into town for some supplies.

Since the fires have been so vast and devastating, I believe it may be weeks or even months b4 we get power back. Talk about the dark ages.
News has been filtering in about friends, we are a bit of a country community and so everyone nows everyone. Some news is good news, some obviously bad news and some news is just so hard to believe. Families I knew up the road, the kids swimming instructor and friends from tennis- all didn't make it. And I know that's not the end...

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Hi Keri. I would like some clarification here. How are you able to post on the forum while there. You have posted above that you have no power, and it's very reasonable to assume (especially with all the news reporting on this) that the phone and cable would also be out.

Even if you were able to post from there somehow, why would you post here instead of emailing family and freinds outside of the area to request help?

I'm sorry but this does not make any sense to me without clarification.

bec

Sorry bec, I find your post a bit odd, you seem more concerned about the logistics of how I managed to send an email than anything else. I may be a little sensitive to things at the moment (lack of sleep and terror will do that). I am sure that the news also reports the ficalness of the fire. One house stands while the rest of the street burns. For your clarification, my power comes from Kinglake (up the mountain) while my phone is underground and comes from the other direction. It is not reliable, but it has allowed the odd communication with the outside. People have offered help but they cannot get here.. The police will not allow anyone in here, they have declared it a crime scene. I couldn't get out as the roads were blocked with trees and fires and they couldn't get in or aren't allowed in. They aren't even letting people in who live here. The devastation is so bad that they need to "sanitise" it a bit b4 they allow people to travel along the roads. So many people tried to get out in there cars on the roads, but didn't make it. That is not a sight you want to see.

Anyway thanks
Keri

 

[Mercy]

Hi, Seychelle,

It strikes to me that sometimes numbness is a good defense reaction, much better than panic. I agree with you. The fires are a terrible tragedy especially for those people who thought they could stay home and battle it out themselves.

You have such a tender heart, no wonder you need to be numb for a while. It's not always a bad thing.

 

[Claire]

Question

How come so many people were killed by these fires? could they not have been evacuated? The news isn't very informative here, it just reports on the tragedy of the situation and the destruction of property and life.

Its so tragic but I dont understand why so many died. The fires aren't instantly at people's back doors are they? were they cut off?

 

[Noone.]

Well I don't know much of that situation, but from my experience I can tell you fire moves fast and shows no mercy anything in its way will be devorored. I had the misfortune of watching two children burn in a house fire two weeks ago, they were 7 and 10, they were still on fire when I found them but there was nothing I could do it was out of my hands. Fire is our oldest enemy respect and fear it. I'm truely sorry for all the loss. Firehouse9south.

 

[tardis]

How are you able to post on the forum while there. You have posted above that you have no power, and it's very reasonable to assume (especially with all the news reporting on this) that the phone and cable would also be out.

When I was ice fishing in northern Manitoba over the Christmas holidays, I brought along my laptop. In the middle of the wilderness I was able to connect using wifi. I could to go online, send emails and so forth, even though we had no electricity (my laptop runs on its battery) and we were essentially in the middle of nowhere. So it is possible given the proper equipment.

 

[Seychelle]

The devastation is so bad that they need to "sanitise" it a bit b4 they allow people to travel along the roads. So many people tried to get out in there cars on the roads, but didn't make it. That is not a sight you want to see.

Take care, I have no words. The sanitised versions on the news were bad enough.

Hi, Seychelle,

It strikes to me that sometimes numbness is a good defense reaction, much better than panic. I agree with you. The fires are a terrible tragedy especially for those people who thought they could stay home and battle it out themselves.

You have such a tender heart, no wonder you need to be numb for a while. It's not always a bad thing.

Numbness = dissociation for me. I don't want numbness, I want to feel. But the feelings got overwhelming (I've been triggered badly at night too, as my partner is away for a couple of days and there are other trauma memories hitting me as well as the fire stuff).

How come so many people were killed by these fires? could they not have been evacuated? The news isn't very informative here, it just reports on the tragedy of the situation and the destruction of property and life.

Its so tragic but I dont understand why so many died. The fires aren't instantly at people's back doors are they? were they cut off?

From what I've read, yes, the fires did come incredibly quickly and they were very intense. I think I remember reading somewhere that one fire travelled 20km (about 12 miles?) in 10 minutes and the flames were 50 metres high. These towns are very small too, and I'm guessing there are only a couple of roads in and out.

 

[fin]

I am still not watching the news, I heard some last night, they have a couple of people they believe had started some separate fires. I guess for their own reasons, they may have believed they could cover something else up and that they would maybe be blamed on the actual fires the thing is these then garner a life and momentum of their own.

It is too horrific to comprehend. To try to take it in

am praying here also.

 

[anthony]

Yep... we don't need power to run our notebook either... all wireless technology. If Telstra is powered, then we are powered, and Telstra are always powered as they have direct uninteruptable power generation facilities to power phone networks in the event of blackouts.