Bushfire : A Fatal Inferno

[Daredevil]

I'm sure most of you have heard about the recent bushfire which hit various parts of Victoria. Death toll now stands at 181 with hundreds of home still left unchecked.In the inferno, various towns were wiped out, at least 750 homes were destroyed leaving thousands homeless, 350,000 hectares of forest burnt, hundreds of animals dead.....it all happened last Saturday when temperature soared to 47C. Police suspect some of the fire was started by some arsonists. Some described it as raining fire.Many lost their love ones in this tragedy which is the worst ever in Australia's bushfire history.Worst affected area included Kinglake, Marysville and Whittlesea.Read more here.... http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25040009-661,00.htmlThe nearest affected area was only about an hour from my place....close shave...Let's hope those who perished in this fire rest in peace....

 

[Daredevil]

More photos of the recent disaster can be seen here http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/

Just to give you an idea of how destructive the fire was, here are some stats:

Energy expelled : 60-80,000kW/m.
Equivalent to 500 Hiroshima atomic bombs released at once.
Enough to supply Victoria with electricity for 2 years.
Flame height : 50m
How close you can go before you get fried : 200m

The heatwave is as if you're standing in the microwave oven...

Now, that's scary!

 

[B33mEr]

Sorry to hear that ... it makes me realise how lucky we are to live in a peaceful country like Malaysia where there's hardly any natural disaster like wild fire, avalanch, volcanoes, earthquake and so on ... My condolence to the victim

 

[Jules]

Its a sad tragedy but something Aussies are used to and should not forget....

Btw, there was an earlier bigger inferno before called Ash Wednesday where the bush fires swept from NSW, thru to Vic and into SA.

RIP to the deceased and speedy recovery to survivors. Btw, I have uni mates from that area too....hope they r ok.

 

[astroboy]

Seen it many times in National Geographic channel in a program called "The Perfect Disaster".. its a time bomb waiting to happen and the Aussies fire department are all equipped mentally and physically for this. Strategies were simulated to fight fires of all possible manners, different landscape, different wind direction and so forth... for years!

I strongly believe the fire fighters have done an outstanding job to control the fire from spreading even further.

 

[loafer]

Seems like the bush fires are getting worse every year.

I recall back in 2001 it is usually contained in certain areas and in smaller outbreaks. Some of my classmates who stayed back in Australia has been reporting hotter summers every single year. Australia has some of the best emergency responders in the world. The people there are in good hands.

The stats posted by Daredevil is phenomenal though. Just astounding.

 

[Daredevil]

Btw, there was an earlier bigger inferno before called Ash Wednesday where the bush fires swept from NSW, thru to Vic and into SA.

The recent Black Saturday bushfire made Ash Wednesday look like a matchstick fire. Death toll is up to 201 and is slowly climbing with hundreds of homes still yet to be checked. I'm sure more bodies will be found as CFA continues to rummage through the debris....

They've caught several firebugs aka arsonists whom they suspect started the bushfire in certain areas. The badly affected areas such as Kinglake and Marysville is still blocked off as a crime scene. Once they reopen the roads, I'll attempt to take a drive there and snap some photos.....will share it here...

Fingers are now being pointed to councils for their stupid rulings. They are over protecting dense forest, not allowing controlled chopping/clearing and also controlled burning.

 

[Daredevil]

First the 'Black Saturday' bushfire in Victoria. Then flood in NSW followed by Hurricane hamish in Queensland.

Now this

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25150188-661,00.html

Doomsday is near....

p/s on a brighter note, the bushfire appeal has reached more than $280mil to date. Generous bunch of people Aussies are....:top: Hope the money will be put to good use.