Fires in Australia

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Obviously I'm not an expert on evacuation methods. I can't help wondering though why it has taken this long to send in Navy ships? I'm also wondering why a mass evacuation using civilian boats isn't underway - like Dieppe in WW2?


Maybe that should be Dunkirk?? Anyhooo.....the time Allied troops were rescued and evacuated by private citizens using their own boats. I sailed once with a guy who had gone over with his sailboat and brought troops back.
 
My son in Melbourne advises me that he and his family are currently safe, but seriously, asked for prayers for rain (and he's a pretty agnostic/ atheist sorta guy).

"We're safe enough here for now but praying for rain and the safety of everyone that is in danger. the prime minister has been the subject of public outrage recently since he didn't bother to cancel his holiday in hawaii to deal with this disaster far sooner. he did a presser today announcing that he is going to postpone his trip to india later in the month that was scheduled to discuss selling them coal while he focuses on disaster relief and artfully dodged any questions of a possible obvious connection to the fires and mining industry and climate change. he's like the mike pence of australia, an apocalypse cultist that is largely decorative and got the job on the extremely low bar of not being the absolute worst candidate in the history of ever and probable electoral fraud. it's going to be incredibly awkward if we need to escape the country by boat since he stopped the people smugglers from coming here when he was immigration minister.

pretty wild stuff anyway, if anyone reading this knows of some cheap, effective p2 masks, please let me know, i will try to get my work to donate for some and distribute them according to greatest need."
 
Obviously I'm not an expert on evacuation methods. I can't help wondering though why it has taken this long to send in Navy ships? I'm also wondering why a mass evacuation using civilian boats isn't underway - like Dieppe in WW2?

The short answer is that the entire country is in a state of shock -we have had bushfires before - but never on this scale and ferocity.
In a war situation you might anticipate problems of this nature - but this is a new scenario. Hopefully, in coming years we'll be better prepared. (It doesn't help having a Prime Minister who is Pentecostal and avoided all suggestion of climate change.)
The oceans that surround Australia are such that small civilian boats would not be advisable for those that don't venture beyond inland waters.
 
I really appreciate the news being shared here. So many people in super stressful circumstances - my mind can't quite take it all in. The video footage is sending me back to the Fort McMurray fire. Happy that Pilgrim is safe and also BettetheRed's son. Wondering how many people have lost years from their lives because of the damage to their lungs. Are those with existing lung disease getting their oxygen - maybe they were moved out some time back?

Stay safe Aussies!
 
Wondering how many people have lost years from their lives because of the damage to their lungs. Are those with existing lung disease getting their oxygen - maybe they were moved out some time back?

Put it this way - I'm no longer expecting a royal telegram for my 100th birthday.....

Even in Sydney more folks with breathing difficulties are attending hospital emergency departments due to the bushfire smoke.
 
Just wondering, how close are the bush fires to the coal mining and gas fields in New South Wales and Victoria? (eg. Springvale and Tahmoor) Is there a risk of coal dust spreading the fire? or underground veins fueling the fire?
 
Put it this way - I'm no longer expecting a royal telegram for my 100th birthday.....

Even in Sydney more folks with breathing difficulties are attending hospital emergency departments due to the bushfire smoke.

I know I lost lung function when we had forest fires sending smoke into our town a few years go. It was a natural for me to think of the Aussies struggling to breathe!

ps - I too know I won't be getting one of those telegrams.
 
Just wondering, how close are the bush fires to the coal mining and gas fields in New South Wales and Victoria? (eg. Springvale and Tahmoor) Is there a risk of coal dust spreading the fire? or underground veins fueling the fire?

What a smart question Waterfall. Not a possibility I had thought of even though we have underground peat fires nearby that have been burning for decades.
 
I know I lost lung function when we had forest fires sending smoke into our town a few years go. It was a natural for me to think of the Aussies struggling to breathe!

That's one thing I've been thinking about. After two very smoky summers in Alberta, my heart goes out to the Australians struggling to breathe right now.....on top of everything else.
 
Is there a risk of coal dust spreading the fire? or underground veins fueling the fire?
I don't know the answer to that question....
But, coal and gas contribute to climate change -which is connected to increasing temperatures and more catastrophic bushfires.

 
I don't know the answer to that question....
But, coal and gas contribute to climate change -which is connected to increasing temperatures and more catastrophic bushfires.

Thanks .....I did read that .....but its very unusual for a bush fire anywhere in the world to continue for 4 months. Im starting to wonder if there isnt something else fueling it on top of the climate change data.
Are the fires in the same areas that the coal mines are?
 
Thanks .....I did read that .....but its very unusual for a bush fire anywhere in the world to continue for 4 months. Im starting to wonder if there isnt something else fueling it on top of the climate change data.
Are the fires in the same areas that the coal mines are?
Actually, it took 15 months for the Fort McMurray fires to be completely extinguished. Quite extraordinary to consider.
 
Thanks .....I did read that .....but its very unusual for a bush fire anywhere in the world to continue for 4 months. Im starting to wonder if there isnt something else fueling it on top of the climate change data.
Are the fires in the same areas that the coal mines are?
I think the heat & wind have been extreme this summer too - quite likely a factor.
 
I wonder if there is a lot of underbrush, dead wood etc that helps lead fires to new areas? This was definitely a factor in the forest fires in my part of Canada. Much of it was blamed on the prompt dousing of fires over the years. Forest fires, of course, clear this stuff out so there is less fuel.
 
Actually, it took 15 months for the Fort McMurray fires to be completely extinguished. Quite extraordinary to consider.
Was it burning like Australias' though, or just smoldering on the ground.....I'm only asking because I can't find the article I read that said it was unprecedented for a wild fire to be burning like this for so long.
 
I was thinking today, if I understand that right, Australia has only two seasons- hot season and rain season? If I compare it with Canadian weather it seemed to me that Australia has very windy conditions during the hot seasons- while Canada’s summer is not that windy and storms are more in spring and fall ( and winter). Maybe that can’t be generalized.
 
I'm not a scientist (obviously) but this is some of what I've been reading:



 
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I was thinking today, if I understand that right, Australia has only two seasons- hot season and rain season?
You may be thinking of our tropical north - where there are just two seasons - the Wet and the Dry. For six months it's hot, humid and rains just about every day. Then it's six months of dry weather - more pleasant because it's not humid, and you never have to worry about rain ruining any outdoor activity!
Elsewhere we have four seasons - but not as extreme as in Canada.
 
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