Australia Not Good

[grog]

Just in case anyone wondering. Oz is super dry, super hot at present. Drought like no others, so widespread. 39 here today, over 40 tomorrow. Not sure how were gonna end up, rain the only answer. Im no gloomsday person but getting serious. Been breathing smoke for weeks, fires just upped the ante today. Not a great or lucky country just at present.

[Kiwifruit]

lf l was a praying man, l'd pray for rain for you blokes. Seen what happens when things get dry here but ain't nothing like what you Aussies have to endure.
Wishing you some good luck over there.

[froudy]

That looks and sounds pretty grim to me Grog..It's a shame we couldn't send some of our UK rain over to you!!

I hope it eases soon

[Mick_J]

I hope no 1400 are harmed during the drought.
I was beginning to think the fires were all over as the coverage on TV has died down over the last week or two but it seems not.  Stay safe you convicts.

[Blubber]

It heard it on the Dutch radio this morning,

Apparently 8 localised fires became one massive fire front 


Hope no more get hurt

[seth]

You guy's over there
be carefull

[Notty]

Frightening times - take care down there guys 

[KiwiCol]

Is that map a true representation of where the fires are at present Grog?   Looks like the whole country is burning,   fark!

[Sweaty]

Is that map a true representation of where the fires are at present Grog?   Looks like the whole country is burning,   fark!

It is Col (but they do show fires burning in the ocean above Australia:) so not 100% accurate.
It really is bad here atm & Sydney has just been in a smoke haze for weeks it seems. Now cancelling sporting events & maybe closing beaches etc.
Still 100 fires burning just in NSW & QLD is just as bad with the rest of the country burning as well.
It happens every year, but this does seem at a New level & so early in the season.

[gsxbarmy]

Terrible. And this is only the start of the summer. In the UK today they showed video footage of Sydney with the pall of smoke over it and were saying how the fires are linking up to create what essentially is an inferno. We can only imagine the reality

Not good, not good at all. With the whole country being a tinderbox at present and the winds not helping in the slightest, you guys def need some rain.

[Sweaty]

http://amp.abc.net.au/article/11768654
Click on the video, these people really are Hero's to me. Risking their lives to save people's property in these conditions.   

[Big Geordi]

Aye not looking so great down there at the moment hope it takes a turn for the better soon.

[VladTepes]

This is what happens when a certain element of the population is vociferously opposed to controlled burns during good conditions.
Fires here are inevitable. The sap of gum trees is full of oil...  Fuel build up means that fires spread quicker and are larger.

The aboriginal people used to do burn offs of areas before white men came here. They knew.


But anyway yeah it's pretty serious down here, luckily not too bad around Brisbane aside from a lot of smoke.
One problem is that even though our fire fighting fleet of aircraft is increasing each year (mostly contracted via Coulson Aviation) it is simply nowhere near large enough to deal with a situation like this one.  Just a tiny fraction, for example, of the fleet available to control Californian fires when they cop it. And with just a few large aircraft obviously they can't be everywhere needed at one time.


The guys (and girls) on the ground are true heroes. No doubt about it.  But they can't do it forever, heat and hard work takes its toll. And it's bloody dangerous work too.

Then there's the issue of non-maintenance of fire trails by closing off areas to recreational four wheel drives.  You know because 'environment' :   


Nature can be a bastard but to some extent it's worsened by human stupidity.


 

[Taniwha]

Damn nead compulsory ppe if you need to work outside.

[grog]

Fire near Sydney, been burning weeks now. Flames up to 70metres high. Has burnt out 380 thou.Hectares. 5% the area of Tasmania or 6 times area of Isle of Man. Cant be stopped. How scary is that shit.