Australian bushfires

[Theknacktoflying]

Is anyone else absolutely floored by the info coming from Sydney that almost 480 million animals, birds and reptiles have died.

The loss of human life, the loss of homes and habitat is quite something.

What a way to begin 2020

Yes there have always been droughts. Yes there have always been fires. But not this big. Not this early. Not this widespread at once. The experts - firefighters, scientists - are all telling us this is unprecedented. To deny this is to hide your head in the sand. Bit like the government is.

We’ve had wettish winters with lots of growth providing fire fuel. I know in the past Victoria has been criticised for inadequate pre bushfire season burnoffs. I’m not sure how well it has been managed this past year and how that is is also impacting the fires?

Growing up in oz we never had such extreme weather.

Yes we did! It’s no hotter now than when I was a child in Sydney. Back then we got to go home from school once it reached 40degC and in summer we went home early a LOT. A lot more frequently than it gets over 40 now. Most classrooms didn’t have fans back then let alone air con. They did have those leaky black gas heaters though that were banned many years later as they were noxious. Water bottles were not a thing back then, no one had one, just the outdoor bubblers that had boiling water in the heat. The funny thing looking back was that schools just sent you all home, from kindergarten age. None of this calling your parents business. Most mums didn’t work so would be home when you walked home. If not, then you just went to a neighbours place as most women were at home then. Definitely not hotter or dryer than back then and I remember many many times when we had hose bans that lasted for over a year. Every lawn completely died off and everyone was left with bindy patches that seemed to survive the toughest droughts. We have just had a massive period in-between where this hasn’t happened and some people have never experienced it.

The other huge difference is where people live. Back then people were not spread out but were concentrated in towns/cities. Now, lots of places exist in bushland areas further out that just didn’t exist when I was a kid. They are more exposed to bushfires.

The other thing I forgot was backburning. Lots and lots of it when I was a kid. Any smokey day would be due to backburning. Then we went through a period where lots of people protested against backburning, destroying the environment yadda yadda. So, it was really minimised. A lot of what occurs now would not be an issue with the extent of backburning we had when I was a child.

Everyone I know is very clear that it is climate change. Just our did prime minister who can't utter the phrase. I've just spent a few days in Adelaide. It has been brutally, pitilessly hot.

*dud

It is awful to hear about.

Terrible that they’re apparently going ahead with New Years fireworks display..........When air conditions in Sydney are already that hazardous they do not need all that extra pollution. The stupidity of humankind.

Do you really think the big harbour fireworks are going to significantly add to the pollution atm.

Apparently the Sydney fireworks take several months to prep and prepare due to the sheer scale. That means it would all be paid for several months in advance so it’s not like the govnt can save anything and redirect the funds to firefighting. That would only work by agreeing not to have next years, for which they would need to cough up pretty soon. They are also let off from structures and pontoons in the harbour so they are not going to cause any fires.

Local fireworks have been given the flick in many areas atm as they are NOT in the same situation as the big Sydney display - as in they are not done over a huge expanse of water, so there IS a chance if something going wrong so a lot have been canned or are having to have some official risk assessment prior to be given a special permit this year (no idea what that involves, just read it in the paper).

I don’t think the fireworks are a risk but they’re missing a chance to use a strong message that would be seen worldwide. I’d go for a huge banner.

Apparently PM Scott Mitchell has now admitted there is a link to climate change. Not enough to actually change the government's climate policy though

Apparently PM Scott Mitchell.....

Uhhmm, whoever he is. Austria maybe?

Growing up in oz we never had such extreme weather.

We did in Adelaide.

Ash Wednesday hit the Adelaide Hills the worst. Lobethal is a town in the Hills. No idea why residents there would think they are immune.

Oops typo!

The other thing I forgot was backburning. Lots and lots of it when I was a kid.

Yes me too. I remember everything you've written. I used to walk home in 40+ weather. School bags were kept outside and my lunch was always a sweaty mess. The land behind our house always had backburning and was cut down. We used to walk through it completely dead and dry watching for brown snakes.
Now that land has houses. It is much more built up than it was.

What is the general consensus amongst the media/people there? Is it a result of climate change, or just an unusually hot summer? Or is no one talking about that aspect of it?

Depends on the tv station you watch
Some say climate change, some say its always been like this, some blame lack of backburning and clearing of property being allowed. Like in some areas of the Adelaide hills, you have to get permission to remove trees close to your house that pose a risk (usually told NO) but that same council will fine you if your grass too long. No consistency
Like 20 years ago we back in drought now which leaves everything dry and it all catches so much easier.
One big one people forget is firebugs, disgusting excuses for humans.

Ive lived all over SA and i can remember stinking hot summers my whole life, fire warnings normal.

Today and last few days in SA been hot but today being hot and windy with dry lightning is a bigger risk than just heat. Was conditions like these that have made the hills fires so big.
The wind started the one in cuddlee creek, knocked down a power line which sparked into dry grass. A lot of the terrain is inaccessible so dont even get seen till bigger or they cant get in to put it out without the planes and choppers, which can only go up if winds allow

Its a multi faceted issue. Some we can control, some we cant, some is normal aus summer stuff and just seems bigger cos opinion easier to spread via the internet

On fireworks, they wont cancel sydney harbour, they paid for months out in advance, the tourist hit would be huge in losses.
Local smaller ones get cancelled cos they nearer to bush or the fires currently going.
Adelaides are still on cos they in heart of the city yet some country ones will probably be stopped on the day if weather is bad

Although it is so dry and perfect fuel for a fire, people STILL throw their cigarette butts to the ground, there are arsonists starting fires etc. They don't often randomly start by themselves.

News just in that another volunteer firefighter has died. Heartbreaking. My eldest is a full time firefighter and a volunteer firie on his days off, it is horrible waiting for the "I'm safe" text every night and his wife has just found out she is pregnant,

@EmmaGrundyForPM Ash Wednesday wasn't several years ago, it was over 35 years ago. I remember it well as my parents had to drive into it to help evacuate a nursing home my DM worked at.

Do you mean Black Friday?

There hasn't been enough back burning because people say it's bad for the environment. So this is what happens. It's a no win situation.

And we've had water restrictions since the 80s, I remember them growing up.

Yes there is Climate Change issues but we could be more prepared. I remember after Ash Wednesday every summer we'd get info on evacuating, and being fire ready. Then it dwindled out, and you have a repeat like Black Friday with people living in the bush totally unprepared for such emergencies.

What’s different is that we have more people living in bush fire and drought prone areas, poor resource management and a press determined to tell us that the end is nigh.

Exactly! Coming home from the Flinders Ranges recently, and new housing is creeping further and further...I joked to dh that they'd be suburbs our there soon... but I actually don't think I am far wrong.

@maxbabi My sister in lobethal is in a suburban area not bushland Lobethal isn't suburbia though, it's a small town in the hills, which is vulnerable. You can see the difference in the photo I have attached. It's not suburbia at all.

I grew up in the Blue Mountains and my parents still live there. Unusually they've been mostly unaffected although it's all slowly closing in on them, if the wind blows the wrong way it could be very bad. They've had the car packed in case for a couple of weeks now.

The issue with the fires this time around is how early they've started and how long they've gone for. If course there's been hot summers in the past but it's been so dry for so long, and burning off etc doesn't happen much anymore, so there's plenty of fuel.

But the tools available to fight is so much better. When the fires were heading for our house in 1977 my father sat on the roof of our house with a hose that had a dribble of water coming out. There was one small fire truck covering hundreds of houses. If it wasn't for the last minute wind change our house and many around it would have likely been wiped out because there was nothing to stop the fires

@RoonyTunes I thank him for his service. I hope you get that text EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT

Although it is so dry and perfect fuel for a fire, people STILL throw their cigarette butts to the ground, there are arsonists starting fires etc. They don't often randomly start by themselves

Completely this, im a smoker yet use the ashtray me and dp keep in the car. Its not hard
The firebugs should be charged under attempted murder and if someone dies, murder

It's shocking to see the news. I wish we could send some of our rain down under.

The imbalance of the heat and fires in Australia vs the flooding caused by the wettest autumn on record here in the UK is so unfair. All due to climate change.

@BrokenLogs sorry I meant Black Saturday. The horrendous fires in Victoria where lots of people died about 10 years ago I think.

I absolutely believe climate change is happening. What I'm not sure about is whether the current situation in Australia is a direct result of climate change.