To ask you to pray for the thousands of people trapped on a beach by fires in Victoria?

[TheClaws]

There are 4000 people from the town of Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia, that is currently being destroyed by fire. They most likely won’t have homes to return to. They all have life jackets on ready to take shelter in the water as embers rain down upon them. Fire personnel have just - as I post - told them to get in the water. Can you imagine how they must feel?

Australia at the moment is burning across 4 states. Where I am it is 45c and the smell of smoke is heavy. It is a terrible summer for us.

I am another one astounded that the firefighters are volunteers, and that the govt wouldn't/didn't act back in September. Where is the army/navy etc, and those planes that take water from the sea or lakes (if there are any left)?

Australians, my heart goes out to you and I hope you can remain safe and someone helps you rebuild.

I don't pray. I will send them a positive thought though.

The ADF and Navy are involved in supplies, evacuation. It takes time.

There are water bombing planes.

There is a very long tradition of rural firefighting being a volunteer service.

The issue of payment for volunteers is complicated, not least by the thoughts of volunteers themselves. Some do not want to be a paid force and worry about losing the volunteering ethos. There was a big disagreement about this in VIC, and conflict between the paid (urban) forces and the volunteer (rural) forces a year or so ago.

The federal government has announced compensatory payments for volunteer firefighters this fire season. This is meant to ensure that firefighters are not paying for out of pocket expenses (masks, fuel etc)

In other words, it's complicated. I don't think people understand how spread out these areas are, and how undefendable some parts of the country are. How tiny some of the villages are. I don't know what kind of paid fire fighting force you all envisage - fwiw, fire chiefs have said that even if they had vastly more people on the ground, there are still fires that can't be fought.

Australia sounds very isolationist to me..

Never hear much news from there. But hope there will be no more loss of life and hope the fires abate.

Sounds to me that Australia wants to be on their own. But that Pm seems like a right Fundamentalist dick..

Would love to know what Aussies think.

thanks janes I suppose it is difficult for those of us who have never been there to envisage the vastness of the area they have to cover.

Even if they are volunteers and want to stay that way for whatever reason, I would hope that govt would at least provide the right equipment to keep the individuals as safe as possible, especially with early warning in September.

rosiejaune you are absolutely clueless. Gee no ones ever thought that before. Where do you live?

@kinsss yes our PM is a dick of the first degree. Many of us did not vote for him and are fighting to support refugees and retain our strong, inclusive multicultural society. It is possible that Australia is under reported in the UK. We occupy an interesting space balancing our important trade and cultural relationships between the US and China.
The UK has just resoundingly re-elected the most isolationist government in generations. But I know you are not all like that!

But that Pm seems like a right Fundamentalist dick

Well, 49% of us think so.

There are firefighters here from NZ, Canada and the US. During winter here, our firefighters often travel overseas to assist in their summer fires. I'm not sure that's isolationist.

We're not a very important country, globally, which is why we're only on the UK news when there's a crocodile story or bush fires. It's not some top down decision to 'isolate'.

Jeez. If you want AU news, just click on the AU page of The Guardian. Plenty there. People don't hear about AU because they aren't interested in AU.

Yes, the RFS (and equivalents in other states) should be funded by Govt in order to afford all neccessary equipment. It isn't; it relies on donations to help. I donate regularly throughout the year.

Here's the link to donate to the RFS (NSW)
www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade

And for VIC
www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/supporting-cfa

Can I recommend the Guardian Australia for proper news on the fires? I think part of the problem that this all seems so unreal and unbelievable if you are not here. The terror of it is something else. I think the reality of climate change and what it is going to do to a country which has always been this happy go lucky, living the dream sort of a place has finally dawned. It has just come and hit us (those who were not already terrified of it!) in the face in a very violent way.
I too am not a believer. But I almost wish I was so I knew that someone would be looking out for the people currently trying to escape. I don’t know where they go. Or live. What do you do with your animals? Where do your children go to school next month after the summer holidays when your town is burnt down and the school is gone? What do you drink as you wait on a beach for rescue? How do you drive away when you are told to evacuate when there is no fuel left at the petrol station?

The water bombers are there and they are heroic when you consider the conditions they are operating in.

The water bombers saved all the buildings and all the cattle on my parents’ farm in November, in conditions that had taken down a helicopter the day before. The entire place was burned out save for 15 metres around the buildings. It was amazing and we are all so, so grateful for their courage and skill.

The scale of these fires means that water bombers cannot do much more than targeted work in many cases.

I don’t understand the idea that Australia is isolating itself.

It’s part of the commonwealth and we have the same Queen.

Thanks all for the Aussie perspectives..

I do agree with those who say the economic path is with those nations are close by..

Brexit will see this soon enough.

I wouldn’t agree that Australia is isolationist; it just might appear so as other countries dominate the world arena and we are so far away.

There are two types of fire fighters in Au: retained (paid) and Rural (volunteer). The volunteer variety fight the majority of our bushfires and are generally paid by their own employers to do so. It would be illegal for an employer to deny leave/pay to a volunteer - to a point, and for certain categories of employee.

Update: the entire South Coast of NSW below Sydney is being evacuated before catastrophic conditions expected on Saturday. The region is running out of food, water and petrol. People are still stranded on beaches and being taken out via boat and helicopter.

I'm still a bit mind-boggled that tourists went to the area in the first place. I'm pretty sure there were warnings ahead of time to avoid non-essential travel. At least the day before, possibly two days ?

I think it's a shame that in the few days left before Saturday, a lot of time is being spent trying to get people out of the area who did not need to be in the area in the first place. It must be incredibly frustrating for those trying to deal with logistics.

I'm pretty sure more than 49% have a problem with the PM, but when the media (and I'm some cases the opposition) give the impression that there is no other choice. Frankly, the relief of Tony Abbott being out was a huge distraction... members now about feeling misty eyed at the memory of him by comparison.

Think of it as similar to getting rid of Trump, and then you turn around, and Mike Pence is there.. with all the evangelical End Times, prosperity doctrine stuff. This is the same. We laughed at Abbott as much as we despised. Trump is laughable, but appalling. Morrison and Pence? Seriously terrifying.

Morrison and Pence? Seriously terrifying

Agreed.

Update: the entire South Coast of NSW below Sydney is being evacuated before catastrophic conditions expected on Saturday

Christ. If that doesn't get across to people overseas just how bad it is then what will ?

I think people perceive Australia to be isolationist because of the way news from there is handled in the UK. The bbc seem to ignore it and NZ and don't seem to know where to put them on their website, Australasia, Oceania, Asia or wherever and so don't bother. Even when I'm in the UK I tend to read the NZ news websites and see more on there.

I just looked on the bbc news app at the latest news, 38 stories are before there is any mention of Australia, it's even behind an abandoned dog and a cat in a car engine

I'm still a bit mind-boggled that tourists went to the area in the first place. I'm pretty sure there were warnings ahead of time to avoid non-essential travel. At least the day before, possibly two days?

That area is a huge tourist area. It fairly much depends upon the tourism at this time of year - any time of year, really. There were warnings, but of course people will still go and there will still be tourists that have been there for a few weeks already.

The images coming out of there are horrifying. I’m kind of used to seeing these things, but even for me, they are terrifying. A friend lives by the beach; he still has his house but 40 others in the area were destroyed. Awful.

A friend lives by the beach; he still has his house but 40 others in the area were destroyed

It's so sad. I don't know why, but I always assumed that being coastal was some protection. Very stupid of me, given that when I was coastal, I watched fires in the escarpment, and saw the Royal National Park in Sydney on fire.

My friend is spending all her time at the family home, trying to create mineral (bare earth) breaks around the house before Saturday. Her area is expected to be burned out by the end of Saturday. I just hope (and pray, because she asked me!) that weather conditions change for the better between now and then.

I think people perceive Australia to be isolationist because of the way news from there is handled in the UK

Yes, when I lived in the UK (pre-internet!) I rarely heard any news about AU. But that makes sense, really, I mean the UK is EU and US oriented. I think they washed their hands of us when they dumped off the last load of convicts, lol. For Anglo Aussies, there's an affection for and interest in the UK, which in the large part, isn't reciprocated.

BBC World Service has had good coverage of the fires. It generally manages to cover most big AU stories.

It is terrifying. People are trying to evacuate (1000s of people, one lane in each direction In a lot of places) and now they are having to shut more and more roads as the fires threaten them. People may well end up trapped and just waiting for the catastrophic conditions tomorrow in their cars far from home with no food or water.
This is spreading faster than anyone could have imagined even in worst case scenarios and the volume of traffic is more than can actually escape

the volume of traffic is more than can actually escape

This is really worrying.

My friend’s car takes diesel and the only service station near him has run out of diesel. So they’re stuck there unless they can get a lift out (a family of 5).