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Bushfire Season

arthwollipot

Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
arthwollipot
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
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Location
Ngunnawal Country
Welcome to the beginnings of Australia's bushfire season. And it's going to be a bad one.

NSW RFS issues emergency warning for bushfire in Castlereagh, near Penrith

An emergency warning has been issued for a bushfire burning at Castlereagh near Penrith, as weather conditions worsen on a hot dry day in Sydney.

It is believed fires have swept through gardens, but no structures have been affected at this stage.

About 100 firefighters had been working at the site, assisted by waterbombing aircraft.

Despite earlier warnings that conditions were easing, the situation was escalated to emergency level about 3:45pm.
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There are also out-of-control fires near Glenn Innes and Ashby Heights.
 
Not good.

No part of Australia can be complacent but in Melbourne we have had decent rain and the place is very green, and October is usually a rainy month. Of course one month of high temperatures and little rain can make the whole tinder dry. Nevertheless I’m hopeful we can dodge a bullet this summer.
 
a_unique_person said:
Strictly speaking, the fires started last month.
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Dont know about you, but up here they only just stopped.

According to wiki, the 2017-18 and the 18-19 seasons went from June 2017 and 18 to May 2018/19 respectively. It’s like the friggin’ AFL, not a season as much as a constant barrage.
 
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A few of our fire fighters will be over with you where they can as per usual Aus bro's

Got ya back
 
lionking said:
Not good.

No part of Australia can be complacent but in Melbourne we have had decent rain and the place is very green, and October is usually a rainy month. Of course one month of high temperatures and little rain can make the whole tinder dry. Nevertheless I’m hopeful we can dodge a bullet this summer.
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You have been sending it all over here.....
 
I'm on the seventh floor where I work, and I've been watching spot fires pop up and get put out for about the last three weeks.

The CFS are just brilliant.

I can't be a volunteer (turns out that asthma and fires don't mix, whodathunkit?)* but donate to make up for it.

*Found that out the hard way fighting a grass fire in Para Wirra.
 
NSW bushfires destroy up to 30 homes around Rappville, Ewingar

Up to 30 homes have been destroyed or "seriously damaged" in bushfires burning in northern NSW.

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said teams would assess the damage to structures in the area around Rappville and Ewingar this morning.

Yesterday, the RFS issued emergency warnings for four separate blazes burning within about 100km of each other in the state's north.

While the immediate threat from those fires has eased, two of them joined overnight.

Those blazes at Drake and Busbys Flat have so far burnt more than 90,000 hectares of land.

"So there's an enormous amount of fire in that area," Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.
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But some slightly better news from further north, though it's still not good:

Fire warnings downgraded in the Lockyer Valley after bushfire destroys Laidley home

Fire crews have extinguished a bushfire that destroyed one home in Queensland's Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, as they continue to fight a blaze burning in the Glen Rock State Forest near Gatton.

The Laidley and Grandchester fire flared shortly before 3:00pm on Tuesday, with authorities quickly issuing an emergency warning for residents to seek shelter.

It forced the evacuation of more than 120 people, but the warnings were downgraded overnight.

Up to another 30 households were evacuated from nearby Lefthand Branch and Thornton, where a bushfire remains at a watch and act level.

A fire that flared at Carneys Creek, west of Beaudesert, is currently at advice level.
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dann said:
I hope the bird watchers are ready.
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Inside the Megafire, NOVA program showed how the wind created by the blaze pushes embers large enough to start new fires as much as a mile ahead of the fire.

Not that the bird hypothesis has been disproved.
 
novaphile said:
....
The CFS are just brilliant.

I can't be a volunteer (turns out that asthma and fires don't mix, whodathunkit?)* but donate to make up for it.

*Found that out the hard way fighting a grass fire in Para Wirra.
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What's a CFS? And you aren't going to leave us hanging on that story are you? :p

Or is it just that your asthma was triggered?
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Inside the Megafire, NOVA program showed how the wind created by the blaze pushes embers large enough to start new fires as much as a mile ahead of the fire.

Not that the bird hypothesis has been disproved.
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On the other hand, neither has it been supported by evidence, other than (mostly) biased anecdotes.

And I don’t think we’ll be get much evidence soon since CFA, police and local councils (sensibly) warn rubberneckers to stay away from active firefighting locations. They can do without having to worry about more inexperienced people in the field while they are working with residents to protect their property.
 
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I have a forum friend in another forum who lost everything in Paradise, almost didn't make it out, drove through flames on both sides, got stopped by the fire on one road and had to turn around and take a different road, and her husband was in the hospital getting a biopsy. A nurse put him and 2 more patients in his car and they barely made it out. Sadly he passed 3 months later from the cancer.
 
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Skeptic Ginger said:
Obviously. :)
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My ETA while you were posting.
EHocking said:
On the other hand, neither has it been supported by evidence, other than (mostly) biased anecdotes.

And I don’t think we’ll be get much evidence soon since CFA, police and local councils (sensibly) warn rubberneckers to stay away from active firefighting locations. They can do without having to worry about more inexperienced people in the field while they are working with residents to protect their property.
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Two people confirmed dead in NSW fires

Two people have died as part of the bushfires that ripped through northern NSW earlier this week, police have confirmed.

Superintendent Toby Lindsay, from Richmond Police LAC, said police believed the people who died were a 77-year-old male and 68-year-old woman.

He said officers found the bodies inside a home on Deadmans Creek Road in Coongbah.

"Unfortunately, a short time ago, two human remains have been identified," he said.

"The Coroner has been advised by detectives of these deaths."
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Alert SA bushfire warning app not ready as fire bans implemented in central districts

An app designed to alert South Australians about bushfires is still not ready as total fire bans are issued for many districts today amid sweltering temperatures.

Adelaide is set to experience its first taste of summer today, with temperatures forecast to reach 37 degrees Celsius this afternoon before an overnight change.

The State Government scrapped the Alert SA app in January last year after it collapsed under heavy load during catastrophic fire conditions.

It ordered a new version of the program designed for smartphones soon after, originally saying it would be ready for the 2018–2019 fire season.

The app provided information about ongoing bushfires and fire bans.

Fire bans are in place for the first time in South Australia's central areas today, including the Mount Lofty Ranges fire ban district, which covers a large part of Adelaide's foothills and southern suburbs.
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The problem is that bushfire season started too early this year.
 
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It's also overlapping with the US season, which is running long this year. The firefighter's partnership of the US and Australia is a beautiful thing, but if both countries burn at once...
 
Koalas in their hundreds feared dead in bushfires south of Port Macquarie

Hundreds of koalas are believed to have perished in a bushfire that has ripped through a large area of critical koala habitat, south of Port Macquarie in New South Wales.

WARNING: This article contains graphic photos that may distress some viewers.

Staff from the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie are unable to access the area because it remains off limits due to the continuing intensity of the blaze.

"I think this is just a national tragedy that we potentially have lost an enormous population of animals in the past 24 hours," hospital clinical director Cheyne Flanagan said.
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However, there is a little bit of good news.

Seven koalas burnt in bushfire successfully treated at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

Injured koalas have received life-saving treatment after surviving devastating bushfires on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

The first rescued koala was admitted to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital after it was found in burnt bushland south of Port Macquarie, by a member of the public.

"This little koala was curled up in a ball on the burnt ground," hospital clinical director Cheyne Flannagan said.

"He was so dehydrated: Another day or two and he would have been gone."
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Meanwhile, it has been snowing in Victoria with more predicted. You couldn’t start a fire with a flame thrower at the moment. Of course, one dry, hot month could turn the whole place into a tinder box.
 
Yeah, supposed to get even uglier tomorrow, which is scary given how ugly it is now.

Just get out people.

Heard a bloke got burnt alive cos his car wasn't fast enough
 
Catastrophic fire danger is forecast for: Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney region and Illawarra/Shoalhaven.

Extreme fire danger forecast for: North Coast, Southern Ranges, Central Ranges, New England, Northern Slopes and North Western

Severe Fire Danger is forecast for the following fire areas:
Far North Coast, Far South Coast and Monaro Alpine

Very High Fire Danger is forecast for the following fire areas:
Upper Central West Plains, Lower Central West Plains and Southern Slope

For those not familiar with our geography, let's just say that this is a major portion of the NSW coast and a fair way inland. A lot of people in these areas. Hundreds of schools have been shut down - we'll probably lose a few of them, too.
 
Norman Alexander said:
We are in a fire zone and have evacuated. Blue Mountains.
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Stay safe, Norm. Good luck.

There are currently 57 fires, 28 of them uncontained. PM2.5 particulates are well over safe levels in pretty much all of Sydney and the Hunter Valley.

ETA: Merriwa and Maitland airports in the Hunter are reporting 30C and wind gusts of 32km/h and 20km/h respectively.

Nowra in the Illawarra is also above 30C, with gusts of up to 43km/h.

And it's only 10:25am. It's going to get worse.
 
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I can't imagine how it must be to find yourself in a situation where it's quite likely all your possessions may be destroyed. It happens so rarely here that people seldom really think about it or make any plans for how they might cope and what they might need to try to save. I honestly don't know how you do it.
 
Trebuchet said:
I'm kind of surprised that your fire season is in the Spring. Ours is more toward late Summer or Autumn. Do you know a reason for that?
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Climate change.

Bushfire season for us has historically started in December and the worst fires were in January and February. This year has been unusually hot and dry, with little humidity, creating perfect fire conditions far earlier than in previous years.
 
So far today, two "it is too late to leave" emergency warnings have been issued - in Nowendoc/Mount George, and just now in Emmaville/Stannum.

A dry southerly change is coming up the coast, which will cause the fires to abruptly change direction.
 
We're going to need drastically enhanced firefighting tech in the coming decades -- aw hell, what am I saying, we need it now, we needed it ten years ago.

All I seem to be able to imagine is great gross superheavy water bombers, maybe lighter than air, that can slurp water (seawater at a pinch) and deliver it fast and repeatedly.

Under the control of a supra-governmental authority that can deploy them RIGHT NOW when massive fires threaten..

Yes, and supported by very nasty fighter wings, in cases where certain types of governments would rather let the fires burn.

Think I'm kidding? Not one goddamn bit.
 
4:15pm update from The Guardian:

Here’s what we know as from the latest update from RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.

There are 78 fires burning across NSW. 47 of those are not contained. There are 12 fires at emergency warning level and eight fires at watch and act level.

The 12 emergency alert fires were:

  • Gulf Rd, Tenterfield
  • Wachpool fire
  • Myall Creek fire, west of Woodburn
  • Liberation Trail, west of Coffs Harbour
  • Kian Rd, south-west of Macksville
  • Reserves Rd fire, north of Gloucester
  • Thunderbolts Way, north of Gloucester
  • Rumba Dump fire near Elands, Bobin and Marlee
  • Hillville Rd fire, south of Taree
  • Greta, in the Hunter Area near Cessnock
  • Wine Country Road in North Rothbury
  • Gosford Rd fire, north of Sydney in the Hawkesbury area.
  • Fitzsimmons said multiple homes were damaged at the North Rothbury fire. This fire has since been downgraded to watch and act.

He said firefighter have been able to keep on top of fires in the Sydney basin area but the strong southerly coming through in the next few hours was a cause for concern. It will be around 7pm or 8pm in the Sydney region, and then north later in the evening.

There are some reported firefighter injuries, and one cardiac arrest in the Hunter, he said.

The Fire Near Me app has been downloaded 376,000 times in the past few days, he said.
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The fires are now 26km from Sydney's CBD.

This is exactly what firefighters have been worried about - the fire moving into areas of dense population. That's happening now.
 
arthwollipot said:
The fires are now 26km from Sydney's CBD.

This is exactly what firefighters have been worried about - the fire moving into areas of dense population. That's happening now.
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I've said this before. If the wind change had come five minutes later on Black Saturday in Melbourne, my entire family would have died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires

Sometimes wind changes which turn the fire back towards already burnt land can be the very best result.
 
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