Eastern Australia is burning

[AussieMan]

Unseasonably hot weather in early November has meant our bushfire season is well under way. Last month it was the northern part of the state that was ravaged by fires and now it is the East Coast.

Unfortunately one person has died and 30 people injured including 19 firefighters. Also on the Mid North Coast fires 100 homes have been destroyed.

11 of the fires are at Emergency alert while several others are at watch and act level. A large air force of helicopters, LATs and VLATS are being used to help fight these fires.

[PRB]

Godspeed and safety to all involved out there!

[paiken]

Stay safe Pat. California has been burning for weeks now, and it looks like it's the new normal. Arizona, where I live, has been lucky this year with no super large fires, but smoke from various fires has drifted into the Phoenix metro area a few times. Being a postman I'm out in the weather every day, so crappy air quality makes for difficult breathing.

[AussieMan]

An update to my morning original post.

Fatalities: 2

Injuries: 30

Missing: 5

Homes destroyed 150.

Not looking good with more extreme weather on the way and as people in California will understand large fires can create their own weather and winds. There have been reports of fires spotting up to 20 kilometers ahead of the main fire.

[PhantomTweak]

California's biggest problem, other than the actual fires themselves, of course, is binary in nature: First, the eco/green warrior types have made sure that there's a huge fuel supply for the fires to utilize by preventing any sort of forestry management, including clearing anything that will burn out of the forest areas by anyone, making firebreaks of any kind, or using controlled burns to keep the trouble reduced.

Second, the PG&E electrical infrastructure is as old as the hills, and not maintained at all. That might cost PG&E a little bit of their profits! Can't have that. A little breeze comes up, the wires wave around and fall, or just move around enough, sparks fly, lots of fuel available (see problem the first), and away the fires go.

Yes, the LA basin has a problem every year when the Santa Anna winds blow, but if the first problem were addressed, they wouldn't have any fuel to start burning. Or less, anywho, and firebreaks would help the firefighters greatly in their jobs. Can't have those though! They aren't "eco-friendly"! So, the fires caused by the Santa Annas spread widely, and rapidly, humans have moved into the area's they usually burn, so their houses are destroyed, and if the humans don't, or can't, leave fast enough, well, you have casualties.

I was stationed in El Toro MCAS for a year, back in '79, so I have experienced the Santa Annas. They were harsh, for California, but back then the eco rules weren't in place yet, so the fires were relatively small, and easily contained. Then they just let them burn the fuel they had available, and problem solved. Home owners were able to clear their yards, make fire breaks, etc. Not anywhere NEAR the problems they have with the fire now. Those winds are harsh though. At least I thought so, until I got stationed at MCAS Yuma...

Sorry all, /rant off.

I wish the firefighters all the best, and all the others involved, California OR Australia, as well.

Stay safe...

Pat☺

[SPman]

Sounds just like here.

3 dead so far, 150 houses destroyed and "catastrophic conditions" forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday reaching down to Sydney. I can think of better ways for the West Coast USA and Australia to be twinned, than the increasing severity of fire conditions......

Living on a 10 acre block, we have to provide access firebreaks around the boundary of our property, and clean up, mow paddocks etc, to reduce burnables to hopefully, manageable levels, yet the local council leave the road verge covered in tree debris and vegetation - we aren't allowed to touch it!

[Rami]

California's biggest problem, other than the actual fires themselves, of course, is binary in nature: First, the eco/green warrior types have made sure that there's a huge fuel supply for the fires to utilize by preventing any sort of forestry management, including clearing anything that will burn out of the forest areas by anyone, making firebreaks of any kind, or using controlled burns to keep the trouble reduced.

Second, the PG&E electrical infrastructure is as old as the hills, and not maintained at all. That might cost PG&E a little bit of their profits! Can't have that. A little breeze comes up, the wires wave around and fall, or just move around enough, sparks fly, lots of fuel available (see problem the first), and away the fires go.

Yes, the LA basin has a problem every year when the Santa Anna winds blow, but if the first problem were addressed, they wouldn't have any fuel to start burning. Or less, anywho, and firebreaks would help the firefighters greatly in their jobs. Can't have those though! They aren't "eco-friendly"! So, the fires caused by the Santa Annas spread widely, and rapidly, humans have moved into the area's they usually burn, so their houses are destroyed, and if the humans don't, or can't, leave fast enough, well, you have casualties.

I was stationed in El Toro MCAS for a year, back in '79, so I have experienced the Santa Annas. They were harsh, for California, but back then the eco rules weren't in place yet, so the fires were relatively small, and easily contained. Then they just let them burn the fuel they had available, and problem solved. Home owners were able to clear their yards, make fire breaks, etc. Not anywhere NEAR the problems they have with the fire now. Those winds are harsh though. At least I thought so, until I got stationed at MCAS Yuma...

Sorry all, /rant off.

I wish the firefighters all the best, and all the others involved, California OR Australia, as well.

Stay safe...

Pat☺

Pat,

I would add one other thing to this...construction. Many people have (IMHO) foolhardily built homes in canyons and places that in natural circumstances would actually serve to isolate files, because they are natural firebreaks. There is literally nowhere for a fire to burn itself out, because it is surrounded by either natural or man-made fuel. When you add poor planning, specifically housing developments and or towns with poor evacuation routes, you become a sitting duck.