Bushfires in Australia
- Thread starter tonydawe
- Start date
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Franco
Well-Known Member
Hi Tony
Thank you for starting this important thread. It is tragic and maddness that some of the fires were deliberately started. But good that one of the suspects was arrested.
I lived in rural Victoria (Gippsland and surroundings) for one year when I first emigrated to Australia and made many friend out there. That area must have the nicest people around in my expereince. After contacting each one I discovered that one had lost his home and one other family had lost their aunt in the fires.
Over in Western Australia we are doing everything possible to raise as much money to help out. My daugthers primary school rallied and we managed to raise a few $
Just too sad to see.....
Thank you for starting this important thread. It is tragic and maddness that some of the fires were deliberately started. But good that one of the suspects was arrested.
I lived in rural Victoria (Gippsland and surroundings) for one year when I first emigrated to Australia and made many friend out there. That area must have the nicest people around in my expereince. After contacting each one I discovered that one had lost his home and one other family had lost their aunt in the fires.
Over in Western Australia we are doing everything possible to raise as much money to help out. My daugthers primary school rallied and we managed to raise a few $
Just too sad to see.....
John Bowery
A Fixture
Tony,
Do you have a link to the Bush Fire Relief Fund where we can make a donation, that will get to the right people?
Thanks
John
Do you have a link to the Bush Fire Relief Fund where we can make a donation, that will get to the right people?
Thanks
John
ghamilt1
A Fixture
Hi John;
The Autralian Red Cross has a secure online donation option set up specifically for victims of this disaster. I am including the address here;
www.redcross.org.au/default.asp
The Autralian Red Cross has a secure online donation option set up specifically for victims of this disaster. I am including the address here;
www.redcross.org.au/default.asp
tonydawe
A Fixture
Hi John,
Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I have already made a donation to the Red Cross on behalf of Planet Figure but, please don't let that stop you from making your own donation.
Donations can be made by credit card only on the following website.
www.redcross.org.au/donate
These fires are still burning more than a week since they started and property and communities remain under threat.
The death toll from the fires remains at 181, although it will certainly reach over 200.
More than 2000 homes have been destroyed. Millions of animals, both native and domestic, have perished.
An area the size of Belgium and The Netherlands has been burned in these fires.
Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I have already made a donation to the Red Cross on behalf of Planet Figure but, please don't let that stop you from making your own donation.
Donations can be made by credit card only on the following website.
www.redcross.org.au/donate
These fires are still burning more than a week since they started and property and communities remain under threat.
The death toll from the fires remains at 181, although it will certainly reach over 200.
More than 2000 homes have been destroyed. Millions of animals, both native and domestic, have perished.
An area the size of Belgium and The Netherlands has been burned in these fires.
John Bowery
A Fixture
Thank you both for the link.
John
John
Jesus !
Incredible they don't mention it more on the news ! I guess the deathtoll isn't high enough for the european media
tonydawe
A Fixture
Well, Patrick the death toll has just increased from 181 to 189, and the fires are still burning.
busso_boy
Well-Known Member
just tipped the 200 mark today, very sad chapter in our history
tonydawe
A Fixture
Sadly the 201st death resulting from these horrendous bushfires occured today. A professional firefighter from Canberra was killed this morning when a burnt tree fell on him. There are still some 5,000 firefighters, most of them unpaid volunteers, fighting fires across Victoria and risking their lives to save others.
This Sunday has been declared a National Day of Mourning for all Australians. All of us, no matter where we live, have been profoundly shocked and united in grief by these tragic fires and the appaling loss of life.
A number of fires in Victoria are still burning, more than 10 days after they were started and there are fears that another spell of extremely hot weather this weekend could see some of these fires flare up, and new fires start.
Although the media's attention has moved on to other stories, our national nightmare is not over yet. People are still dying.
This Sunday has been declared a National Day of Mourning for all Australians. All of us, no matter where we live, have been profoundly shocked and united in grief by these tragic fires and the appaling loss of life.
A number of fires in Victoria are still burning, more than 10 days after they were started and there are fears that another spell of extremely hot weather this weekend could see some of these fires flare up, and new fires start.
Although the media's attention has moved on to other stories, our national nightmare is not over yet. People are still dying.
tonydawe
A Fixture
The death toll from these terrible bush fires has now risen to 208. Scores of people are still listed as missing, and many more remain in critical condition in hospital suffering horrendous burns. Sadly the death toll is expected to continue rising. At least half a dozen major fires are still raging across Victoria.
Jamie Stokes
A Fixture
A still from Youtube.
Originally posted by Matthew (aka Capn English) (again, thanks for the ray of hope)
is a screen shot of the Koala with the firefighter.
Fires continues, Yes, tragedy continues, with the support from our friends from around the world, we persist.
Thank you all for you ongoing support, and continued best wishes.
Nothing lifts the hearts here like your expressions of support
Warmest thanks & gratitude
Originally posted by Matthew (aka Capn English) (again, thanks for the ray of hope)
is a screen shot of the Koala with the firefighter.
Fires continues, Yes, tragedy continues, with the support from our friends from around the world, we persist.
Thank you all for you ongoing support, and continued best wishes.
Nothing lifts the hearts here like your expressions of support
Warmest thanks & gratitude
Attachments
John Bowery
A Fixture
Tony,
What's the latest update?
Thanks.
John
What's the latest update?
Thanks.
John
tonydawe
A Fixture
Hi John,
The latest news is that several major bushfires are still burning in Victoria more than two weeks after they started, and lives and property continues to be under threat.
202 people have died so far and a further 30 people remain unaccounted for, and are feared dead.
Over 1,000 houses have been destroyed, more than 4,000 people are homeless. Some townships have lost more than 30% of their entire population in these fires, and in some cases several generations of the same family have been killed. Up to a million animals are feared to have perished in this fires, and many more are now starving because their food sources have also been destroyed.
Melbourne (Australia's second largest city -pop. 4.5 million) now faces the problem of contaminated drinking water as a result of fires sweeping through the water catchment areas and hundreds of millions of tonnes of debris, ash and silt being washed into the water storage dams.
Last Sunday was a National Day of Mourning for the victims of the bushfires. To date almost $200 million has been raised from public donations to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Relief Appeal. The generosity of Australian's towards their fellow citizens has been overwhelming. These fires really have galvanised our nation in a way rarely seen except during times of war.
At last count there are at least half a dozen bushfires still burning through Victoria. Desite this, some townships have already begun the painfully slow task of rebuilding their communities. In places like Marysville and Kinglake (just an hour's drive north east of Melbourne) there is quite literallly nothing left to rebuild. The entire community and all its infrastructure were destroyed in the fires and must be built from scratch.
Although not suffering anywhere near the same level of death and destruction, it should also be mentioned that more than 30% of Queensland (an area the size as France) remains affected by record flood waters and some isolated communities have been cut off from the rest of the world for almost 5 weeks.
Although the news media (even here in Australia) seems to have become bored with providing coverage of these horific bushfires, they continue to burn and there are still thousands of fire fighters, most of them volunteers, risking their lives to contain them.
I wish I had better news to give, but the fact remains that this is the worst natural disaster in Australia's history, and its not over yet.
The latest news is that several major bushfires are still burning in Victoria more than two weeks after they started, and lives and property continues to be under threat.
202 people have died so far and a further 30 people remain unaccounted for, and are feared dead.
Over 1,000 houses have been destroyed, more than 4,000 people are homeless. Some townships have lost more than 30% of their entire population in these fires, and in some cases several generations of the same family have been killed. Up to a million animals are feared to have perished in this fires, and many more are now starving because their food sources have also been destroyed.
Melbourne (Australia's second largest city -pop. 4.5 million) now faces the problem of contaminated drinking water as a result of fires sweeping through the water catchment areas and hundreds of millions of tonnes of debris, ash and silt being washed into the water storage dams.
Last Sunday was a National Day of Mourning for the victims of the bushfires. To date almost $200 million has been raised from public donations to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Relief Appeal. The generosity of Australian's towards their fellow citizens has been overwhelming. These fires really have galvanised our nation in a way rarely seen except during times of war.
At last count there are at least half a dozen bushfires still burning through Victoria. Desite this, some townships have already begun the painfully slow task of rebuilding their communities. In places like Marysville and Kinglake (just an hour's drive north east of Melbourne) there is quite literallly nothing left to rebuild. The entire community and all its infrastructure were destroyed in the fires and must be built from scratch.
Although not suffering anywhere near the same level of death and destruction, it should also be mentioned that more than 30% of Queensland (an area the size as France) remains affected by record flood waters and some isolated communities have been cut off from the rest of the world for almost 5 weeks.
Although the news media (even here in Australia) seems to have become bored with providing coverage of these horific bushfires, they continue to burn and there are still thousands of fire fighters, most of them volunteers, risking their lives to contain them.
I wish I had better news to give, but the fact remains that this is the worst natural disaster in Australia's history, and its not over yet.
John Bowery
A Fixture
Tony,
Thank you for taking the time to update. As you say the media seems to totally ignore this, especially the U.S. Since it does not involve us it seems to be ignored regardless of the interest. The U.S. papers do not provide much World correspondance. Australia is continually on our Church Prayer List, as I see that it is.
Once again, thank you.
Cheers
John
Thank you for taking the time to update. As you say the media seems to totally ignore this, especially the U.S. Since it does not involve us it seems to be ignored regardless of the interest. The U.S. papers do not provide much World correspondance. Australia is continually on our Church Prayer List, as I see that it is.
Once again, thank you.
Cheers
John
busso_boy
Well-Known Member
the Bunyip fire is now getting a bit close to a very good friend of mine living in Longwarry (about 4 km's away from her house) which is roughly 100 km's east of Melbourne, this is only one of the many fires still burning and being a smaller one (26000 hectres) does not get much media coverage at all.
tonydawe
A Fixture
Hi everyone,
It's over a month since the devestating bushfires that scorched through Victoria started and killed 210 people. Today, the bushfire crisis has been declared over. Rain and cooler weather conditions have allowed firefighters to finally contain the fires that are still burning, and now the long, hard task of rebuilding shaterred communities can begin.
Hopefully this will be my last update on this post. On behalf of all Australians, thank you to all Planeteers for your support, your prayers and your thoughts.
It's over a month since the devestating bushfires that scorched through Victoria started and killed 210 people. Today, the bushfire crisis has been declared over. Rain and cooler weather conditions have allowed firefighters to finally contain the fires that are still burning, and now the long, hard task of rebuilding shaterred communities can begin.
Hopefully this will be my last update on this post. On behalf of all Australians, thank you to all Planeteers for your support, your prayers and your thoughts.
theseeker
A Fixture
Tony,
Sorry for my absence in the recent months, but I am happy to hear that the Aussie's have performed the way that they always have!
I am very saddened by the loss of life and the damage to your great continent and to the environment. My prayers are with your fellow countrymen.
Rocky
