Fire to the south

Great to see you back here.

Thank you, Peter. It's good to be back online. Part of the problem is that the fires damage the power grid, causing blackouts and communication losses.

Terrific documentary shot! Glad to hear the sea breeze kicked in. Hope you get some rain and also happy to hear you're back home.

Admired in:
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Thank you, William. To stop these fires we need a widespread bucket of rain, preferably followed by another bucket about a week later!

Glad you are safe at home, George. What an ordeal. The extent and devastation of these fires is unimaginable, so many lives, homes, and wildlife lost. From Wikipedia... The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season involves a series of wildfires that are currently burning across Australia, predominantly in south-east Australia. The 2019–20 bushfire season is of notable intensity compared to previous seasons as it has burned an estimated 6.3 million hectares (16 million acres; 63,000 square kilometres; 24,000 square miles), destroyed over 2,500 buildings (including over 1,300 houses) and killed 25 people as of 5 January 2020.

Thank you very much, Gillian. It's just remarkably dry and, as I said to William, likely to continue until there is substantial widespread rain. The scale of these fires certainly is remarkable.

Good to read that you are better off again...

Thank you very much, Udo.

You haven't had the rain that we've been reading about, George? This evacuation centre looks almost third world, I have read your article as well as keeping abreast of the conditions in Australia. The climate change deniers don't seem to have a leg to stand on. Scott Morrison must be one of the least favourite politicians in the world.

So glad that you are back home again, and I hope you manage to stay safe for the rest of the summer.

Thank you very much for your supporting comments, Amelia. Sorry to say though, but as far as I know there has been no useful rain in most of the fire areas in Australia. The evacuation centre is essentially an improvisation, based on a complex of sporting fields around a central reasonably large clubhouse. With a good staff of volunteer workers it actually served the purpose remarkably well.

EAD YOUR ARTICAL.

CONTINE TO BE SAFE GEORGE AND PAULINE

THANK YOU, DEAR PAM. BIG HUGGSS FROM BOTH OF US.

Thank you for showing us your pictures of this tragedy George. It brings tears to my eyes. I hope you have bucket loads of rain very soon. I hope also that you are getting support from other countries....I don't hear much about that? My best wishes to you and your wife.

Thank you, Rosa. It is indeed very saddening, particularly when I think of the effect on the wildlife - it is entirely possible this could send some species extinct and leave others in a very precarious state. We are getting support from New Zealand and both Canada and the USA have sent forest firefighters across.

Wonderful to hear that you are back home. The news here gives us some sense of what's going on and we have to deal with the possibility of fires as well (had three nearby two years ago, though nothing like this), but our sense of the magnitude of these fires is, I'm sure, far short of the reality.

Thank you very much, Ron. Unfortunately these fires will probably continue until we receive a good amount of rain - not likely in the near future. The extent is quite remarkable, currently over 41,000 sq miles, illustrated well by the graphic on this link: tinyurl.com/qlbjj4z

Admired in:
www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance

Wow - history in the making. - Looks scary. Glad that you are safe back home now. Today, we hear that a little rain has fallen and so hopefully that will help matters.
A couple of years back we had big moorland fires which covered the whole area in dark smog. That was bad enough -but your fires make ours look like a little camp-fires.

Keep safe and keep those photos and stories rolling.

Herb in the UK.

Thank you, Herb. As far as rain, we had only about 2mm and I don't believe there was a great deal in most of the fire-affected areas. Only heavy and extended rain will stop these fires, unfortunately a small amount can be counter-productive because it inhibits back-burning control measures. More photos to come.

Hi George,

Glad that you are back safe and well. I can't even imagine what you must have been through. We see it daily on our news, but it's only when we see the stories from you guys directly that we really learn.

Best Wishes
Peter

Thank you, Peter. It's slightly surreal at times, as we all watch and listen for the latest reports and fire information. Of course, on the bad fire days many of us choose shelter at the evacuation centre, then the fire spread is followed by power and communication outages, that becomes very disruptive.

Wow. So scary.... I'm glad you are doing all right though.

Thank you, Karen. Yes, so far our property has not been affected and we're taking care to avoid any risks. The main problem for us has been power and communication outages.

That's so good, George. I wish you and your family all the best.

Glad you are safe now, will read your article.

Thank you, Isabel.

terrible