[WerTicus]

A lot of the roads wouldn't be straight enough to drive faster than the fire in good conditions.   And these were not good conditions.

[Tim]

Hugh,

Glad to hear you are safe and sound, I have seen the pictures and heard peoples accounts on this dreadful and tragic event.

It's heart wrenching to see how many innocent people have lost their lives, and how its affected the survivors. I pray that your friend is safe and sound.

words fail me.

regards,

Tim

[AKSA]

Thank you Tim,

All safe and sound, and I am relieved that my friend Jim is fine too.

I think this tragedy will have immediate effect in the building regulations.  All people who live surrounded by tall trees and bushland will probably now be required to build a small underground shelter, removed from the house, in concrete brick, including the roof.  Those who had these shelters, not unlike a bomb shelter, all survived without injury.  I believe this observation was made back in the 1939 fires, too.

The investigation will doubtless reveal that those who chanced it on the road mostly perished.  You can't outrun these fires, not even in a motor vehicle, and with all the smoke, you can't see anyway.

I suspect these shelters will become big business here.  A backhoe, $3K of concrete bricks, and a week's labour would be all that's required.

Cheers,

Hugh

[lonewolfny42]

Hugh....

All safe and sound, and I am relieved that my friend Jim is fine too.

That's good news Hugh...

Now I hope those arsonists are caught.... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5699130.ece

                   Chris

[Felipe]

Hugh,

I am relieved to hear the aksaphile family, as your friend, are safe.
The news are traveling the world, and each day brings more of the same...
Hoping for better days in Ozland...

Best regards,
Filipe

[AKSA]

Thanks Chris, Felipe, things are almost back to normal, except for smoke hanging in the air in the northern suburbs of Melbourne....  yesterday morning to my surprise I saw Elvis, a purpose designed dump helicopter with a water capacity of 9 tonnes, pass over my home.  It has the biggest rotor of any chopper I've ever seen, must be 3000 bhp jet engines.

I just heard an interesting argument on the radio about the Oz bush.  One proponent of burning off, controlling the bush for habitation, keeping undergrowth down with regular cool season burnoffs.  The other, a Professor, who wants to preserve the beauty of the bush at all costs, no burning off or clearing, learn to 'live with it'.  These represent the polar opposites in this debate, no wonder government and local councils are confused......  the conservationists have captured the heart of the people, and now aerial photography every year reveals people who have cut down a tree and are prosecuted for a criminal offence.

The fact is, the bush burns routinely.  It's been going on for millions of years, and nothing will stop it.  Environmentally, it even appears to be a cleansing event.  Australia is very hot in summer, the flora has adapted, it's tinder dry on hot days, and if an arsonist doesn't light it, a passing spark from a car or chainsaw or even a bolt of lightning will.  Since there is an ancient inevitability about bushfires, if we insist on living in the bush, we should either take steps to survive it with underground bunkers (and an oxygen supply!) OR we should partly clear our living areas so that if a fire does come through we stand a chance.  In this carbon obssessed world the irony is that 450,000 hectares of burnt forest produces more carbon emissions than the entire transportation sector in the State of Victoria in one year, so some of the ecological arguments are beginning to look a little specious.

Hugh

[Geoff-AU]

The stories and pictures about this fire make for scary reading, The Australian has a summary of the fire's progress throughout the day:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25051344-2702,00.html

As Hugh has said, our bush burns routinely.  Some trees can only reproduce via fire which explodes their seed pods.  Hazard reduction burning is a necessity if we're going to live close to the bush, but we need to strike a balance between the natural frequency of bushfires and their intensity and simply burning off at every opportunity, which shifts the natural balance and allows some species to flourish at the expense of others.  A minor backburn probably doesn't reach the intensity required for some species to breed.

The carbon emissions angle is bullshit..  it's a closed cycle of growth and burning that has happened ever since our climate stabilised and they're not "human" emissions.  If the bush was being burned and then chopped down, different story.  But you would be amazed at just how quickly things spring into life after a fire.

As for sparks from passing cars, usually they're cigarette butts and I have no respect for people who are "tossers" and throw their butts out the window whether lit OR extinguished.  It's brainless and irresponsible.

[Scottdazzle]

First of all, I want to express deep sorrow for the losses suffered by our Australian friends.  Geoff-AU and  AKSA made some correct statements about the value of wildfires for vegetation in places where wildfire is a normal occurrence.  It is true that some species of plants only regenerate after fire.  Also, anyone who flicks a cigarette in dry conditions is a fool or worse.  Arsonists deserve the most severe penalties.

The argument about carbon emissions is only partly correct.  Vegetation, especially trees, stores carbon and prevent its release into the ozone.  When burned, that carbon is released.  A closed system where fire intervals are regular and normal balance out over the long run, but the permanent removal of vegetation and forests results in a net release of carbon and, in large enough quantities, to global heating. The logging of rain forests should concern everyone on this planet.

There is very interesting recent research linking global heating (I think the term global warming understates and misrepresents the phenomenon) to ocean temperatures and wildfires - at least in North America. I refer anyone who is interested to research by Dr. Ron Nielsen. 

[Whitese]

Just posting to express my sympathies for our aussie friends..I have had many australian tennis partners and coaching friends. Great people!

 Its heart breaking thinking of the wildlife that perished...and that still will...

[AKSA]

I've just googled the Eriksen Skycrane used here to fight the fires, and I was dead wrong on the power.  This from Wikipaedia:

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (pilot, co-pilot), plus room for one rear-facing observer
Capacity: up to 5 total persons
Payload: 20,000 lb (9,072 kg)
Length: 70 ft 3 in (21.41 m (fuselage))
Rotor diameter: 72 ft 0 in (21.95 m)
Height: 18 ft 7 in (5.67 m)
Disc area: 4070 ft² (378.1 m²)
Empty weight: 19,234 lb (8,724 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 42,000 lb (19,050 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney JFTD12-4A (T73-P-1) turboshaft engines, 4,500 shp (3,555 kW) each
Performance

Maximum speed: 109 knots (126 mph, 203 km/h)
Cruise speed: 91 knots (105 mph, 169 km/h)
Range: 200 nm (230 mi, 370 km) max fuel and reserves
Service ceiling 9,000 ft (2,743 m)
Rate of climb: 1,330 ft/min (6.75 m/s)


It doesn't have a high ceiling or good range, but by God it can climb, at 22 feet per second, that's really shooting up!  The combined powser is no less than 9000 hp, that's almost unbelievable.....

There is quite heavy smoke in the northern suburbs of Melbourne at present, predicted to stay two more days.  You can smell the fires.

Hugh

[lonewolfny42]

Just posting to express my sympathies for our aussie friends..I have had many australian tennis partners and coaching friends. Great people!

 Its heart breaking thinking of the wildlife that perished...and that still will...

Local CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian Koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Mark Pardew

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/02/10/8334826-ap.html

[JohnR]

There is quite heavy smoke in the northern suburbs of Melbourne at present, predicted to stay two more days.  You can smell the fires.

So hard to believe you are just down the road, it's been sopping wet (and cold!) here the last few days. No doubt the tables will turn at some point.

[lonewolfny42]

Just posting to express my sympathies for our aussie friends..I have had many australian tennis partners and coaching friends. Great people!

 Its heart breaking thinking of the wildlife that perished...and that still will...

Local CFA firefighter David Tree shares his water with an injured Australian Koala at Mirboo North after wildfires swept through the region. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Mark Pardew

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/02/10/8334826-ap.html

Spotted this in the news....so just an update......

[AKSA]

Hi Chris,

Great to see you here!  I hope you are well, and enjoying the NYC summer!

Yes, the firefighter was quite upset when the koala died of chlamydia, a serious disease which plagues a large portion of our koalas and which first stops reproduction, then kills them.  A variant of this bug also infects humans, causing infertility.

Call again soon, Chris, love your contributions!

Hugh

 

[lonewolfny42]

I hope you are well, and enjoying the NYC summer!

Doing well Hugh...as I hope you are.

Has not been a typical NYC summer here...lots of rainy ....and cloudy days....and temps have been cool....no 90+ degree days. And its August already....very strange.

Hope your winter is going well....and...I may not always post here....but I do read it every night....and still enjoy my AKSA amp....keep up the good work. 

                  Chris

[ginger]

Global Heating and all that. (Global "Warming" .. a label used by wimps.)

I occasionally come across some weird and wonderful articles from yesteryear.
Just finished reading "On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon Temperature of the Ground" which talks about CO2 levels and global heating. Where did I find it?

Its a reprint of an article by Prof. Svante Arrhenius from the London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, dated April 1896.

The man was ahead of his time.

Cheers,
Ian

[AKSA]

Ian,

He was the guy that established that organic reactions proceed twice as quickly for each 11C rise in temperature, isn't he?

His work, interestingly, transfers to SS electronics, and predicts that the MTBF of semiconductors is halved for each 11C increase in die temperature!  Apparently the doping in semis moves very slowly under the influence of temperature!

There is no doubt, fires in Oz, Greece, unseasonable heat in London recently, the world is heating.....

Hugh

[Wind Chaser]

There is no doubt, fires in Oz, Greece, unseasonable heat in London recently, the world is heating.....

Yep, even way up here in Western Canada we've seen a banner year for forest fires and it ain't over yet.  So far it has cost the Province of BC in excess of 200 million dollars.  We've also have had plenty of help coming from as far as Australia and New Zealand.  We really appreciate your help.