AUSTRALIA: Devastating Fires in Oz - Death Toll Over 200

[CGP]

Walls of flame roared across southeastern Australia on Saturday, razing scores of homes along with forests and farmland in the sunburned country's worst wildfire disaster in a quarter century. At least 14 people died and the toll could rise to more than 40, police said

Victoria state police said the death toll might exceed 40 as dozens of fires burned unchecked across at least 115 square miles of forests, farmland and towns.

Some officials described the day as the worst in the country's history of wildfires.

More than 30,000 volunteer firefighters were battling fires after dark, when helicopters and planes that hand-dumped millions of tons of water on the flames returned to base for safety reasons.

Residents in the paths of the fires reported seeing their towns ablaze, and television footage showed flames leaping at least 25 feet in the air.

Victoria Premier John Brumby, whose parents' house was among those saved by firefighters Saturday, said the death toll was expected to rise "considerably."

"It's been, I think, the worst day in our history," he said.



Read More: MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29067017/)

[CGP]

Police: Death toll in Australia fires reaches 49 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlUCqDbfvOMgcnOmIjSnqFNni6iQD96778U00)

[CGP]

50 dead, hundreds of homes lost, as bushfires rage through Victoria (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25023335-1243,00.html)

[CGP]

Photo Gallery: Victoria's Killer Fires (http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,5037339-5006020-1,00.html)

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[CGP]

Australia ablaze as bushfires kill 65, destroy 640 homes (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5685378.ece)

[CGP]

It gets worse by the day...:(

Australia ablaze: 'Hell in all its fury' brings death to Victoria (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5687751.ece)

(Times Online, 2/8/09)


The deadliest bushfires in Australia's history have wrought death and destruction across southern Australia, killing scores of people, destroying hundreds of homes and razing entire towns to the ground.

At the last count the toll had reached 96, but the thousands of firefighters still battling the blazes warned that they expected to find many more bodies when they reach the worst affected areas tomorrow.

The fires began on the hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne and were fanned by gale-force winds. Many of the dead were said to have waited too long in their homes before fleeing and were burnt alive in their cars as multiple fires tore through the countryside of Victoria state. Some of the blazes were set by arsonists.

Witnesses said the sky had turned to ash, began to rain embers and the fires which obliterated entire houses in seconds had turned parts of the picturesque Victorian countryside into something resembling a nuclear holocaust.

Cars became tombs as people tragically tried to out-run the flames. Others made lucky escapes by diving into dams and local reservoirs. One group broke into a local pub to seek refuge in the cool room until the blaze had passed.



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[CGP]

Video Footage (via BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7877243.stm)

[Brooke]

Oh goodness..Murray, is your family okay?

[CGP]

Oh goodness..Murray, is your family okay?

Yes, thankfully. I have no family in that part of the country.

[CGP]

Australia’s ‘Hell on Earth’ Fires May Burn for Days (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aMWg_c_YoYEs&refer=australia)

(Bloomberg, 2/8/09)

[CGP]

Death toll reaches 108 as Australia's wildfires rage (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-australia-fires9-2009feb09,0,7197594.story)

(LA Times, 2/8/09)

[Brooke]

Yes, thankfully. I have no family in that part of the country.

Good.

[CGP]

YouTube - 84+ killed in deadliest-ever Australian wildfires

[CGP]

128 killed in deadliest-ever Australian wildfires (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlUCqDbfvOMgcnOmIjSnqFNni6iQD967QND80)

(Associated Press, 2/8/09)


Police declared crime scenes Monday in towns destroyed by Australia's worst-ever wildfires, as investigators moving into the charred landscape discovered hellish scenes and more bodies.

Police confirmed 128 deaths from the fires Saturday that tore a destructive path across a vast swath of southern Victoria state, reducing entire towns to ruins.

Officials suspect some of the more than 400 fires that raged during the weekend were deliberately set. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, visibly upset during a television interview, reflected national disgust at the idea.

"What do you say about anyone like that?" Rudd said. "There's no words to describe it, other than it's mass murder."

At least 750 homes were destroyed. Officials said both the tolls of human life and property would almost certainly rise.

[CGP]

More Images (via news.com.au) (http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,22010,5037339-5006020,00.html#)

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[CGP]

This man's story is amazing:

CNN Video (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/02/09/rajpal.bpr.beamen.survivor.cnn)


Survivor: 'We're the lucky ones' 5:37
CNN's Monita Rajpal speaks with journalist Norm Beaman about his experience surviving the brush fires Australia.

[foxyladi]

so glad you are ok. MURRAY..

[CGP]

so glad you are ok. MURRAY..

I'm safe here in NY!

BBC: Australia resumes search for fire victims (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7878106.stm?lss)


The number of deaths from bushfires that have already claimed 170 lives in the Australian state of Victoria is likely to rise, officials have warned.

Police believe some of the fires were started deliberately - actions which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said amounted to "mass murder".

Survivors have recounted how they fled walls of flames. Some people died in their cars trying to escape the fires.

Some rural towns have been completely destroyed.

Police have sealed off a number of sites, including the devastated small town of Maryville, as possible crime scenes.

Victoria State Premier John Brumby said: "We have had whole communities just completely wiped out, completely obliterated, by what people would describe as literally a fireball that just came over the hills and devoured everything before them.

[CGP]

YouTube - Australia bush fires: evacuees tell their dramatic stories

YouTube - Australia fires burn all in path

YouTube - Australia's fires monitored on the Web

YouTube - Raw footage of Australian Fires

YouTube - Australian bush fires

[CGP]

$15 million raised for Victoria fire victims and survivors so far (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25030567-5000540,00.html)

[CGP]

This footage is pretty scary as it just takes some of those fire balls to jump onto the road and the cars could blow up (given they have fuel inside them):

YouTube - FIRE in UFTG MELBOURNE VICTORIA 7/2/09

The size of the flames when they spike (0.22, 0.35) in this one below are shocking:

YouTube - Drouin Bush Fires 7/2/09 Flare up

[CGP]

More images:

See WSJ Slideshow (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123423427828066461.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#proje ct%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB123422198704365397%26arti cleTabs%3Dslideshow)

[CGP]

Video: The Sound of Flames (http://player.video.news.com.au/news/#1HBIp3JMvInPCj9lWIgHU1W8r5AGvf8L) (footage from inside someone's home under siege from fire)

[CGP]

Victoria fires: 80 missing, 181 dead, police chase arsonists (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25038874-1243,00.html)

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Pics: news.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/galleries/)

[The_Basseteer]

From: Michelle Malkin (http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/11/environmentalism-killsagain/)



Who’s to blame for those horrific fires in Australia? No surprise: Enviro-nitwit-ism is a culprit. Iain Murray (http://www.openmarket.org/2009/02/11/environmental-policies-kill-again/) has the damning details:
One of the main themes of my book, The Really Inconvenient Truths, is that misguided environmental policies often lead to humanitarian and environmental disaster. We’ve just seen another example in Australia, where fires have claimed many lives. Distraught survivors (http://www.theage.com.au/national/angry-survivors-blame-council-green-policy-20090211-83p0.html) are certain they know at least part of the reason why the fires were able to do so:
During question time at a packed community meeting in Arthurs Creek on Melbourne’s northern fringe, Warwick Spooner — whose mother Marilyn and brother Damien perished along with their home in the Strathewen blaze — criticised the Nillumbik council for the limitations it placed on residents wanting the council’s help or permission to clean up around their properties in preparation for the bushfire season. “We’ve lost two people in my family because you dickheads won’t cut trees down,” he said.
It’s called bushfire season for a reason: the bush catches fire. If you want to reduce the effects, you cut back the bush. Policies that stop this are criminally dangerous.
It’s a similar story here in the US.


That's what we need here, more government telling us what we can and cannot do to protect our lives and our property..... yeah, that's the ticket!

[CGP]

Australia mourns victims of deadly wildfires (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/22/australia.memorial/)

(CNN, 2/22/09)


Church bells rang throughout Australia on Sunday as the country remembered the victims of this month's devastating fires -- and firefighters braced themselves for the possibility of more blazes.

Children place flowers on a wreath during a memorial for victims of the bushfires.

Even as the nation sang, prayed and laid wreaths to mourn the 209 people killed in the fires, rescuers continued to comb through rubble in search of more bodies. There are no official numbers of how many people are still unaccounted for.

Weather forecasts predict another heat wave in Victoria next week, the state where the fires charred thousands of acres of land.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), bushfire scientist David Packham -- who predicted the recent blaze -- said conditions were ripe for more wildfires in Victoria.

Officials issued warnings to residents in the state's Warburton and Yarra valleys, asking them to make preparations to leave by Monday morning.

Several fires continued to burn in Yarra, known for its vineyards.

To commemorate the day of mourning, a somber Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the resilience of Australians and offered a message of hope. Watch memorial services in Australia »

"As a people, we weep for the lost," he said in a memorial, televised live. "We tend the injured. We console the suffering. And yet, our work has barely begun."

"(For) what we saw on Black Saturday, what we saw at work was the worst of nature, yet the best of humanity," he added.

Added John Brumby, the premier of Victoria: "We are picking up the pieces after the worst disaster in Australia's history. These fires have united all in grief."

Local television stations continue to air images of abandoned communities. Busloads of residents returned home to the town of Maryville to find it burned to the ground. Tourist brochures once dubbed the town a "summer haven."