Some News

Australian Wattle

Hello Ladies,

Some of you have emailed me about the news reports of Australian fires.  These fires have always been a problem there and I have emailed one of my brothers about the current situation. The first year we lived in Tasmania, some of the church members had to evacuate their home due to threat of fires on the hill where they lived.

  Here are some things by brother  had to say. 

Hi sis,

Its been pretty good here but for a few small fires.

Our state has people in the fire zones on 3 day turn around protecting assets ie private property and towns.

Over 2 million hectares burnt mainly in bush lands and many towns completely destroyed.

500 houses in the state of Victoria and over 1500 lost in other states

3 firefighters killed in mishaps and about 5 civilians .

We lease firefighting aircraft from us and Canada, just got another 4 from Canada

South of Sydney to the Vic boarder has no power  and limited phone or net.

Mallacoota was evacuated by navy to Hastings.

Some rain today but hot weather due later in week

Situation is not good for most areas as drought has left things very  dry.

Any fire just takes off.

Most started by lightning.

Im heading off to help a farmer mate to prepare for  next week as the front turns south again feed by hot northerly winds.

When the wind changes , the side of the fire becomes the fire front, sometimes over 100km in length, so it’s a big job.

Hope all is well there.

Bob

My children know that my brother Bob is their uncle, because I always told them, "Bob's your uncle."  I guess you would have to know some of the old sayings in order to appreciate that. 

We have a similar problem out west, as the forests are on fire in the summer, and it is partly due to the fact we aren't allowed to manage the forests the way we did back in the day. I grew up in the forest and I watched my father keep it all thinned and manageable and he used the trees for lumber before they ever caught on fire ;-) and he replanted.  Sometimes the forestry agency has some techniques that cause more fire (intending to stop it) because the fire goes under ground for a long way, even though it appears to be stopped. We used to create fire breaks and other things that made it hard for fires to spread. Now it is political, and it has got worse.