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Australia Wildfires: High Temperatures and Wind Cause Fire Alerts
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by Amy Judd | November 21, 2009 at 02:23 pm
267 views | 4 Recommendations | 3 comments
The Australia wildfires are raging on today with record breaking temperatures that have caused about 100 fires across the country. The severly high temperatures and the strong winds have added fuel to the blazes, many of which were started by lightning strikes.
"It has never been this hot, dry or windy in combination in November ever before," said New South Wales (NSW) state premier Nathan Rees.
In the area of Rylstone in New South Wales, 100 homes are threatened and residents are told that they will need to be prepared to fight the flames or evacuate.
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In the area of Dolphin Sands in Tasmania, three homes were destroyed last night, and across New South Wales about five major blazes are currently burning, and the fire crews can barely keep up with the fires.
More lighning without rain is expected for tonight and temperatures are currently at about 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
"We are expecting strong northwesterly winds to reach the Sydney basin, and temperatures could reach the low 40s," RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd added.
"With strong winds, the fires could reach homes... It will be very dangerous fire weather."
In New South Wales, many residents are under a Code Red or Catastrophic fire alert, in which residents are strongly urged to evacuate their homes, although they don't have to. This was the first time this warning was issued in South Australia, which was developed after February's 'Black Saturday' fires.
The conditions of a Code Red alert are the same as the ones that preceeded the Black Saturday fires.
A total fire ban is in effect for most of New South Wales, including Sydeny.
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Amy Judd
Vancouver, Canada
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Recommendations (4)
jjenet
Ilford, Essex, United Kingdom
smkovalinsky
New York, New York, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 16:59 on November 21st, 2009
why aren't they out there with tractors and plows and axes making firebreaks, clearing brush from around houses?
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Tom Robinson (not verified)at 05:23 on November 22nd, 2009
Each and every bushfire season my heart goes out to all who lose their homes, possessions and livestock to the destructive forces of fire. I feel far less compassionate, however, towards the fire service ?leaders? who refuse annual offers of assistance from international sources, knowing that those assets could have easily stopped most of the devastating fires in their infancy. In 1995, Global Emergency Response brought the incomparable IL-76 Waterbomber to Australia for the "Air Shows Down Under" for a very successful aerial firefighting demonstration. The actual firefighters loved it, but a couple of the bureaucratic "decision-makers" were concerned that it would "force" the fire service to change its collective thinking about how to more-effectively control bushfires and, as everyone knows - bureaucrats don't like change. The Waterbomber can stop a raging bushfires over an area equal to 12 football fields in less than 15 seconds, and it has been doing so, worldwide, for 15 years. In 2003, a local paper reported that "just one IL-76 Waterbomber could have saved the Mt. Stromlo Observatory if the offer of assistance had been accepted in time". Pride and protectionism have greatly assisted in destroying your homes and possessions each year. It is never too late to change that backward-thinking ?leadership?. www.waterbomber.org
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Illusion 76 (not verified)at 21:45 on November 27th, 2009
Tom, why don't you give up on this bullshit!! We all know that most of the old 76's have crashed. What a lot of people don't know is that these things are completely useless against fires. Because they are so large they must initiate evasive action to avoid cumulo-granite [rocks and other large lumps of ground that poke up into the air]. This critical to ensure they don't crash into said rocks and lumps of ground!!!An Il76 was used on fires in coastal Croatia and when evasive action to avoid high terrain was necessary, the Il 76 flew over the fire at an altitude of about 3000' above ground level. Needless to say, none of the water made it to the ground and the Il 76 has never been invited back. Not unlike the infamous attempts in Greece a few years ago. It is notable that when Greece again had serious fires a few years later, the IL76 was nowhere to be seen. That was not by accident, it was directly by design of the Greek fire authorities who, under no circumstance would entertain thoughts of having such a useless machine return.