Discussion: bushfires

The scenes of the fires are quite incredible and the temperatures unbelievable. I'm visiting Australia to do some O and visit fire research sites in October. Is Australia's fire management policy coming into question given the extreme conditions?

Actually, I haven't heard anyone questioning the management this time around -- yet. The point is that the conditions are so extreme that there's not much anyone can do!!

I think it just demonstrates that believing in fire containment is a delusion in fire storm conditions. Control burning makes no difference in these conditions anyway. The fire in Bendigo travelled through an area that was subject to a control burn less than 6 months ago. It probably helped reduce the fire intensity, but in the conditions (46 degrees and 50 km/hr + gusts) it wasn't going to stop the fire and scores of houses were destroyed on the other side of the road anyway. We can expect more weather like this according to Blair and the professionals, so possibly the real issues are settlement policy, building standards.
Drop by while in Bendigo and I'll show you the site. You just have to add the Oz Championships carnival to your WMOC schedule.

having moved to Victoria from NSW I'm amazed with the high profile of the Country Fire Authority down here. It is considerably more visible than the equivalent in NSW. I had never heard of a "Bushfire Management Plan" until I moved here. The local ABC radio did a fantastic job until the Mt Tassie transmission tower got knocked out about 6pm.

I was looking at the MODIS rapid response data and it was incredible how fast the fires developed.

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?subset...

Extreme conditions indeed.

The retired foresters and rabid pollies like Wilson Tuckey are coming out of the woodwork to advocate more 'fuel reduction', especially over her in WA. Our premier has just got in on the act in today's West Australian.