Off Topic Bush Fires in Australia

Our neighbour state, South Australia, is experiencing some of the worst Bush Fires in it's history. We copped well over 100 degree's yesterday and the picture below will show just how massive these fires are and how quickly the wind can take them on a very destructive path. 12 houses were lost in a matter of minutes.

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Holy crap, how did it get that big?! Did they not try and stop it when it was a quarter of the size?!

 

Dunno why anyone would want to live there! Poisonous snakes and spiders everywhere, and this too! Get back to Blighty!

 

Looks hellacious Laurie. Hope the fires don't breakout where you are. Kellen went through some pretty horrendous NorCal fires this Fall. We just drove down from Canada to LA through Central Cal....an area which was suffering an historic drought a few months ago but thanks to some torrential rains its greened up very nicely so the fire hazard is probably under control for the time being.

Anyhow hope you all stay safe...we'll be back on our green and pleasant Island next week.

Hoping for another good performance against Arsenal tomorrow!!

 

This is a HUGE Country Sterling. England would fit into Victoria alone which is about a twelfth of Australia.
When these 'bush' fires start they are ablaze in seconds and Fire Stations are miles away and under-equipped and staffed as well as having to work in full protective clothing in temperatures way over the ton. Thanks to thousands of volunteers and the likes of "Elvis" (a massive water bombing helicopter) we can eventually get on top but if you can imagine a pinprick on the surface of the KC that is how huge they are. Some of the ones we experienced in the past where the entire size of Wales just to give you an idea.

 

Well

They are not exactly 'everywhere' but can give you the sh@ts when they appear where you would least expect them. Our 'Huntsman Spiders' (see pic) are quite harmless. Word has it that they were crossed with chickens to produce eight-legged chickens. It was successful but we don't know what they taste like because nobody has managed to catch one yet.

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They have been showing it a lot on the news. We normally send firefighters to you all doing our winter your summer just as you send them to us during our summers. Hopefully they keep the fires away from as many homes as possible.

 

As I only live about 10-15 kms from where the fires are I can see the flames from my place. The last count was 7 houses lost and 10,500 hec burnt. I can smell the smoke and the whole suburb is smokey. Polly 13, yes we do have an abundance of poisonous snakes and spiders, but they are more scared of you than you are of them. Except 1, the Tiger snake, he will have a go

 

Update: 12 homes destroyed

 

As well as the homes destroyed there are thousands of livestock which unfortunately become victims of Bush Fires too.
We live on high ground and snakes prefer the lower ground where they have access to ponds and lakes which attract the sort of wildlife they thrive on. In the UK you would probably not know that our lovely (and noisy) Kookaburra's (of the Kingfisher family I believe) perch on telephone poles and electricity wires on the hunt for young snakes. When they pounce they take them up high and then drop them on to the road until they are lifeless and then swallow them whole. Where there are Blue-Tongue lizards (usually about a foot long) there are no snakes (for some reason - I think they eat their eggs) and we have one that lives in our brick retaining wall and I can feed him by hand with bits of meat.

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The suburbs of Elizabeth in the foreground. The fire has covered over 150square kilometers of land

 

I hope that you and your lot are OK man!

 

Yeah no worries Patty, although I have a cousin whose property is right in the guts of it. They were evacuated 2 days ago and last we heard her property is untouched. How, we don't know. The fire has surrounded her property but not touched it ....yet

 

Are Iplex still manufacturing rigid PVC pipe in Elizabeth Dan? When I worked for them in 1968 they manufactured them at a central site in Adelaide but were building a huge plant out at Elizabeth. I left before it was completed and though I have been back to Adelaide a few times have never visited Elizabeth.

 

No Blue Mountains Bear, Ilex have been closed for at least 15-20 years

 

Looks real bad.

 

The above photo was taken from someone living in the same suburb as me, and the fire is 10-15kms away

 

Hopefully you make out alright. It's definitly a strange thing to have to deal with from someone who also sees these types of scenes to often.

You have all the brush and vegetation around your home cut back?

 

Probably taken over? There is a company in Elizabeth called Iplex Pipelines ( owned by the Crane Group) who manufacture PVC pipe and fittings which is an area Iplex specialised in.

 

No ellewoods. We are a long way from the fire, but looking at the photo you would think it's just down the road. There is 1 elderly man missing and 1 woman missing who the authorities are frantically searching for. There are 21 towns under threat from this fire and it now covers over 160 square kms of land