Amazing Photos of the Australian Brushfire

Posted by Alex in Everything Else on February 10, 2009 at 3:46 pm


Alan Taylor’s The Big Picture blog at Boston Globe has another amazing post: this time, the Brushfire in Victoria, Australia:

The state of Victoria in southern Australia has recently been hit with hundreds of bush fires during a record-breaking heatwave – temperatures well above 38°C (100°F). Unfortunately, these fires have proved to be the deadliest in Australian history, with at least 166 deaths reported so far. The fires mostly appear to have been started by lightning – however a few appear to have been arson, and are under investigation – entire towns being declared crime scenes. Twenty-four fires are still burning, and authorities warn that the death toll will likely rise.

Link

Living in the dry Southern California, where brushfire is an ever-present danger, I truly sympathize with the victims of this deadly fire. I sincerely hope none of you are affected.


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COMMENT

9 comments to "Amazing Photos of the Australian Brushfire"

  1. Johnny Cat
    February 10th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    The Big Picture is a great picture blog, and fire lends itself well to big pics. I hope they can get it under control soon. Oh, and nice job on blocking the corpse photo with a blackout/disclaimer.

  2. hannus83
    February 10th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    I'm a police officer in Victoria, and it's been crazy down here during this last week. Devastating to see the hundreds of people who have lost their homes, and worse, the the growing death toll (now over 180, believed may reach 300). These fires have truly gutted this state. But the country is backing the survivors with truly giving and supportive hearts. Millions of dollars have been raised through the Red Cross and other appeals.

  3. Bonehead108
    February 10th, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    My cousins and their parents own a ranch in Narbethong, and amazingly they managed to save the house and all the horses. But everything for miles around them is devastated.

  4. FelixThePat
    February 10th, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    I'm a victorian thankfully not from an affected area.
    It is such a horrible thing to happen, it's at the stage that people from further north in the country are being devastated by floods yet are readily handing over thier aid money to the victims of the bushfires.
    I'm donating all my un-needed clothes and food and hope that other australians can further help out these poor victims.
    I'd also like to give a BIG thanks to the dedicated emergency workers, without your help it would be so very much work.

  5. Polx
    February 10th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    I'm on the other side of the world from my adoptive home state of Victoria,and had not been paying attention to any news media for several days. The fires are staggering.

    Such a beautiful beautiful place.

    It leaves me in tears to see the suffering loss and death there. I can not really look at the pictures anymore. Everytime I see any coverage I can put places back together in my head, there's somebody's Dad's car, the commodore, the son's old Kingswood and Mum's barina all parked tidily in a row as burnt out shells in the shadow of the chimney stack and the warped tin roofs remains.

    It looks like tunguska now.

    If I believed in god I'd pray. But I don't, I do believe however in the amazingly big hearts of Australians. SO I know that the survivors will be looked after.

    Thanks to all of the CFA crews who have come from all across the state, indeed the country to help.

    To the cops for moving so fast on the murder investigation, to Kevin Rudd for getting soem money moving that swiftly and to the people of KIngslake Maryville and to all the Aussies who were lost,who were hurt,who were burnt out, who helped their fellows.

    Sorry to ramble but it is horribly upsetting.

  6. Croops
    February 10th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Just a small correction to the post - the temperature reached on the day of the first fires (Saturday 7th February) was actually 46.4 degrees Celsius (115.52 F).

  7. Gail Pink
    February 11th, 2009 at 10:00 am

    This is just so sad and tragic. I can hardly get my head around it.

  8. dangerman
    February 12th, 2009 at 2:01 am

    Just a small correction. Much like hurricanes are called cyclones in other parts of the world, here in Oz, the correct term is bush fire, not brush fire.

  9. lizzza
    February 12th, 2009 at 5:08 am

    The bush fires have been absolutely devastating. In the last three years, I haven't been in Australia, particularly Victoria, for the dry summers and have forgotten the impact it can have on the state and how close these fires can get to the metropolitan areas of Melbourne.

    It's so unfortunate that the death toll keeps rising and that people have lost everything they have worked towards and it disgusts me that some of the fires were deiliberately lit. However, I think a tragedy like this demonstrates the strength and compassion that people often hide.


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