Australian bushfires

By Nathan On February 10, 2009 · 2 Comments

Australian bushfires Ever dependable for stunning photography, Boston.com’s Big Picture currently features images from the bushfires in Victoria, Australia, started by a combination of lightning and arson in temperatures upwards of 40 degrees Centigrade. Entire communities have been wiped off the map, families shattered and wide areas laid to waste. Descriptions of the damage heard on radio news this morning didn’t come close to describing the level of destruction shown in these photos, with dead animals littering the landscape and burnt trees resembling the site of the Tunguska blast or a nuclear explosion. The flames are said to have moved as fast as a runaway train, the fire hot enough to melt the alloy wheels off cars.

Prue

The bushfires missed swallowing our town of 12,000 people by a perfectly timed shift of the wind… others were not so lucky.

I worked on the broadcast of rolling fire coverage live to the local area while the fires raged down the road, people called the station in distress and sent sms of what they could see.

Everyone just couldn’t believe how silently and quickly the fires came upon them.

I’ve never seen weather like what we had that day. Winds that would blow you over, the sun beating down 46 degree heat. It got to 48.8 in a town an hour north of us and still the backpackers trundled north in their combis.

We’ve now attended to a fire break in our backyard (which backs onto a vast wheat field) and cleaned up some of the debris around the house. If nothing else, people are starting to realise the reality of bushfires not just in the bush but increasingly in urban areas.
Prue

The bushfires missed swallowing our town of 12,000 people by a perfectly timed shift of the wind… others were not so lucky.

I worked on the broadcast of rolling fire coverage live to the local area while the fires raged down the road, people called the station in distress and sent sms of what they could see.

Everyone just couldn’t believe how silently and quickly the fires came upon them.

I’ve never seen weather like what we had that day. Winds that would blow you over, the sun beating down 46 degree heat. It got to 48.8 in a town an hour north of us and still the backpackers trundled north in their combis.

We’ve now attended to a fire break in our backyard (which backs onto a vast wheat field) and cleaned up some of the debris around the house. If nothing else, people are starting to realise the reality of bushfires not just in the bush but increasingly in urban areas.