Smoke in haze Melbourne

[goober]

Does anyone know where the planned burns are published these days? I assume the Department of Burning Stuff is at work at the moment?

[rustigsmed]

Must be its quite intense this morning

[AndrewJ]

Gday Doug
http://www.ffm.vic.gov.au/bushfire-fuel-and-risk-management/planned-burns

Andrew

[Nikolas]

Last night's viewing session was ruined because of the haze.
I can't see why the department of ash and embers can't schedule burnoffs later into autumn/early winter.
April is some of the best viewing conditions yet my sinuses and I'm sure asthmatics are suffering. I'm pretty sure it was not like this a few years ago.

[rmcpb]

They do it when conditions are right and they can get crews. They cannot guarantee conditions in future so it up in flames at the first chance.

Cheers
Rob.

[goober]

A light north wind so let's light some north of Melbourne? I wonder what good it actually does.

[pgc hunter]

I remember back in Melbourne after weeks of cloud, you'd finally get some nice autumn clear skies, only for it to be ruined by weeks of burnoffs. By the time it's all finished, it is winter with permanent cloud for the next several months.

Won't be caught dead back in that place.

[pjphilli]

Same problem in Sydney. Cloud in summer, smoke in winter.

[Nikolas]

Best viewing conditions Jupiter t opposition and ruined by smoke haze. meh.

[AussieBill]

We have had a few days of smoke as well - 150k's eastish of Melbourne. Moon was a funny reddish brown colour the other night and only the brightest stars were visible. Quite frustrating.

Bill

[alpal]

Why do they light those fires now?

The grass has plenty of time to grow back before the next fire season starts in November.

[UniPol]

7 News Melbourne report yesterday :


A blanket of thick smoke has smothered Melbourne, plunging air quality to its worst level in a year.

It's the result of planned burn-offs around the state and authorities added to the haze today, but lighting dozens of new fires.

Stephanie Rotarangi, the chief fire officer at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said it was difficult to back burn without affecting air quality.

"But we are completely committed to this program because of the effects of bushfire are much worse," Ms Rotarangi said.

The areas worst hit by the smoke were Alphington, Dandenong and Mooroolbark where the Environment Protection Agency declared air quality unhealthy for all, which is a rare reading.

"I'd really like to thank Victorians for being patient with us.

"It is the ideal time for us at the moment to deliver this program, but we know that we may be effecting people's quality of life."


I certainly don't look forward to winter here in the Blue Mountains. Hazard reduction is a fact of life and certainly impacts on our daily life being thoroughly unpleasant not to mention the worry of the back burning going wrong. You would think that living in the mountains presents a picture of lovely fresh air (Blackheath is 1060m above sea level) however the aforementioned hazard reductions and wood fires can make winter nights not so pleasant from an astronomical and health point of view.

[pfitzgerald]

True (grass) - but it's also to reduce the fuel load that's built up over several years. As frustrating for us as it is, I never want to see another aftermath like what I saw in Kinglake this time back in 2009.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

It made it as far as S.Gippy (about 120 Kms east of Melburn ). Couldn't sleep or breath properly.
Ironically the haze was just the right density here to allow a quite spectacular view of jupiter - its intrinsic brightness moderated by the smoke.
The burning-off of scrub really does have an effect on the severity of bush fires ( I'm in the CFA ), but I sympathize with those effected by the burns. A little warning would be nice.

[w0mbat]

I fear I am risking being eaten alive but here goes:-



I know this is widely believed but I wonder if it is actually true. There is enormous fear around the kind of event seen at Kinglake and other places and understandably so because people die and there is massive destruction of property. However these awful events occur under the most extreme weather conditions. Under these conditions fire burns very rapidly through the crowns of trees fanned by high winds. I wonder whether the presence of extra fuel load on the forest floor makes a significant difference.
The main objective of the planned burning I suppose is to prevent or reduce loss of life. But I also wonder if anyone has ever counted the excess deaths that occur in people with respiratory and other illness due to the planned burning. Here in East Gippsland we sometimes suffer through literally weeks of heavy smoke. I am healthy and I know how badly this affects me. What about those in poor health? Has anyone ever studied this and compared the number of deaths caused by wild fire to the number caused by planned burns?
Then there is the not infrequent problem of the burns going wrong, sometimes resulting in the very destruction they are supposed to help avoid.
Within the last few weeks planned burns were lit in our district on the day before we had 50 KM/H winds. Apparently we were lucky this time that the fire was blown back onto already burned areas.
Finally, these planned fires are supposed to be low intensity, creeping through the undergrowth and fuel on the forest floor. However I often see forest where planned burns have happened that is only a bit less damaged than after a full on bush fire. This leads to a lot of tree death and therefore creates a great deal of dry fuel that was once wet living trees.
To me this all adds up to a serious doubt in my mind that planned burns actually do anything positive other than enable the politicians to say they are doing something.
I could go on but I have stuck my neck out far enough.
By the way, I am also in the CFA although no longer active because I have lost faith in the beliefs they have.
Ian
ps Please be gentle. I don't KNOW anything, just seriously wondering. I would really like to see a major study of these questions by someone such as the CSIRO.

[scagman]

Hi Ian,

I have also wondered about the benefits these burn offs bring.

Before the Black Sat. fires you could walk thru the bush on our property quite happily swinging a cat as you walked. I could get into the bush and get fire wood without problems. 6-12 months after the fires I couldn't see 2ft in front of me as the fires have caused a massive regrowth.
8yrs later there is substantially more fuel on the ground now as a lot of the regrowth has died off in its fight for space.

Maybe we should let goats loose in our bush to keep the undergrowth under control.
Our next door neighbors had goats before the fires and it is amazing the difference between the 2 properties. Their place is still regrowth free. I still can't believe the difference between the 2 properties. I think the goats must eat all the seeds dropped.

We could do with another fire to clean the place up again.:scared3: