things have slowed down with the winds abating somewhat , but things are still burning. this taken from woori yallok late yesterday afternoon. Central healesville has been spared so far , with the cooler weather it helps. the bunyip fire still burning but it is a much smaller front (2ks ish wide only moving slowly)
The tragedy of the Victorian bushfires is unbelievable.
My heart goes out to all that have suffered there. Our prayers are with you all.
Lydie Macokatic
NAS Publicity Officer
Coles is asking customers to plan their supermarket shop for this Friday (13 Feb), to help raise badly needed funds for the victims of the Victorian bushfires. link here
I loved Marysville. Travelled through it many times taking the children to enjoy the snow at Lake Mountain, always stopping for a break and to hire gear. Some years ago, my wife and I had a lovely week's break staying in a B&B, exploring the town and surrounds. It's virtually gone and the final loss of life is going to be staggering:-
Have been of the air for the last 5 days, no internet, bummer.
Things don't look to bad for the main centre of Healesville. Very quiet town at present. Many people left to spend some time with relatives or friends in the more inner suburbs.
Last saturday was the most horrific day, at night time the whole horizon from the southwest to the northeast behind our mountain range was ablaze. The outside air was like standing in front of a open oven door.
Shopping is so easy at Coles no problems getting through the aisles.
Even the News Agent/Australia Post have shut their doors at noon for the last couple of days. One of the chemists is also closed. Not very popular with their mostly elderly customers. So are some of the smaller shops.
Had plenty of embers raining down on us, some up to 600mm long, how they can stay in the air over 5 - 10km is amazing. Most of them, when the hit our place, were cool with the ocassional glowing one.
More alerts just came through from north and east of Healesville for ember attacks. Heaps of helicopters flying over. Have been for the last few days, with Elvis making constant trips.
Just have to be alert for glowing embers, otherwise we feel reasonable safe.
Actually Healesville is now as it used to be 30 years ago, a nice quiet country town. You can cross main street ( Maroondah Highway), without any worry of being run over. Walk along the footpath and stop to have a talk with mates/friends without being pushed/hassled by tourists
Monday night the moon through the clouds was the red, red.
I see the authorities are now forecasting the toll to move past 300. It's currently at 181.
This thing just keeps getting worse.
We've taken many calls on-air at the Brisbane radio station where I work over the last few days about the need to revise legislation, particularly as it applies to those who deliberately light bushfires which lead to deaths.
The overwhelming majority support those caught and convicted to face murder charges rather than manslaughter.
It's an emotive debate, I know, but one which I think we need to have. Most of the time, in the interests of appearing objective (as are the dictates of my profession) I don't offer my opinion one way or the other...but in this case I will categorically state that I believe changes are in order.
I for one have been shocked and deeply saddened by what's unfolded.
My condolences to all affected by this awful tragedy.
My thoughts go out to everyone impacted by these horrendous fires, and especially to those who have lost loved ones and friends. And a big thank you to all the firefighters who have battled so heroically under atrocious conditions, and continue to do so!!
I saw Mt Macedon go up like a torch as a seasonal firefighter in 1983, but the vision coming out of these fires is... well, lost for words.
Give generously to the appeals folks, if you haven't done so already. Stay safe anyone who is still in the line of the active fires, and let's hope they're all out soon.
All still quiet here, saw truckloads of monster bulldozers heading up into the forest last night, not expecting any issues until the warmer weather returns. its expected the fire activity will increase then.
Aster, I am glad things have settled in Healesville. I have a work colleague living there and I received the news that he is ok also, but a tense time.
Alchemy, keep us informed. Are they the Army? I know there are lots of offers of bulldozers from companies etc.
Thanks for the updates. I am doing a run to (hopefully) Bendigo on Wednesday next week with a ute load of goods and food.
I know I'm not alone when I shed a tear at the stories of loss, survival and heroism on the nightly news. I'm a long way away from it but such anguish & tragic loss really strikes home. I can't even imagine the trauma the affected families are going through - just wish I could do more than send some $$ to the Red Cross. I humbly encourage everyone here who's able to give generously.
To everybody affected by this terrible disaster I send my sympathy and hope that things resolve themselves as soon as possible, it must be a terrible time for you at the moment. We often complain about the bad weather in UK and wish for sunnier climates like yours but sometimes we don't appreciate that there are dangers that go with it
Best wishes and take care
Gordon
Alchemy, keep us informed. Are they the Army? I know there are lots of offers of bulldozers from companies etc.
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They were yellow bulldozers so i presume not army as everything they seem to own is green.
very smoky here this morning, still not expecting trouble, the fire the CFA is most concerned about is the one around the healesville dam. from the north, not expecting north winds today. seen the ericson skycranes flying around yesterday.
The ABC did a radio show from Warburton yesterday, and spoke to the locals.... sadly people still dont comprehend the danger, if it goes through at any speed there will be deaths.
Even my next door neighbour, still hasnt mown his grass all around the house.... 4 ft high.
2 years ago we had the skycrane bombing on the hill next to us, police came through to notify everyone and get names of who was there. One lady said if she saw the flames coming she'd run out the back door ... it dont work that sort of plan. heres a couple of pics of the skycrane at that time .
Even my next door neighbour, still hasnt mown his grass all around the house.... 4 ft high.
That's just unbelievable!??!
From the photo you posted before, with your house in the middle of all that bush, wow what a scary place to be in a fire. Especially if there's winds like there was last weekend.
I have heard the first hand story from one of my workers who survived the flowerdale fire. He spent 2 days after saving his place helping his neighbors.
He was very well prepared with his own tanker, fire sprinklers, dozed fire breaks and more. yet he was lucky to save his house.
He is now returning to Flowerdale to spend the next 2 weeks to help with the recovery effort. I get a chill down my spine just writing about his experience.
The survivors in Flowerdale had to wait over 2 days before any help arrived. Such is the scale of this tragedy that our emergency services and military even are overwhelmed by the response required.
We now live in a new Era of disaster management.
This will not be the last time this level of threat is faced !
On the fundraising side, our community is rallying to the cause.
A whip around the crib rooms by a couple of determined young woman has raised over $15,000 in a few days
I am involved with our community Station's, Radio-A-Thon and charity Auction which is running all day Saturday and into Saturday night to raise more cash.
It makes me proud to be a part of this community.
Well, looks like it hit the western to eastern outskirts of Healesville.
Residents in those areas were adviced this morning either to leave or to implement their fire planes.
Lots of traffic out of Healesville after that.
Extremely smokey, blood red sun.
Lots of people coming in from the Chum and other areas in their cars to the Coles Car Park to see what developes. For some it is the second or third time they have had to leave their homes.
Where I live seems to be fairly safe, few trees and heaps of open space.
Have the same problems as Clive, some people with empty blocks don't seem to bother keeping the grass and the blackberries down and the Council doesn't seem to give a hoot.
A local produce store near Kilcoy is sending down a shipping container of donations to be distributed to owners horses and livestock. Basics like Halters, leadropes, honey (to be used as burn and wound dressing), bandages, cotton wool etc etc.
It's a terrible terrible thing that's happened, and every little thing you can do to help is greatly appreciated.
BTW, we've already had people going through our town "collecting" money for the bush fire victims. No identification, just buckets to put the money in. I don't know if the police nabbed them, but I know that a number of people at the pub told them to nick off in no uncertain terms, with threats of caving in heads.
