Just thought everyone would like to know that a man has been arrested and will be charged with lighting the Churchill fire in Gippsland which killed 10 people.
He is a local resident and will be charged with arson causing death.
The locals have been trying to track down the fire bug who has been actively lighting fires in the area over the past 4 years.
So disgusting that someone in your own community can be so maniacal.
We hope the locals can rest a little easier knowing he is in custody.
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.
truth be known, i wonder if we could have defended it, ive seen pictures of walls of fire 100ft high. fortunately the weather conditions are not as severe at the moment
in my street half the people have left, town is noticably emptier, healesville is taking a battering on the outskirts ( hope aster stays safe)
the firecrews are doing a marvelous job, theres a large operations base just up the road at Wesburn they have 3 spotter helicopters(see pic below) to guide the groundcrews and ELVIRA (or is it elvis) the skycrane, it is HUGE and yes thats a Semi trailer beside it(see pic below), taken 3ish this afternoon. apparently it costs (so ive been told) $44000 per hour to run.
Last edited by Alchemy; 13-02-2009 at 05:49 PM.
Reason: has elvis left the building
Left NSW on Monday feeling very sorry for myself, intended to vist some friends in Casterton on my way west, but decided the last thing needed going through the fire areas was a tourist. The news and images over the past week have made my problems pale into insignificance. Never had tears in my eyes for so long watching and listening to such harrowing scenes. Give what you can folks, in cash or in kind.
Looks like the Beechworth fire has been pretty well contained and is moving into a mopping up stage. Some small pockets of fire keep causing worries but on the whole with cooler weather and lighter winds it may grind to a halt. I hope the other fires around Victoria are nearing the same end.
The horrific details of death and distruction will live on in Victoria for years to come.
My deapest sympathy to all who have unfortunately lost property, loved ones and livelyhoods in this horrific series of fires.
I would also like to extend my thanks to all the volunteer fire fighters who have in some cases risked everything to protect others. It is time we started to value these wonderful people and give them the respect and gratitude they deserve, be it by paying them a salary while out fighting fires or by providing them other incentives to do this very needed and respected work.
Thanks Guys and Gals for your dedication and devotion to others.
Thankfully some of the perimeters of the fires are being contained and extensive bulldozing-clearing and backburning is underway while conditions are calm.
Here are a couple of pics looking across our valley to Mt Toolebewong and Mt Ben Cairn which is about 7kms south of Healesville.
The first is what we normally see and the second taken this morning.
Just got back fropm a run dow to Vic with the RFS and it is amazing what happened down there. When Canberra went up a few years ago we thought it was bad. This was just as bad, but BIGGER.
We spent most of our time backburning and blacking out. Not the exciting headline stuff but a lot of it is going on now that they are trying to tie in these fires. Lots of help from all over. From most Australian states, New Zealand, Canada and USA it was a privilige and quite humbling to work with these generous people from across our world.
"JANUARY’S brutal heatwave may have killed 100 Melburnians - and more than 200 people across south-eastern Australia - an ‘‘invisible tragedy’’ now the subject of investigations by the Department of Human Services and the Coroner’s Office..." http://www.theage.com.au/national/he...0221-8ea4.html
Today's warning:
"The Department of Sustainability and Enviroment's Lee Miezis says the fires in the Warburton Valley and Yarra Valley are causing the most concern and could threaten numerous towns.
"If residents in the Warburton Valley make the decision to leave, they should do so early and by early, I mean Sunday evening or Monday morning," he said.
"I can't stress enough that with limited road access in the Warburton Valley, traffic may become congested and being on the roads is very dangerous during a fire threat."" http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...22/2498067.htm
