Petarkco Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Death toll climbs as killer fires rage This weekend's bushfires in Victoria are more deadly for the state than Ash Wednesday, as the death toll stands at 50 and is expected to rise. The human toll is compounded by the loss of at least 640 homes but the true extent of the damage is not yet clear. Authorities suspect arsonists are responsible for some fires. Six of the confirmed dead have been found at Kinglake, six at Kinglake West and four each at St Andrews and Wandong, all north of Melbourne. Five people are dead in Callignee, three in Hazelwood and one in Jeeralang. More bodies have been found at Humevale, Bendigo, Upper Callignee, Long Gully, Strathewan and Arthurs Creek. Victoria's deputy police commissioner Kieran Walshe says the death toll will rise and it is expected to include children. The town of Marysville north of Melbourne has been all but destroyed and there are grave fears for nearby Kinglake, where residents have described a "town on fire". A fire in Beechworth in the state's north-east has grown to around 25,000 hectares after the wind changed from west to south-west around midday. Houses there have come under ember attack and power lines are also under threat. Meanwhile the blazes which have razed homes just north of Melbourne have grown to more than 210,000 hectares and are burning towards Glenburn, Taggerty and Rubicon. 'Helpless' Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said he felt numb after watching fires leave authorities almost helpless. "Nature gave Victoria a beating of unimaginable proportions," he told ABC Local Radio. He says the deaths are an awful reminder that people should be prepared to leave their homes early. "Bushfire risk is real, it's horribly real. It can become an awful reality with little warning and no second chance," he said. "You can rebuild a house but you can't rebuild a life." He says exhausted fire fighters - both paid and volunteer - may not get much chance to rest. "Summer's not over yet, this fire's not over yet. Fire services aren't just going round blacking out, they're trying to put fires out. "The Victorian summer is a long way from over and there'll almost certainly be more bushfires." Murrindindi Shire Mayor Lyn Gunter is among residents believed to have lost homes in the Flowerdale area. Fire authorities are struggling to get into the centre of the towns to survey the full scale of the damage, and ambulance services in Kinglake say they are being overwhelmed by calls for help. Police say 514 homes in Kinglake have been lost. ABC reporter Jane Cowan earlier described the horrific scene in Marysville. "We were in the main street and it's like a warzone, like a bomb has been dropped on the entire township," she said. "People there are in an absolute state of shock. Most people had already left, but the people, I'd say about 30 people that are still left and had spent the night sheltering on the Football Oval there, are just completely dazed. "[They are] walking around the streets with rugs around their shoulders because it's actually getting cold here now, if you can believe it. "There are stories of households that sheltered three families in one house. Of gas bottles from nearby houses exploding and then piercing their houses and then those houses catching fire as well. It's an absolute warzone. "People are saying that there are bodies in the town, terrible stories of for instance a woman who was found in her car this morning, obviously, was trying to escape. She didn't make it. She had her crockery on the seat beside her in the car." Last house standing Great-grandmother Olga Tuckerman said she had God on her side when a blaze swept through Bendigo's western suburbs, in central Victoria. She said she returned to Bendigo today to find her house standing alone amid a mass of smoking, razed houses. "Someone up there was looking out for me," Mrs Tuckerman told Australian Associated Press. But her neighbours were not as lucky. Jean Perkins, 72, returned to find smoking ruins where her house used to be. "I said a couple of prayers yesterday - please keep my home Lord, but he wanted to take mine for some reason," she said. An ABC reporter in Labertouche today told Local Radio people were shell-shocked after the Bunyip fire, east of Melbourne, had engulfed surrounding forests and property yesterday. She said high winds pushed walls of fire over houses in the area at enormous speed yesterday. She described an interview she was conducting when the wind changed in the middle of the Saturday. "We felt a strong gust of wind during the interview, we stopped the interview and in almost an instant the fire came over," she said. "You can be prepared as you like but nothing gets you ready for that." Lightning threat There is cool weather forecast for the next few days which is expected to make conditions easier for fire fighters. But with no prospect of decent rainfall, lightning strikes could start more fires. John Coleridge from the Alfred Hospital has likened the influx of burns victims to the aftermath of the Bali bombings. "Everybody was called in large numbers," he said. "And they would have burns and blast victims there, so that would be the only parallel that I can think of." The Victorian Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, says 78 people have been admitted to hospitals throughout the state with various burns, and hundreds of others have turned up at emergency departments, with less serious injuries. Arson suspected CFA officials say they suspect at least one arsonist of relighting fires that had burnt out, and lighting new fires ahead of existing fire fronts. "To think you could do that yesterday in those conditions when you knew that any fire you lit had the potential to cause severe losses and death, I think that's something that is just appalling," said Victorian Emergency Services Minister, Bob Cameron. Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull added to the calls to hunt down firebugs. "It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime than arson," he said in Sydney. "All Australians will expect the authorities to want the police to... be absolutely relentless in tracking down those responsible and ensuring they're brought to justice." Victoria has accepted an offer from the Federal Government for the Defence Force to be drafted in to help with the fires. The Emergency Services Minister, Bob Cameron, says the army has bulldozers and other equipment that can be used to strengthen containment lines. If you can see flames call the Country Fire Authority's information line on 1800 240 667. 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makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 We've been pretty lucky in Queensland this year. It hasn't been overly hot this summer, and we've had some scattered rain. No bushfires yet. What really pisses me off about what's going on in Victoria is that the fires were most likely started by someone, rather than just a case of bad luck. It's such senseless destruction, and I really hope they find the person or people responsible. They have a lot of blood on their hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petarkco Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) We've been pretty lucky in Queensland this year. It hasn't been overly hot this summer, and we've had some scattered rain. No bushfires yet. What really pisses me off about what's going on in Victoria is that the fires were most likely started by someone, rather than just a case of bad luck. It's such senseless destruction, and I really hope they find the person or people responsible. They have a lot of blood on their hands. In the law it says that if the bushfire kills someone it is treated as a murder. EDIT: The death toll is now 65. Edited February 8, 2009 by MLVD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 In the law it says that if the bushfire kills someone it is treated as a murder. It's treated as a level 2 crime, which is punishable by jail for a maximum term of 25 years. Murder is a level 1 crime, while manslaughter is a level 3. So, arson causing death is treated as more serious than manslaughter but not as serious as murder. Relevant legislation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_bungle Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 On the 6pm News it said the deathtoll was 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Theft Auto Dude Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 A fire came sorta close to my house yesterday, you could see the flames on top of a hill from the street, but the wind was on our side and now everything's fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 On the 6pm News it said the deathtoll was 35 Our channel quoted 65 dead. Online sources back this up, too: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25023335-1243,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Saying 66 on ABC news just now. It sounds like Kevin 07 knows the real number is much larger, having warned us to prepare for the worst news over the coming days. In NSW there's a pretty serious fire at Peats Ridge, which is where my grandfather lives. Nothing like the devastation in Victoria though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Saying 66 on ABC news just now. It sounds like Kevin 07 knows the real number is much larger, having warned us to prepare for the worst news over the coming days. Yeah, well the number quoted is confirmed deaths, so I'm guessing that the number will swell quite a lot. I'd hate to think how many people are listed as missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lochie_old Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Well what about the floods up in North QLD, some 5 year old got eaten by a crocodile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakorama Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 This is whats left of my parents Farm, where I spent a great part of my life I didn't include the photos of the lumpy charred piles of flesh which were the animals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA3Freak-2001 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 This country is getting both extremes, flooding in the North and fires in the south but thankfully the Queensland floods haven't claimed anywhere near as many lives if any. Its quite scary living in Adelaide thinking that whats going on in Victoria could of happened here and still has the possibility of happening if we get the very likely hot weather again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Hasn't it been almost 40 in Adelaide? The possibility of fires is extreme with temperatures like that. I hope there are no copycat firebugs in SA, or anywhere else for that matter. I'm not sure why we haven't been subjected to the heatwave this year. Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about your parents' farm, FF. That's terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLoWnnSkuLL Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Everything's a-ok here in Geelong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindCorrupt Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 This is whats left of my parents Farm, where I spent a great part of my life I didn't include the photos of the lumpy charred piles of flesh which were the animals Sorry to hear that man, glad theyre okay though. Hope your family recovers quickly from it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algonquin Assassin Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 It's been really hot up here in Newcastle too. I wish it would just rain, because the heat's starting to piss me off. Bring on the cold weather. Futurama_Freak1- Sorry to hear about your parents' farm mate, but atleast no one got hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan. Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I'm in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne (near Dandenong) and a few houses down my street lost power. Yesterday was so f*cking hot, you could see so much smoke over the area. We're only about 30 kilometres or so from the bushfires, but there were some in Dandenong South and Narre Warren North which we could see from our house. Was pretty sad to hear about Marysville considering that we spent a few days there just after Christmas, and did the same thing a few years back. The cute little motel where we stayed is now... gone. FuturamaFreak: Sorry to hear man, that must be sh*t. Oh, and this just further proves as to how incompetent (sorry for spelling) and moronic this Brumby/Labour government is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintJimmy Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Quite a few people have died down here in NSW, it's terrible. Sorry to hear about your parents' farm, FF1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Its quite scary living in Adelaide Yeah Freakeh, how intense was the sunset tonight? It was like the sky was bleeding Ting is doe, Adelaide and Melbourne are so similar climactically. And we've both gone through intense heatwaves recently. Really goddamn scary considering the bushfire hotspots for Adelaide are much closer to the city than those in Melbourne (by that I mean the ones which were affected in Ash Wednesday and now) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintJimmy Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 The sunset was crazy. I was at my cousin's birthday in Kemps Creek - you could see the mountains and smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I was at work mopping up, and we have really high windows with a 270 degree view of the sky, and it was totally red. Absolutely intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asimov Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 This is crazy, sorry about your farm futurama . Does anyone know why so many people keep getting killed? As in are they trying to stay at home and fight the fire's themselves, or the fires are just so fast they can't escape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 84 according to the news that came on after the cricket. I remember yesterday they had 100km'h winds in Gippsland. That would f*ck your sh*t up nice and quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav. Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Oh, and this just further proves as to how incompetent (sorry for spelling) and moronic this Brumby/Labour government is. What the hell has politics has got to do with this? ffs. You reckon they should be able to stop the fires on their own do you? I know people who have lost their homes in the fires. Very sad stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lochie_old Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Damn FF, thats just f*cking unlucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Damn politicians and their sh*tty ineffective rain dances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacMaan Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 An Aussie i know was telling me that it was so hot that moths were just dying midflight and dropping out the sky?? Thats seriously hot man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krashdown Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) Hey. These pictures are from my cousins house in Long gully from the Bendigo fire, they weren't home at the time of the fire. The house and shed were both destroyed along with everything in them, the V8 ford ute didn't make it.. but oddly enough the other 2 cars and the granny flat escaped the brunt of the fire. Their horse and dog(which is almost totally blind) also escaped. we presume the 2 cats weren't so lucky. The rather large round thing in the ground is the remains of a PVC water tank which was full of water The Bendigo fire has taken out about 50 houses and killed at least 1 person . heres links to the pictures pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4 pic5 pic6 pic7 pic8 pic9 Edited August 5, 2011 by krashdown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Tequeli Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Every year Australia is on fire and it makes CNN, this is different though. This seems really serious, I never really think of forest fires killing lots of people. The News still likes to talk about the economy more but yeah, this is a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeshyft Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Every year Australia is on fire and it makes CNN, this is different though. This seems really serious, I never really think of forest fires killing lots of people. The News still likes to talk about the economy more but yeah, this is a big deal. Yeah, bushfires are pretty common during summer because the heat is so relentless and the land becomes very dry. This is a pretty big deal for here, though, due to the high number of fatalities. I was honestly quite shocked when I heard about it, as I'm used to hearing reports of wildfires, but then they started reporting on the death toll and couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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