The Fires Are Slowly Being Contained
The latest updates from the ABC and the BBC. There are still a dozen fires that are out of control, but progress is being made in anticipation of higher wind conditions next week. There has been some rain which will help, and scrub the air a bit.
There are still jerks in this world:
Arsonists struck in north-east Victoria overnight, diverting crews from blazes that have already contributed to the worst bushfire disaster in the state’s history.
Two fires were lit at Stanley near Beechworth, but crews managed to extinguish them before they could cause any major damage or exacerbate the threat to local communities. It is understood police have a description of a car seen in the vicinity of the fires and are searching for two people.
The death toll is expected to raise, easily over 200 as crews are beginning to inspect damaged and destroyed buildings, with at least a hundred people still carried as missing in Marysville alone. To really be over there would need to be a week of soaking rains that would put out the existing fires and reduce the chance of another fire starting as easily.
Having seen puddles from alloy wheels in some of the pictures, I did some research. Aluminum melts at +660° C while iron melts at +1535° C. The temperature of the fire in that area would have been above 1200° F. As anyone who has ever camped out can tell you, you don’t get those kinds of temperatures from a standard campfire. That’s what the wind does in a wildfire, it acts like a bellows in a forge.
4 comments
Hmm The arsonists better pray that the police get to them first. I can imagine there is a big desire to lynch them
jams O’Donnell´s last blog post..The prostitute shall lie with the puritan…. or perhaps not
They will definitely need to be isolated in a Supermax if they are identified, Jams. I would believe that the police no more than they are saying to prevent “bush justice”.
Very True. They deserved to be lynched IMHO.
Two have been arrested so far, suspected of starting the Marysville and/or Churchill fires.
Police arrest two over bushfires
2 arrested over Victorian bushfires
Marysville fire could have been arson: Nixon
Support including manpower and equipment, and financial support has been pouring in from around the World. It’s great to see that all those decades of Australia helping others is paying off now that we need it. The International Red Cross alone has so far raised about $50 million since Sunday. This is all going to be greatly appreciated by the survivors. Sometimes, The World isn’t so bad after all. 😉
In other news, it seems wealthy people around the World trust politicians more than CEO’s, according to a new global study. Personally, I don’t trust either. *shrug* Still… It’s an interesting shift.
Pollies more trusted than business heads
As I said up above, I think the police know more than they are letting on about suspects in these cases for fear of vigilante justice. I would hope that their legal people would advise the suspects not to apply for bail, because a jail cell is about the only place they’ll be safe. Emotions are too raw.
Well, the thing about politicians is that they don’t really care who pays the bribes, so they are more than happy to blame everything on business and follow the mob. They know that it will take a while for people to figure that businesses couldn’t have gotten away with this crap for so long if politicians hadn’t agreed to let them.