Good luck to him or her. I hope their house will be safe.
I could see the smoke from that fire from tafe today. They had to close the M1 down, as the fire was pretty bad. There is another fire at Gateshead. We need some rain up here.The fire that is causing the most concerned today is one near Newcastle (Stockrington Road at Minmi).
All the papers I've been reading are saying that controlled burns have been reduced or are not done at all. Makes no sense to me either.
All of them. Fires have always been part of the furniture here (even in October) and always will be, but we insist on not learning from the past. Funding cuts seem always to hit the most essential services, particularly when (like fires) it becomes and "out of sight, out of mind" issue. And too many environmentalists seem to be more interested in their own ideas than the reality of the Australian landscape and flora. People can't be allowed to do whatever they like but letting fuel build up over a number of years as part of some notion of "preservation" or whatever is simply stupid and asking for the sort of disaster we're seeing now.Do you think that it is a funding issue, or a lack of manpower issue, or is it as a result of pressure from environmentalists?
I couldn't possibly agree more with this statement. People insist on living in "the bush", seemingly with little or no comprehension of the dangers involved. The friend I mentioned told me that a recent local fire was started by urban-dwelling people who decided that digging a 5cm deep "pit" was adequate preparation before burning off some rubbish on a day of strong winds. That sort of stupidity (in various forms) is all too common. He also brought up the people in Victoria who cleared a substantial area around their home prior to the horrendous 2009 fires. Their home survived...and the local council insisted on fining them for the clearing part. At some point common sense must enter into the equation where these regulations are concerned. Our indigenous inhabitants burned this country regularly over the course of thousands of years and it survived. While a great deal has changed since, we must realise that we don't know better than them and that managing fuel loads is an essential part of mitigating potential fires.One thing that I think should be looked at is many people are choosing to live closer to the bush than they have in the past and this is made worse because some councils make it difficult for owners to even clear trees from around their homes. Planning laws need to be changed so that houses in fire-prone areas can be as safe as possible.
My friend has only just been able to go home today.
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