Australia fires: 28 dead as bushfires rip through 4 states

[Nicky91]

There are fears that many houses may have been lost on a horrific day in Victoria and Tasmania, with more extreme weather forecast for New Year’s Eve

One firefighter has died and multiple properties are feared lost after terrifying bushfires driven by extreme weather conditions swept across four Australian states on Monday.

The volunteer firefighter from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service died when a truck rolled near Jingellic, about 70km east of Albury, on the border with Victoria. The RFS said two trucks, including the one in which the firefighter died, had been overturned by high winds. Two others suffered burns in the crash.

Ten people have now died during one of the worst bushfire seasons in the nation’s history, which have burned through more than 4.6m hectares.

The extreme weather conditions were expected to worsen late on Monday, after a horrific day in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, where authorities had called for mass evacuations.

Temperatures reached above 40C in all states, including Tasmania, where Hobart recorded 40.8C, its hottest December day ever. Several properties were reportedly lost in fires near Fingal in the north of the island state.

On Monday evening, 16 emergency-level fires were burning in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. In South Australia, conditions had been rated catastrophic across much of the state, but it survived the day without feared extensive property losses.

Firefighters were bracing for further strong winds, in some places forecast to reach up to 120km an hour, and dry lightning strikes, which authorities fear could be ruinous after a day of sweltering heat. New South Wales was expected to face the worst threat on New Year’s Eve.

The most extensive fires on Monday were burning in the East Gippsland region, a popular coastal holiday destination east of Melbourne, where an estimated 30,000 visitors have been staying over the New Year period.

By late Monday, nine emergency-level fires were burning in East Gippsland. One fire, sparked by dry lightning between Cann River and Mallacoota, travelled 24km in six hours early on Monday morning.

Two fires that merged sent plumes of smoke as high as 12km into the sky.

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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/30/one-firefighter-killed-australian-bushfires-rip-through-four-states

[arista]

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/13687/production/_110359497_1e67ad6e-ab0f-44bc-833b-05e60788e1a9.jpg

[Mystic Mock]

Shocking is the only word I can think of to describe this.

[Ammi]

...truly horrendous for all who are living through this atm...:sad:...the terrifying power of fire...

[arista]

...truly horrendous for all who are living through this atm...:sad:...the terrifying power of fire...


And the lack of rain
for so long, making it ultra dry land.


Sadly 12 so far, have died

[Nicky91]

And the lack of rain
for so long, making it ultra dry land.


Sadly 12 so far, have died

yes edited the OP title, thanks for the updated information arista


very sad indeed :(


also not wanting to think about any animals who have possibly died in these fires, that makes me more sad

[Ammi]

...At least 17 people remain missing after fires this week alone...:sad:..

[Ammi]

..the whole scale of the fires and what those people are going through atm is horrendous...

[arista]

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/2EBE/production/_110366911_theguardian.jpg

[Twosugars]

Poor Australians
They need a proper leader not this hard right arse
He is like trump and bojo
****ed off to Hawaii when fires started

[Kizzy]

It's horrific to know it's taken something like this to wake many up to climate change.

[Cherie]

Horrendous, it looks to have been handled really badly from the off as well, and the PM heading off to Hawaii was such a poor decision, its hard to see how anyone could have taken it

[bots]

having a massive firework display while the country is burning and people are dying seems a bit distasteful to me too.

[Kizzy]

Yep.. that was mentioned on NYE too :/

[Cherie]

having a massive firework display while the country is burning and people are dying seems a bit distasteful to me too.

Yep it was in very poor taste

[Liam-]

The videos of koalas begging people for water at the side of the roads are heartbreaking

[Ammi]

The videos of koalas begging people for water at the side of the roads are heartbreaking

...yeah those images of the cyclist giving the koala water were heartbreaking...and how many animals must have lost their lives in Bush fires in general over the years.../...a staggering number, I would think...:sad:..

[Niamh.]

Terrifying

[arista]

Australia wildfires: Scott Morrison (Leader)
told to 'piss off' by angry residents.

https://news.sky.com/story/australia-wildfires-scott-morrison-told-to-p-off-by-angry-residents-11899728

Not surprised,


sadly 18 dead , now


Some Great Photos all Large
https://news.sky.com/preview/1786207?apikey=emBxmU422HtDQxDZ

[arista]

having a massive firework display while the country is burning and people are dying seems a bit distasteful to me too.



The problem is they bought all that firework stock
from China.

But maybe not having it
everyone could have understood why

[arista]

https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/0zwHNPxCmBisOTSouHWiZQ/https/media.fyre.co/ROVFKrMTSR2cu9hYxde5_Indie.JPG

[Scarlett.]

So many animals dead, Australia's ecosystem is going to be decimated by the time this is done in 3 months :(

[arista]

Its now 23 dead , sadly

[Ammi]

Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty will donate all of her prize money from the Brisbane International to the bushfire relief fund.

Barty, 23, is the top seed in the singles and will play alongside Dutch partner Kiki Bertens in the doubles.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/800/cpsprodpb/3AE7/production/_110397051_barty.jpg


...:lovedup:..


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/50997906

[The Slim Reaper]

This is mental

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENmLtVqU4AI3lu6?format=jpg&name=small

[arista]

Yes its the worst ever whole nation on Fire.
25 now dead sadly

[AnnieK]

This is mental

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENmLtVqU4AI3lu6?format=jpg&name=small

Its heartbreaking.....and terrifying

[The Slim Reaper]

Its heartbreaking.....and terrifying

Only going to be getting worse too. A combination of Murdoch press and shilling for oil companies is literally burning the country to the ground.

[Ammi]

...so many people like the Irwin family are doing everything they can to try to preserve as much wildlife as possible...:love:..the loss will be devastating...:sad:..

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/B63-Hz-BC03-png__700.jpg

[The Slim Reaper]

1213792841408958464

[Ammi]

...the images of kangaroos trying to outrun the smoke is heartbreaking...

[arista]

Some Parts had some rain overnight
that helped them is some zones.

They are saying
too many tree's and bush grew last year.
bad ground management.

A Report on SkyNewsHD

[Saph]

I keep seeing people online saying stuff like "all of you sat reading this wont do anything to help put the fires out!"

bitch what can we do its the other side of the world

[Nicky91]

https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/01/06/australia-eurovision-national-final-stars-react-ongoing-bushfires/247365/

some Australia eurovision stars also react to the ongoing bushfires

Dami Im for example has donated $10.000 to the australian red cross

[Dogeatdog]

Was reading through this article about the fires. It’s just horrifying what’s going on over there at the moment. 70 metre high flames being reported, the pictures of all the destruction and death the fire has caused it’s just really really sad :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50951043

[Kazanne]

Must admit ,the little Possum on the ITV news they were treating brought tears to my eyes,poor thing lost his life, but thank God for the vets and people who have helped or tried to help these animals, I hope it rains a lot for them all soon.

[Strictly Jake]

1213792841408958464

I am heartbroken at this

[Dogeatdog]

Must admit ,the little Possum on the ITV news they were treating brought tears to my eyes,poor thing lost his life, but thank God for the vets and people who have helped or tried to help these animals, I hope it rains a lot for them all soon.

I just watched this as well it was really sad and was hoping he would pull through :(. I’m just grateful that there are some amazing people over there working tirelessly to help and save all these animals. Such loving people they deserve so much respect.

[Kazanne]

I just watched this as well it was really sad and was hoping he would pull through :(. I’m just grateful that there are some amazing people over there working tirelessly to help and save all these animals. Such loving people they deserve so much respect.

It's so overwhelming,how they have suffered,it's so hard to deal with,I cannot imagine what it would be like to actually be there, :bawling:

[Ammi]

I just watched this as well it was really sad and was hoping he would pull through :(. I’m just grateful that there are some amazing people over there working tirelessly to help and save all these animals. Such loving people they deserve so much respect.

...the Irwin family are very involved atm with their wildlife hospital...and obviously because they’re so well known, their zoo already has the attention of many celebrities and well known figures ..who have been making huge donations to try to help...

https://deadline.com/2020/01/australian-wildfires-irwin-family-rescues-animals-celebrity-donations-1202821092/

[arista]

Russell Crowe skiped the Golden Globes
to save his home in Australia

https://news.sky.com/story/russell-crowe-uses-golden-globe-win-to-highlight-australia-wildifres-tragedy-11902009

[Ammi]

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/content/media/32/469232-small.jpg

[Nicky91]

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/content/media/32/469232-small.jpg

aw so sad :(

[Nicky91]

our dutch red cross has opened a charity action called ''Giro5125'' to raise money for Australia


i checked on Wikipedia last night about the last fire which was 2018 till may last year, so almost lasted a full year but this current one has more impact because it has (had been) at majority of the country

compared to one month ago, most fires now are still ongoing in the south


my mom actually said, couldn't they have done something to prevent this? i mean bushfires have happened quite many times there

but i guess what is more important once fires are out now is rebuilding homes for people, and also rebuilding the homes for all surviving wildlife

and also having some sort of fire prevention system, idk what can be done but scientists must think of something

[Strictly Jake]

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/content/media/32/469232-small.jpg

Oh my. :bawling: look at their faces

[Strictly Jake]

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/375/cpsprodpb/12D05/production/_110416077_hi058989590.jpg

(Wearing her daddies helmet) :bawling:

Tuesday also saw the funeral of a firefighter who died on 19 December in an accident on the way to a major blaze near Sydney.

Andrew O'Dwyer was killed alongside his colleague Harvey Keaton when their fire truck hit a fallen tree.

Dozens of fellow firefighters formed a guard of honour outside a church in the New South Wales capital.

[Amy Jade]

It's literally pissing me off so much Boreis hasn't helped. He makes me ****ing sick he's just like trump.

[Strictly Jake]

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/21/australia/koala-rescue-australia-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

Lewis sadly died


Only set to get worse aswell!

[Nicky91]

It's literally pissing me off so much Boreis hasn't helped. He makes me ****ing sick he's just like trump.

at least the democrats in the US did comment about the bushfires

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/04/from-tina-arena-to-elizabeth-warren-the-big-names-weighing-in-on-australias-bushfire-crisis

in this article, everyone who said something about these horrible fires


and what does trump do, go start a war with iran, boris also putting his focus rather on that, than what's really important :(

[Kazanne]

For the record Boris has spoken to the Australian PM and offered any help that they need, it's was confimed today.I don't know what else he is supposed to do .This video need no words just a terrible reminder of the tragedy ,so very sad,but kudos to that woman

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[Nicky91]

-fLAL5CyHkg

found this video just now on YouTube

[Strictly Jake]

For the record Boris has spoken to the Australian PM and offered any help that they need, it's was confimed today.I don't know what else he is supposed to do .This video need no words just a terrible reminder of the tragedy ,so very sad,but kudos to that woman

yVnV2ejyYYo

Yeah but as I said after my link, this Koala, Lewis Sadly died. Its all very sad :bawling:

[Strictly Jake]

-fLAL5CyHkg

found this video just now on YouTube

Very powerful video

I really wish I could do more than donate to help!!

[Livia]

I have a friend in Perth and I spoke to him on Christmas Day. They've not had such awful fires as they have in the east, but he said it was the hottest Christmas for years, almost up to 40 degrees. It's all a bit of a nightmare.

[arista]

Yeah but as I said after my link, this Koala, Lewis Sadly died. Its all very sad :bawling:


To badly burnt.
At least they tried

[Strictly Jake]

To badly burnt.
At least they tried

Hearing him scream and cry on that video is awful

[Kazanne]

Yeah but as I said after my link, this Koala, Lewis Sadly died. Its all very sad :bawling:

Oh did he ? :bawling: sorry Jake didn't see that,what an awful shame

[Kazanne]

Hearing him scream and cry on that video is awful

I think sometimes the sounds of them suffereing is worse than anything.:bawling:

[Nicky91]

I think sometimes the sounds of them suffereing is worse than anything.:bawling:

sometimes i just can't look at that :sad:

[Cherie]

Has the UK sent aid?

[arista]

Has the UK sent aid?


Yes Today and Yesterday.

[Cherie]

Yes Today and Yesterday.

about time :idc:

[Nicky91]

I have a friend in Perth and I spoke to him on Christmas Day. They've not had such awful fires as they have in the east, but he said it was the hottest Christmas for years, almost up to 40 degrees. It's all a bit of a nightmare.

yes true, a uncle of my dad lives in Townsville, Queensland, and he said on Christmas and towards new years eve/day it was up from 42 to 43 degrees

[Amy Jade]

For the record Boris has spoken to the Australian PM and offered any help that they need, it's was confimed today.I don't know what else he is supposed to do .
React a lot quicker.

While it's great he's now offered help I sincerely hope if the UK is ever facing such a disaster other countries are a lot quicker in offering us help.

[Kazanne]

React a lot quicker.

While it's great he's now offered help I sincerely hope if the UK is ever facing such a disaster other countries are a lot quicker in offering us help.

He was in touch with them :shrug:

[Ammi]

An astonishing photo capturing the catastrophic bushfires ravaging northern New South Wales has left the world stunned.
Zach Firth, who was on a plane flying from the Gold Coast to Melbourne on Friday night, took the photo just north of Coffs Harbour.

https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a97527eb1538908ff46a401b41d7e3bc?width=650

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/photo-capturing-bushfires-burning-across-nsw-shocks-the-world/news-story/05dd17170e133b37cb017a4610ae5fec

[The Slim Reaper]

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[Crimson Dynamo]

This is mental

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENmLtVqU4AI3lu6?format=jpg&name=small


Several maps purporting to show the scale of the fires also vastly exaggerate their spread, including an artistic rendition of heat map that the artist never intended to be used as a true representation of the bushfires.


"ok so the latest Bad Bushfires Map doing the rounds makes the mistake of re-rendering grids from the FIRMS map into a heat map, instead of using points and scaling correctly"

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/twitter-bots-trolls-australian-bushfires-social-media-disinformation-campaign-false-claims

Not slim trolling the forum with misinformation and fake maps ?

:omgno:

[Ammi]

...Kangaroo Island then and now...

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/australia-bushfires-before-after-photos-23-5e15e3417506e__700.jpg

[Strictly Jake]

...Kangaroo Island then and now...

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/australia-bushfires-before-after-photos-23-5e15e3417506e__700.jpg

Oh no :bawling:


It is making me really angry. Its estimated it could be near enough a billion animals that have died in these fires.

Meanwhile the main stories on the news seems to be threats of countries aiming to kill people from other countries because you know humans are the most stupid and most evil species on the planet.

Because of our selfishlessness its resulted in things like climate change happening and now all these animals have suffered and died because of it and the main topic of interest? WAR! disgraceful

[Vanessa]

It's been awful. I hate to see animals suffering. I really hope it rains soon. It has to. :sad:

[Elliot]

Oh no :bawling:


It is making me really angry. Its estimated it could be near enough a billion animals that have died in these fires.

Meanwhile the main stories on the news seems to be threats of countries aiming to kill people from other countries because you know humans are the most stupid and most evil species on the planet.

Because of our selfishlessness its resulted in things like climate change happening and now all these animals have suffered and died because of it and the main topic of interest? WAR! disgraceful

Exactly. I thought at the very least as a species we could put our differences aside and come together to stop the destruction of the ****ing planet but no, we can’t even do that.

[Strictly Jake]

It's been awful. I hate to see animals suffering. I really hope it rains soon. It has to. :sad:

It rained the other day but didnt seem to help much. It is set to go even hotter tomorrow and winds and dry lightning could cause more fires and the fires currently to combine causing mega blazes

[UserSince2005]

Bush fires are a natural part of Australias Ecosystem. I believe the problem with the current ones is that they have been controlled so much over the past recent years that the foliage has become so dense in places that it was a tinder box ready to explode. Rather than a direct consequence of climate change.

[Nicky91]

https://scontent.fcbr2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/81523020_10158321257862125_2574460829525082112_o.j pg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ohc=t-HSKwuAaSAAQneq_Kvz2DKGl68_9JKhtivO0m5_db1rUmtO-DW1t6ONQ&_nc_ht=scontent.fcbr2-1.fna&oh=457953792150333fc3b3bf5c9fb11000&oe=5EA01442

for tomorrow, a prediction on how the fire will spread

this graphic i found via help from one of my australian friends on escforum

[Nicky91]

nKCPhCc2z44

[Kazanne]

I have stopped watching these videos they are so heartbreaking, I pray that they get some heavy rains and the fires can be controlled soon.

[Crimson Dynamo]

there is a bit of good rain at the mo in the Melbourne area

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2158177

[Livia]

I have stopped watching these videos they are so heartbreaking, I pray that they get some heavy rains and the fires can be controlled soon.

They are heartbreaking. We've donated... wish there was more everyone could do.

[arista]

Sadly 28
people now dead.

[arista]

South East Australia
has has lots of rain.

But they say it can wash
burnt wood into the water supply.

[Ammi]

...yeah, the rain is quite significant now...but bringing it’s own problems...it’s not enough to extinguish all of the fires and is causing some heavy flooding damage...there are concerns about flash flooding and mud slides also...and lightening from the storms sparking new fires...it’s still one scary day at a time for so many people...poor Australia...:hug:..

[Strictly Jake]

So Australia may now face flash floods?! Flipping heck

[arista]

[First fires, then floods. Now Australians
need to watch out for
deadly funnel-web spiders, experts say]

Nasty Deadly Spiders

Video Report
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/22/australia/australia-funnel-web-spider-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

[Kizzy]

Omg could things get worse? :( it's like the worst b movie ever,
The attack of the killer fire killer hail killer rain killer spiders!

[Nicky91]

https://i.imgur.com/hZH7HrQ.png