Bushfire Discussion

[sue-ann]

I don't know about you but last weekend I cried like I've never cried before. So many people have lost their lives, whole families gone, whole towns wiped off the map...

I nearly lost my aunt and two cousins to the Redesdale fire so when I was asked to set up a thread here where people could share their thoughts I knew exactly how much it would help. It will help us to talk about it, to know there is so much goodness in the community that we'll overcome the senselessness of this natural disaster.

Please share your thoughts, your hopes, well wishes, your anger and your sorrow.

Sue-ann

[jaapter]

As soon as I saw the devastation on Dutch TV I realised that people involved in Abbywinters might be amongst the victims. Hopefully the loss of lives will have stopped. Recovering from the grief and the stress may take a long time.
For AW subscribers who are willing to part with their money for the pleasure of viewing the AW girls showing their beauty donating some extra money for the rebuilding of the Melbourne area should be no problem.
My thoughts are with you,
Jaap

[bookmanz]

It's great what AW is doing, and all the members who can donate!

[lefsafan]

Since the fires started I have wished for a way to express my concern and support for our Aussie friends experiencing this tragedy. I live thousands of miles away, in America, but many of us feel a special bond with the people of Australia. I have been through wild fires that have taken lives and homes, but nothing as horrific as this. I know Aussies are tough, courageous people, but when mother nature doles out her cruel blows, sometimes all we can do is hope to get past it and put it behind. My donation is small, only $100, but I hope it contributes to the relief effort joined by many others.

Thank you sue-ann, for putting up the forum. It makes me feel better.

Dan

[me2com2h]

Thanks for your story Sue Ann and that your family is safe.
My friend's son and sister in law lost their house and another friend still awaits to hear if their friend is safe they have had no contact since Saturday they fear they have passed on.
Many of us will never fully understand or know the grief and suffering that these people have been through or are going to go through in the next weeks months or years.
One grieves for the young children adults animals and love ones.
Have a thought for those left behind and thoughs have have to council or help them try and pick up the pieces.
I just can't express in writing what l am trying to say
But hopefully our Abby Winters Family will understand our pain

[tom2c7777]

When I first heard reports of the bushfires I was concerned, knowing that some models and staff are from rural areas and may either still live there or have relatives and friends that do. I thought, well such events are not uncommon in Australia, albeit they may be a bit worse than usual due to the heatwave.
It was with a growing sense of horror therefore, that I listened to the first reports, via BBC World Service of the scale of the fires and casualty (death and injury) estimates, this was compounded as later ever worsening reports via radio,TV,Internet came in and further by reading posts on some models threads, Fotina's for example.
This sense of horror has not as yet diminished as the final death toll will rise, I think of the terrible reports of Marysville. The scale of the fires and there horror can be grasped by an interactive map and terse accompanying commentary provided by the Herald Sun, the great swathe of fire to the the North East of Melbourne and again to the South East with pockets elsewhere.

http://mp3.news.com.au/hwt/Victoria_fire/index.html

The fact that some fires may have been started deliberately almost beggars belief, sadly I have to insert almost.

In addition to the human and material losses the effect on wildlife will have been devastating, heartwarming stories such as Sam the koala not withstanding.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...73-661,00.html

On a brighter note is the huge upswelling of support and goodwill evidenced by the response to the Victoria Bushfire Appeal of which donations by AW and by individual members, models and staff are a part. I'm not sure about other countries but I know that in the UK the Prime Minister has offered whatever help we can give and the British Red Cross has established an appeal:-

http://www.redcross.org.uk/news.asp?id=90857

My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with all those affected.

tom

[takochan]

All the media in NZ have relayed a harrowing picture of the devastation and death wrought by these disastrous fires, and I too have been brought to tears by the personal tragic experiences that so many people have spoken of.

One eerily chilling story I heard on the radio earlier this week told by one survivor — a woman who had escaped from Kinglake with her children, driving past the burned out cars of people who hadn't made it out — recounted how, in the safe refuge they had managed to reach (a large sports ground somewhere, as I recall), she could hear frequent, almost regular, detonations as gas bottles in homes exploded, and how, with each explosion, she knew that another home had gone up in flames. Somehow the image of that regular thud...thud...thud chilled my spine.

Like other AW members I have also been worried about members of the AW family and their friends and loved ones — as well as being concerned about the safety of personal friends living to the east of Melbourne (fortunately they are safe). I have been following events and affected locations on Google Earth.

Sue-Ann, I can imagine your feelings at the narrow escape your aunt and cousins had. Thank you so much for setting up this thread, and also for smoothing the path to Red Cross donations page. Heartfelt applause to abbywinters.com for its magnificent donation and also to the further commitment to match donations that we members make.I hope that bears plentiful fruit.

While waiting for my Australian Red Cross receipt to come through, I just read this report about a big firefighting helicopter that was sent on its way from New Zealand to Victoria earlier this week:

The Australian firefighting effort is about to get a large Kiwi hand in the way of a massive bambi bucket which can ferry five tonnes of water by air to remote locations.

The chopper carrying the bucket left Taupo on Tuesday afternoon and is due in Australia late Wednesday.

The big helicopter has a unique firefighting weapon, with the bambi bucket capable of carrying five tonnes of water. It was packed up for the trip to Australia but is super effective from the air.

It's the largest firefighting helicopter based in the Southern Hemisphere.

"We have a speciality in that we fly it with 100-foot cable underneath the helicopter, a long line, and that allows us to get into rather tight water sources that other helicopters may be not be able to get into," says Doug Abbot, Heli Harvest helicopter pilot.

The chopper has a long way to go before it hits the smoke of Victoria and will need to refuel on the way.

That's in addition to firefighters — and also specialists with expertise in areas like victim identification, victim recovery dog teams etc — that NZ is sending, and the money (already over $NZ1m) that is being donated by the NZ government and countless Kiwis — many of whom, of course, will have family either in or near stricken areas. As of the morning of Thursday 12 Feb the NZ Red Cross had reported raised over half a million $NZ. Local government bodies are also donating — one district council in a bushfire-prone area in the North Island has donated $NZ10,000.

I was appalled to hear Victoria's Police chief Christine Nixon hinting that quite possibly the Marysville fire that destroyed the town and killed around 100 people was deliberately lit. Also reports of looting. News like that could make one despair of humanity if it weren't for the overwhelmingly heartwarming generosity with which so many people are responding to appeals for help, and the heroism that has been so abundantly evident.

People outside Australasia may not appreciate the closeness that so many Kiwis feel to their trans-Tasman neighbours at times like this, so different from the spirit of rivalry (and in some instances envy) that appears on the surface at other times. I'm not a Kiwi (just married to one who dragged me out here), but I feel this closeness too.

That's enough rabbitting on from me, so I'll stop.

凧ちゃん

[snione]

New member here, first post, but as a life-long Melburnian, I feel I have to say something here...

I'm normally hard to upset when it comes to news. When the guy threw his four year-old daughter off the West Gate Bridge (a major freeway link in Melbourne), I thought it shocking and disgusting, but it did not upset me as it did many others. Not personal enough for me.

These fires - the death, the loss - that has really upset me. I think what really rammed it home was the wraparound cover The Age printed a few days ago. Essentially, it was four broadsheet pages of photos of people that lost their lives in the fires. The families, the couples, the look of how happy they were in the photos - and the realisation that they are now all dead. Gone. Forever. I was reading it at work, and had to close my office door so as to not alarm others that I was (apparently randomly) crying!

Perhaps what contributed to it being personal this time is that the fires have pretty much burnt the entire area between where I have lived most of my life (and currently do) in Eastern Melbourne, and my home last year in regional Victoria. Workmates have lost their homes, others their workplaces - even places I'd worked in the last year. It's such a shame that I didn't get a chance to go back to Marysville - since I first went there to help with work a year or so ago, I've been wanting to return... it'll sure be different now that it's gone.

At their closest, the firest reached to about 15km from where I live. Unusually for fires here, the winds did not blow much smoke this way (also meaning that they did not blow the fires this way, thankfully) - so it was a bit easy to forget what was going on, before the news reports started.

I'm thankful, so very thankful that none of my friends or family have lost their lives. Yet, so many have - that's what made the newspaper photos so upsetting; they really made you realise.

To finish off - if I could please appeal for anyone who can to donate. With 1000 homes gone - many of them occupied by large families, there are so many people affected. Many of them are uninsured due to insurance companies' refusal to insure such high risk areas against fire. Three schools are leveled, and many peoples' jobs are no longer due to their workplaces being burnt down. It's going to take a lot to rebuild these peoples' lives.

[2eighty8]

I was wondering when it's going to be mentioned here and what the reactions will be.

I can only imagine the fear that's going through everybody in the region right now. I was involved in securing a scene for a "small" bush fire several years ago that was about 40 feet tall and ate up a pine tree, and that got my adrenaline going.

Actually, I just want to remind Australians that there is also something more valuable than money that you can donate: your blood. Money can only save and replace so many things, but your blood can save lives; something that cannot be replaced. I'm a B+ (second rarest type out there), and I donate regularly because I've seen what a transfusion of blood can help a leukemia patient feel like they just received a new life, even for a couple of days. If that's the case, I can only guess as to how well it'll help burn victims.

http://www.giveblood.redcross.org.au/

[cheshire]

Wow, AW! You gals and guys are SUCH A CLASS ACT!

Nice work!

[ggg123]

For the Brits here: it's probably best to donate to the Red Cross via the UK link Tom Posted:

http://www.redcross.org.uk/news.asp?id=90857

because that way donations get bumped up with Tax Aid.

g

[wannadance]

oh, my beloved sue-ann, i wish i could just hold you in my arms and let you cry it out. i am SO SO sorry for all the horrible losses and the immediacy of all this.

still wheeling across the wine dark sea to yall,
dancer

[carly_t]

such a tragic disaster...i just thought i'd throw it out there but the RSPCA are doing great work for all the animals stuck in the fire...they desperatly need donations aswell. i have been knitting pouches for possums and koalas and square blankets for dogs and cats that owners perished in the fires and they somehow miraculously survived.

KEEP DONATING AND RAISING!

[takochan]

I think what really rammed it home was the wraparound cover The Age printed a few days ago. Essentially, it was four broadsheet pages of photos of people that lost their lives in the fires. The families, the couples, the look of how happy they were in the photos - and the realisation that they are now all dead. Gone. Forever. I was reading it at work, and had to close my office door so as to not alarm others that I was (apparently randomly) crying!

That reminded me very poignantly of pictures of people putting up notices asking after missing relatives in ruined Berlin at the end of WW2, in Hamburg after its destruction by an incendiary bombing firestorm...etc. It gives reality to the "war zone" description of scenes in burnt-out areas of Victoria.

凧ちゃん

[Meridian]

the link doesn't work for germany, i have to choice a state, but this are only australians state. maybe it doesn't matter , what state i choice , something experience about that ?

[wannadance]

or all the thousands of pictures posted in nyc and dc looking for relatives after 9/11.

carly t., i gotta tell you that when i read you were knitting pouches for little lost marsupials, it broke me down completely. that is the sweetest thing i have ever heard. and knitting little blankets for the other animals?

well, sweetie, you just won my heart and about 2 weeks worth of tears that have been building up...

hug hug hug,
dancer


ps to all: i was trying to figure out why so many perished in this particular fire. then i read an example. if you were driving down the road at 100 km/hr, imagine a wall of flame overtaking you from behind. okay. now i got it.

around here, as i mentioned, we have many brush and forest fires; in fact, some are going now because of the high dry winds overnight. we lose the blessed firefighters and medical personnel, but rarely 300 residents.

just awful.

PLEASE be sure to run like hell at a moment's notice! i know yall are all adults and i don't need to say that, but i feel so maternal, sorta. except for you, garion !

knitting little pouches!!!!!

blubber, bawl, sob...

snort, patooey...

[Frans]

the link doesn't work for germany, i have to choice a state, but this are only australians state. maybe it doesn't matter , what state i choice , something experience about that ?

Choose 'Outside Australia' in the state dropdown.

[Meridian]

Choose 'Outside Australia' in the state dropdown.

Sorry, i'm an idiot, i think , i just didn't expect this option, it works well , thank you Frans

[frank1971]

What can i say. I was locking at norwegian news on my tv,and i think poor people they lost family,frends,and theyr hause and ewerything they own. I dont know that or if those people who is stands back with nothing shuld do? But i heard it one the radio news that they hawe take it some suspected,and i think good but that cud it help? The meny liwes who has gone and the hole towns and ewerything else who is gone up in flames nothing can replace it.

[susie]

Thanks Sue-Ann for sharing your personal thoughts, am hoping you are doing ok.

The AW team just blows me away sometimes, what an inspiring bunch.

I am off to give blood next week, never done it before so am a little nervous but I know it will help.

take care y'all,

s

[Havemercy]

I work with the public every day, and whenever I meet someone from Oz I have to stop myself from saying "Oh, I have friends in Melbourne..." I don't actually know anyone there in real life, but I feel like I do, thanks to AW. My brushfire relief contribution is the first charitable donation I've ever made, and I'm happy to help in a small way. Late last year, a delightful older couple from the Melbourne area spent nearly a month in my hotel, and I have to trust they are okay.

This put a smile on my face, though. Holding a good thought for all our lovely models, their families, friends, and all my cyber friends. May you be happy and healthy and safe.

HM

[immie]

It's all kind of horrifying to have this stuff happen while I'm away from home. :-( I just feel like home is burning to the ground while my back is turned. *sigh* Well, my family seems to be okay, although I am not sure about one branch which is in a rural area reasonably close to the fires. Mr Immie's family is also mostly okay, although one of the houses might go down... we're still kind of keeping our fingers crossed. :-/

HM, I'd seen that photo in the article, and found it kind of heartwarming. But it serves as a reminder that many native animals have had to pay for this. I'm not sure whether to hope that it was deliberately set or not - if it was purely an accidental thing, then it doesn't speak well for future years, especially with the droughts and apparent climate change. If it was deliberately set though, it would suggest that such fires aren't necessarily a new natural norm; though I would be thoroughly disturbed that anyone in Australia, who has seen how devastating this kind of thing is, would actually go and deliberately do this kind of shit.

[aggie64]

My heart goes out to all those affected by the fires, and yet my heart is filled with admiration for the AW staff and models who are pouring their hearts out to their fellow Aussies. I can sympathize a little bit since my sister and her husband lost their home in Hurricane Ike a few months ago. And it saddens me, too, to think of all the poor animals who couldn't escape. Thanks to Sue Ann for starting this thread, and I wish I could be there to comfort her.

[FloridaRob]

If, in the threads merger, my somewhat useless last post was deleted, I thank Frans or whomever for that.

Absolutely, my heart is with all we know here, their loved ones and friends.

When all is said and done, really, I'd like to think we are all among the finer of the human species, reasonably intelligent, normally loving, people, very plain and simple, able to grasp what really is "on our menu" and to act and react appropriately!

Whichever side of the camera, the credit card, etc., some things and values transcend all and, I think, this situation with the fires around Melbourne, pushes those thoughts and considerations to the forefront.

Love and best wishes to all affected, in any way, by these horrific fires!



P.S. I'm SO tired of "labels"! Why must everyone place this site and many others into supposedly pure labels? We are what we are, even, maybe especially, what happened in Las Vegas, other venues, I presume.

Garion and the "mysterious" Ms. Abby, and so on! I wasn't even there but two dozen of Abby's craziest did and did some more in the middle of the Las Vegas show and were not detained from telling the story!

I surely wish we could open or re-open some chat among the present "victims", Garion and Abby, of course!

Whatever! As I tried to say, Don't take me too seriously!

[cleo]

I think what really rammed it home was the wraparound cover The Age printed a few days ago. Essentially, it was four broadsheet pages of photos of people that lost their lives in the fires. The families, the couples, the look of how happy they were in the photos - and the realisation that they are now all dead. Gone. Forever. I was reading it at work, and had to close my office door so as to not alarm others that I was (apparently randomly) crying!

.

i was the same...bought the paper that day (for a totally different reason, as i dont usually buy the paper) and as i placed it down on the counter, saw a photo of a couple we know who had died. i almost cried then and there, but took it back to work, sat on the floor in the team room and as i read through the articles, i sobbed.

[Feelinggood]

Thank you very much for such large donation to the appeal. And also for matching members donations.

I know parents had very sleepless night last Saturday, as the northern horizontal glow red & orange. They just a few kilometres south of the one fires. Thankfully they are OK now. But I'm sorry to say couple from there local community did lose their lives.

[Infernice]

I don't want to sound insensitive, and I wish I could help, donate money or anything, more than just express my sympathy to those who have lost loved ones, and be thankful for those who managed to escape with their lives or were spared; however, I must say that despite any loss of lives, of people and animals, in areas prone to wildfires, the fires strengthen and revitalize the ecosystems. I'm not saying it isn't still sad for all those who have lost families, or that it is a good or even trade, but it is a necessary trade as the environment tries to keep itself alive from all of the damage done bu humans (not just Australia specifically, but all over).

And to the models, staff, members, and everyone else affected, my heart goes out to you; I hope you all stay safe.

-Infernice

[katherine_f]

i know you're trying to look on the bright side of this infernice. and you are right, many trees thrive after a fire. but there fires are not merely a natural revitalisation. it is believe that most if not all of the recent fires were deliberately lit. and hearing that makes me feel ill.

the people i know living in country Victoria have not been hit by the fires. and i am extremely thankful for that.

my heart goes out to all who have been affected by this tragedy.

one thing that has stood out is the amazing support that has been shown. it's nice to know that there are so many caring ppl out there.

[tom2c7777]

one thing that has stood out is the amazing support that has been shown. it's nice to know that there are so many caring ppl out there.

I agree Katherine, if there is any bright spot in all of this it's the realisation that the vast majority of people care, pulling together, doing what they can. I undestand the appeal is standing at about $80 million and in addition there are all the clothes, goods whatever donated and people giving up time to help sort, pack and distribute them.

The horrible thing is that it's ongoing, I saw from Susie's thread that the town of Healesville is/was under threat.

tom

[cinvad]

Long time watcher, first time poster.

Firstly, my heartfelt condolences to everyone involved. As a Victorian, it is a tragedy that will affect us for a long time to come. I hope that we never have to live through this again. Ever.

Secondly, porn in this country gets a bad wrap. As a fairly conservative country, it's amazing that we get the delights of AW at all. Yet despite this, they are putting up $50,000 which shows that ALL Australians, even those of us that enjoy "non-violent erotica", have been touched and moved by this horrible tragedy. I doubt it will happen but I would love for this donation to be acknowledged to show Australia that the beautiful people who bring us AW are also beautiful people who care about their community.

I applaud you all. Well done.

[takochan]

Just came across an AP report that begins:

Police arrested a suspect Friday in connection with one of the deadly wildfires in southern Australia that killed more than 180 people and left about 7,000 homeless.

Police did not release any details about the suspect, but a newspaper report said he was a 39-year-old man who would likely be charged with arson causing death in what police call the Churchill fire.

(The rest can be viewed here).

Reportedly 21 people died in that fire. I'm tempted to think it's a pity the guy couldn't have been shot while resisting arrest — though philosophically I tend towards the view that arsonists should be slowly roasted alive (or perhaps shackled in a tank of water that is slowly brought to boiling point)...

凧ちゃん

[cinvad]

Just came across an AP report that begins:

Police arrested a suspect Friday in connection with one of the deadly wildfires in southern Australia that killed more than 180 people and left about 7,000 homeless.

Police did not release any details about the suspect, but a newspaper report said he was a 39-year-old man who would likely be charged with arson causing death in what police call the Churchill fire.

(The rest can be viewed here).

Reportedly 21 people died in that fire. I'm tempted to think it's a pity the guy couldn't have been shot while resisting arrest — though philosophically I tend towards the view that arsonists should be slowly roasted alive (or perhaps shackled in a tank of water that is slowly brought to boiling point)...

凧ちゃん

If they release his name he's a dead man.

In fact, I'd drop him off in the main street of Churchill and let the locals "have a chat" with him.

[Infernice]

I must admit I don't pay much attention to the news, and have heard about these fires only a few days ago. I did cursory research on the subject before making my post, however:

i know you're trying to look on the bright side of this infernice. and you are right, many trees thrive after a fire. but there fires are not merely a natural revitalisation. it is believe that most if not all of the recent fires were deliberately lit. and hearing that makes me feel ill.

I wasn't aware that there were concerns about the fires not being natural. I mean, I hear about wildfires every year in the american northwest, and there's always mention of natural/unnatural but accidentally lit, but I cannot recall hearing of wildfires being deliberately lit (though I'm a university student never having lived in the area and don't pay much attention to the news); I apologize for my ignorance if anyone is offended by my comment.

-Infernice

[cleo]

they havent listed his name, yet.....,but i did hear it mentioned when and which magistrate court he would be attending, which i think was risky...

[frontfoot]

it is believe that most if not all of the recent fires were deliberately lit. and hearing that makes me feel ill.

..well Katherine this might make you feel better:

"Police believe most of last Saturday's fires were not deliberately lit."

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2489272.htm

[takochan]

(though I'm a university student never having lived in the area and don't pay much attention to the news); I apologize for my ignorance if anyone is offended by my comment.

Infernice, I hope you don't take offence at my saying this, but your username has an uncomfortably close resemblance to "inferno"...

Also — and I am doing my best not to be unkind here, because I don't wish to be — I hope you won't mind my suggesting, as a general rule of life, that before making pronouncements on a topic that you can see is causing intense and widespread grief, you pay rather more attention to what has been going on and to what it is doing to people—and to how that is likely to shape the effect of your well-meaning pronouncements. With a little more thought it might have occurred to you that "OK, so the fires are killing people and that sucks, but hey guys, you gotta realise it's great for the ecosystem" is not the kind of message that is apt to play well in the present circumstances. Your concern for the ecosystem is, of course, laudable in itself, but there is a right time and place for addressing such concerns; and here and now is, I suggest, not that place or time, OK?

You've apologised. Good. Now try to be more careful and think before you post on subjects that are as sensitive as this one is.

凧ちゃん

[kiztopia]

Wow. I'm very impressed at the amount that abbywinters.com has put forward. My dad was close to the redesdale fire, and it looks like his partner has lost her home in Kinglake.

[wannadance]

here is the link for the AW matching project:

http://www.abbywinters.com/bushfire/


you contribute, AW matches, and i think there is something else in the works, too...

so in addition to their contribution, they will match your contribution. a tally will be published, too....

this is a wonderful thing. good on yall!!!

dancer

CARLY T: could you publish some pics here or on your thread of the knitting?

[chaoticorder]

I have never posted on this site before although I have been a long time member. being an Australian and a Victorian myself you sometimes take for granted the spirit that is part of being an Australian. But the response to this disaster by my fellow Australians leaves me speechless. It is unfortunate that it takes a disaster of this magnitude to make everyone realise that we really are one country. But at the same time i can not express how proud I feel to be Australian at this time, even in this sad
time.

The fact that the Australian community has pulled together in this time is not so much a surprise, it is part of our countries legacy. It is the fact that even during the current world climate and with other disasters facing both national and
international communities that we are "chipping in" however we all can. It shows me that the old "digger spirit" we grow up hearing about in Australia IS alive and well.

The fact that some Aussies who may live overseas have given what support they can in this time tells me one thing. That is that no matter where you may work, live or reside, your current situation or your country of origin you are still an Aussie at heart. That is the heart of the matter, you are always an Aussie in your heart of hearts, mates to the end, and we always look out for our mates.

On a personal note I have never been so proud and at the same time so unbelievably heart broken. While personally, myself and my family have not been endangered in anyway, friends of mine have been affected, thankfully with no loss of life.

At the same time we have floods in the north of queensland and stories of these people donating whatever they can is nothing short of inspirational. While I may have gone a bit overboard with my praise for my fellow Australian people during this time it is the simple truth.

I have given my thanks to almost everyone involved except for all of those volunteers, local and now international. They have worked tirelessly and will continue to fight the fires and offer what support they can. I will not say you are heroes
(although i believe it), you are simply fighters showing the Aussie spirit to the end.

Before I finish I would like to give my personal heart felt thanks for the donations and more importantly the sympathises and well wishes that have come in from all over the world. It is heart warming to know that people all over this beautiful world of ours are thinking of and praying for those that have been affected by this tragedy.

Thank you for this chance to express in writing what I have been unable to express verbally.
My sincere appreciation to all of the AW staff, models, members and everyone else involved.
A very Humbled Victorian
JC

[FloridaRob]

Not sure there's any comparison but we had some wildfires in Florida, when I lived there. One, in particular, was set, accidentally, we were told, by youths in some woods in the late afternoon. The winds blew it quickly toward and through the near end of the town of Port St. Lucie. About 53 homes burned to the ground. The fire actually skipped maybe four houses and lit the fifth, all through a spreading oval area. Turns out the homes that were spared did not have vegetation against the sides of the house, under the eaves. Those that did, caught fire and spread the fire from the vegetation to the house via the eaves of of the roof.

I rushed up there, with my Jeep, as my wife's friends had a house right in the area. As soon as the fire trucks had moved on, keeping up with the fire line, a bunch jumped in my Jeep and onto the bumpers for a ride through the smoldering neighborhood to see if their homes were still there. Eerie to see so many homes just burning, slowly, to the ground with no one attempting to put out the fires.

The huge cargo plane dropping orange foam from the treetops was a sight I'll never forget, either!

I thought I had read they were detaining two individuals there in Victoria.