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Fire Check-In Thread
Good idea Leonie, I am feeling quite safe here in Ballarat at the moment but in the far east of Victoria it is a completely different story.https://www.abc.net.au/news/emergency...
Kylie H wrote: "Good idea Leonie, I am feeling quite safe here in Ballarat at the moment but in the far east of Victoria it is a completely different story.https://www.abc.net.au/news/emergency..."
Glad to hear you're safe Kylie! I'll add your link to my post above. Thank you!
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Phrynne wrote: "Excellent idea Leonie. I am counting myself lucky to be living in a city at the moment and really want to hear that all our members who live in the country areas are safe."Yes, we're a widely spread bunch, and I know at least a couple of people are in the evacuation zones. The Kerry Ridge Fire about forty kilometres from here has just escalated to Watch and Act. We're fine here, but people in Martindale and Baerami will be very edgy right now.
I'm safe here in Brisbane at the moment. It was very smoky in November, but that's cleared away and now it's smoke-free where I am and the weather is reasonably comfortable for this time of year.
Great idea, Leonie! I think Queensland is doing fairly well just at the moment (at least in comparison to NSW and VIC), and what there is burning seems to be fairly low grade risk. But here's the link to fire info for Queensland: https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/alert...
Lynne wrote: "I'm safe here in Brisbane at the moment. It was very smoky in November, but that's cleared away and now it's smoke-free where I am and the weather is reasonably comfortable for this time of year."Oops - hadn't refreshed before I posted! I think Brisbane is fine - looks like any fires are further up the coast at the moment, and they don't sound like they're out of control. 🙂
I have family and friends in the south coast, Nowra and south of Nowra and other potentially affected areas so keeping an eye on things. My ancestral family hail from Corryong and Tumbarumba so I was really saddened to see their historical towns so badly affected. Otherwise all are well thank goodness.
☼♄Jülie wrote: "I have family and friends in the south coast, Nowra and south of Nowra and other potentially affected areas so keeping an eye on things. My ancestral family hail from Corryong and Tumbarumba so I w..."Oh my goodness. Yes, hopefully things will be OK. I think they're expecting trouble when the southerly blows in.
There are those of us in the UK who are following all that is going on and I'm agonizing for you all. I have friends and relations on the east coast who have their bags packed, etc. Very, very worrying and I hope the world sets up a fund to help you all put our beloved Australia back together again.
As for the koalas and other wildlife, well, I just ache.
Anna Faversham wrote: "There are those of us in the UK who are following all that is going on and I'm agonizing for you all. I have friends and relations on the east coast who have their bags packed, etc. Very, very wo..."
It's incredibly sad right now. So much devastation and pain.
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I have friends and relations on the east coast who have their bags packed, etc. Very, very wo..."
Thanks for your concern Anna - it's good to know people all around the world are with us on this...
What a fantastic idea, Leonie. It's just been such a horrible, horrible end to 2019, and beginning to 2020 with the bushfires seemingly everywhere at the moment. My current place of residence in Swan Hill in the North-West of Victoria is safe at the moment, however where I currently am down in Heywood (my parents place - my hometown) in the South-West has several fires burning in the nearby bush and State Forests/National Parks. But there is little threat to us at present thankfully. We're certainly a far cry from East Gippsland in the east of Victoria and parts of NSW. It's just awful.
Please keep safe all. xxxx
https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/
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Thanks Brenda. We've got our fingers crossed that it won't get too much worse. We had a lot of smoke around us yesterday, but it hasn't been so bad today, and the weather conditions have cooled considerably so hopefully this will help ease the situation around us. Oh Julie - that's just awful. :( It's been heartbreaking to see everything unfold on the news. My thoughts are with all who have been affected in some way. xoxo
And how about you, Brenda? Are you in a safe place?
We're safe here, for the moment, nothing threatening. But rain would be good. Summer's not over yet.
It's not often you'll get an English person praying for rain!!!!! But I'm very happy to pray that it falls all over Australia.
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Yes thanks Anna, we're in a suburb and although there is some bush around we're pretty safe.
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You often have too much rain over there as well!
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Her husband and son are back...sooty and tired, but fine. And somehow despite the inferno that roared up the hill and turned pyrocumulous on their road, the house is still standing. The garage which is only a couple of metres from the house, and housed hubby's beloved '52 Vauxhall, all the sheds, the barn, and the boys' cubby are all ashes. The water tanks all melted as did the trampoline. The garden has been ripped to shreds. And they lost the front fence. But her ponies are fine and the house is still standing. The next couple of weeks are dangerous because they are now surrounded by smouldering forest which could flare at any time. But they're still there. She thinks all the good thoughts and hopes everyone was sending might have worked. Everything is a crazy mess but now they have a place to start.
I'm so glad to hear this, Brenda! Was really worried when I knew where she was!
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Oh! I feel sick seeing what's been happening there! Sorry I'm very late learning about this terrible news! I'm just in tears, feeling very helpless! I wish I could help!
Sending good thoughts, hope, prayers, and hugs your way from me in the US! Please stay safe!
Thanks to Leonie for this thread!
Li'l Owl wrote: "Oh! I feel awful seeing what's been happening there! Sending good thoughts and prayers your way from me in the US!
Thanks to Leonie for this thread!"
Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, Owl! Keep them up, as we still have nearly all of summer to get through...
So glad to read that Sulari's family and house and horses are OK so far. This from Glenda Guest who is down on the far south coast:
things have calmed down a bit - coolish day and not much wind. The smoke is still horrific, but has lifted slightly. The town is overflowing with evacuees - both service clubs are official place and a couple of ovals for overflow or those with animals. Sapphire CLub - the bowling club - has 1,000 and don't know the state of the RSL but there's a trillion cars around.
We took my VW Golf to Beach Street on the lake front early this morning and have just brought her home - will do that again if things get iffy again. A bolt hole if needed on the water if needed.Maybe that should be when, as this is a monster from hell. Had packed Colin's Rodeo with personal stuff, have just brought that in for the night. Amazing just how little is essential when you get down to the nitty gritty.
This whole thing - not just here but everywhere in the country - well, I can't find the words for it all, and words are my trade!
We lose internet now and then, and are trying to keep electricity and water use low.
HMAS Adelaide has just arrived off Eden - huge deepwater harbour and 25 minutes south of here. There are few peeps left in that town after last night's near miss.
We are so much better off that some small coast towns to our north, several of which have little food or water and no outside access. Things are much more dire to the north of us than is shown in media, which does like to focus on the immediate.
I have all praise for the ABC - local station has been broadcasting 24/7 for 4 or more days now, the go to for real information as to what's happening and what to do. Without this service it would be a nightmare.
On ABC News TV ABC reporters Hamish McDonald, Phil Williams and a couple I don't know have been doing a magnificent job of giving facts to the viewers. Hamish is a lovely compassionate bloke and treats his interviewees with real care and love. Phil broadcast from Eden this morning saying he'd never seen anything like it, ever, the darkness, the black and red smoke - and he's the chief foreign reporter for ABC.
Right now, two fingers of bourbon with ice has just landed on my desk. Going to enjoy it.
Thinking of everyone in the fire front. It's heartbreaking as a bystander. I can't imagine how devastating it would be to be isolated by the fires.
Marianne wrote: "So glad to read that Sulari's family and house and horses are OK so far. This from Glenda Guest who is down on the far south coast:
things have calmed down a bit - coolish day and..."
Good to hear that Glenda is OK for now, but her comments remind us that it isn't over yet. And also about how much recovery effort will be required.
Usually, I am not a person who really prays (lapsed Catholic) but I have been praying hard for people caught in this devastation. I've been evacuated (late) in two huge bushfires in my life and the terror is still with me. Hoping that we have no more fatalities and that the loss of wildlife ends.
I'm asking my friends to pray for rain for you all,
Hello fellow bookish people. I just thought I would bring this to your attentionDon't know if any of you are Twitter people or not, but there is a thing on Twitter #authorsforfireys. Authors are putting up signed copies of books and other things for auction, donations to go to the CFA. Started today, auction closes 5pm Friday.
Here is the website https://authorsforfireys.wixsite.com/...
but I think you have to register on twitter to bid.
I am going to check it out, I might get lucky!
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Brenda wrote: "Sulari Gentill who has been evacuated from her home in Batlow to Tumut for days has notified us just a little while ago -Her husband and son are back...sooty and tired, but fine...."
So good to hear that her house and ponies are okay, especially when her son and husband have been out fighting fires. Must be so hard to be evacuated and be worrying about your house and animals as well as your family members out firefighting.
Late to find this thread. Melbourne is very smoky today and we have been advised to stay indoors or wear masks if out. I have just completed 50 Cool Ties for East Gippsland CFA. I also have friends with family in Batlow and the photos from there are shocking as I know the town well.
WIRES, Australia's major animal rescue organisation, is the first port of call when we find wounded wildlife, and they are managing a lot of the bushfire victims. You can donate from anywhere in the world on their website.
https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emerg...
Thick smoke here in Ballarat today! I cannot imagine what it must be like down in Gippsland and closer to the fire fronts.Quite a few people with PTSD from trauma through previous fires are being very affected by this.
The impacts of this fire are completely devastating on so many levels. I know that the mental health teams at the health service I work for are offering support to health services that are being directly impacted by this.
Wildlife Victoria are the Vic equivalent to WIRES I think.
https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/
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I am interested in genealogy and follow UK author Nathan Dylan Goodwin
. I recently read the 7th book in his Forensic Genealogist Series The Wicked Trade. His son Harrison with some friends is organising a fundraising walk in Kent, UK in support of WIRES and seeking local sponsorship. I think this is really touching and impressive response to the devastation caused by the bushfires to our wildlife in Australia.
I could not work out how to link the comment in Nathan's Facebook page to this post. This is a copy of the text.
"Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Hello! My seven-year-old son, Harrison and two of his friends will be doing a 10k walk to raise money towards helping the wildlife suffering in the devastating fires in Australia. 10k is quite a long way for little legs, so any sponsorship to spur them on would be much appreciated! Thank you.
Alison is raising money to help WIRES"
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Odette wrote: "I am interested in genealogy and follow UK author Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I recently read the 7th book in his Forensic Genealogist Series [b..."Here's the link to the fundraising page, Odette. How wonderful of these children (only 6, 7, and 8!) to do this for our wildlife!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraisin...
There's a link there for you to share it on Facebook, too.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Odette wrote: "I am interested in genealogy and follow UK author Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I recently read the 7th book in his Forensic Geneal..."Thanks Patty for putting up the link to the fundraising page.
Odette wrote: "I am interested in genealogy and follow UK author Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I recently read the 7th book in his Forensic Genealogist Series [b..."How marvellous!
As I drove down our mountain yesterday (40kms east Melbourne) as well as battling a heavy fog/smoke locally, I found I could not see the city's outline on the horizon like I usually can. All was swathed in a think smog/smoke/fog (unsure which). At our own property, The air was smoky/foggy and wet, we could smell it and any length of time outside had me reaching for my puffer.
Up here in Townsville (no stranger to extreme events) - and as a one-time Canberra resident I am thinking of you all down south. Stay safe, and hopefully the country will be the better for all this: more prepared, less blasé.
We were on holidays in NSW over the Christmas at a place called Foxground. The property we were staying at was a working farm and it was a beautiful place to stay. Unfortunately due to the fires we decided to end our holiday early by four days. There was smoke around us every day and on the day we left there was a fire about 50 kilometres away. Knowing the wind would change direction that afternoon it meant the fire would be heading our way, so we packed up and headed for home. My heart goes out to everyone who has or is involved in these horrendous fires. So much devastation all over the country with no end in sight. Stay safe everyone.
Late to the thread; great idea Leonie! I'm safe from fires on the Gold Coast, but friends in Victoria are on alert and another friend has been evacuated from Eden with his pet ducks. btw, I am seeing a lot of people who were luckily evacuated with their dogs and horses, but not so much on other domesticated animals. It doesn't bear thinking about.
We have smoke on and off, but almost continuous haze here. The northern portions of the Kerry's Ridge Fire are slowly working their way down our shire's southerly valleys, as Wollombi National Park is in our shire.So if you hear Martindale, Baerami, or Widden, that's not so far away from here. The sheer size of the area affected by that fire is almost impossible to believe.
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The Wicked Trade (other topics)Authors mentioned in this topic
Glenda Guest (other topics)Nathan Dylan Goodwin (other topics)
Nathan Dylan Goodwin (other topics)
Nathan Dylan Goodwin (other topics)
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This year is proving to be dreadful. With the current fire situation, I thought it might be nice to have a thread where we can check-in and say 'I'm safe,' 'I'm evacuated,' or just share our fire experiences. Sometimes it's good to have a place to chat.
I've included some useful links. As I see more, I'll pop them up. Most of my stuff is NSW related, but please message me, or post other state info as you're able.
Fires Near Me (NSW) https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au
Recovery Information https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?...
Disaster Assistance info (NSW) https://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/Page...
Disaster Welfare Assistance hotline and evacuation centres. https://www.humanservices.gov.au/indi...
Victoria (lists helpful resources) https://www.abc.net.au/news/emergency...
Victoria https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/resp...
Queensland 'Get Ready' site. https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/alert...
Another useful list via The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/how-to-mo...
Defence Bases open to people requiring food and accommodation: https://news.defence.gov.au/national/...