NSW Fires

[VMX247]

what he said x 100

[Lozza]

And attention to this quote!

And lets also hope the greenies allow the fire fighters access to some of the bushland spaces to do control burns.
Having lived in NSW for most of my life and being a trail rider opened the eyes to some of the stupidity that goes on in the bush. Glass bottles smashed on the ground. Dumped cars. Areas used as rubbish tips. And the real biggie for me, locked gates across access tracks that even the fire fighters don't have keys to. And some of the gates are constructed out of very serious steel beams with no access for boltcutters or the like to get to the lock. Then there's the huge boulders the national parks mob push onto tracks to stop vehicle access. None of it makes any sense. And most urbanites wouldn't have a clue what the state of the bush in their backyard is like, hence the ease with which the greenies can get away with locking up areas they deem need locking up!

Lightning strikes and such have burnt our dried out country forever, long before our indigenous realised the importance of it.

Cost cutting bureaucrats are only to happy to yeild to Greenies if it eases their yearly budget.
Greenies like to use science when it suits them, yet science proves our native Flora have evolved with and depend on fire.
Most introduced weeds are unable to gain a foot hold when subjected to regular back burns.

You don't have to back-burn the whole country, just buffers around inhabited areas and dependent infrastructure.

Prevention is way better than any cure for this horror. Back-burning provides a controlled opportunity for training and equipment evaluation. Therefore a better preparedness.
Government and Insurance bead counters wouldn't like to contribute to such preventative measures for sure,
  But how much cheaper for them and our entire community would that option look now!

This neglect of our bureaucrats is inhumane. Time to hold these side steppers accountable
Or, just sit back and accept that what could be mostly preventable horror and tragedy, is instead just a way of life,,,,,

If only it were so simple, without a doubt we experience drier winters and hotter summers increasing the length of bushfire season. The frequency of extreme fire danger days again has increased again reducing the time that burn offs can be done safely. A back burning operation went pearshaped only last year. Back burning isn't the silver bullet everyone would like to believe. If you live in the bush you have to accept that there may well be a bush fire one day, being prepared (either to fight it or exacuate) is the key. Even then there appears to be a lot of randomness to the damage.
As with most natural disasters the speed at which they happen is hard to imagine unless you see it first hand.

[maxvmx]

I hate saying it or even thinking it but Perth is going to be at extreme risk this summer. Late spring rainfall and less than 10 percent planned burn off and preventative actions taken makes the chemistry right for unimaginable fire potentials - here's hoping we're lucky.

[FourstrokeForever]

"If only it were so simple, without a doubt we experience drier winters and hotter summers increasing the length of bushfire season. The frequency of extreme fire danger days again has increased again reducing the time that burn offs can be done safely. A back burning operation went pearshaped only last year. Back burning isn't the silver bullet everyone would like to believe. If you live in the bush you have to accept that there may well be a bush fire one day, being prepared (either to fight it or exacuate) is the key. Even then there appears to be a lot of randomness to the damage.
As with most natural disasters the speed at which they happen is hard to imagine unless you see it first hand."

Ok. Backburning isn't the be all and end all of a solution to ending tragic fires once and for all, but it will reduce the risks. And yes, there have been some mistakes made during back burns. Those accountable for such "pearshaped" moments should not be in their position any longer. Pure and simple. If I were a big land owner and let any controlled burn I attempt get out of control, the consequence of my action would be personnally very costly.
The part I really struggle to understand is the locked gates policy the greenies come up with. The number of fire tracks that are blocked off in NSW is unbelievable. You can't get a dirt bike around most of them, let alone a fire truck. And they are serious bits of construction that even a tank would struggle to get over without damage. These tracks were deemed necessary a long time ago to be able to fight fires from different fronts. Now they are ,in effect, useless to our fire men and women. They get to a gate that they cannot get past and are legally, not allowed to open the gate. Only Nat parks has the keys! Ridiculous!

[Davey Crocket]

I bet there's not one greenie that's out there helping with the fires....they all go MIA this time of year...you wont hear a word from them...I hate them.

[oldyzman]

Backburning can be effective, I do recall that backburning can get out of control and has taken out a couple of houses in the past, then there has been an uproar. Its a numbers game, but if it was my house catching on fire while backburning then it all of a sudden would not be a numbers game.

[oldyzman]

Yes Davey, I cannot stand most of them and most of what they stand for either. There is a very small percentage of them however which are good and sometimes what they do which is good. I would estimate below 10 Percent. No doubt this will hit a nerve with someone. Appologies In Advance.
Cheers Brett

[firko]

Two pet and one old mate stories......My god daughter works at Katoomba RSPCA and she told me tonight that they're snowed under with pets suffering burns and other injuries and a lot of animals that have run away from their homes, freaked by the fires. She's really worn out by the amount of work they've been doing since the fires started last week. It's a part of these tragedies that we don't often think of.

My little Jack Russell Terrier Reggie Firkin has been scratching his eyes and looking pretty down in the dumps for the last couple of days so I took him to the vet this morning. It seems that the air pollution produced by the Blue Mountain fires is so bad that he's picked up an eye infection from it. The poor little bloke's got enough health issues without this as well. I heard on the news that the air quality is almost 60 times worse than a normal Sydney day and even worse than Beijing or Mexico City, two of the most polluted cities on the planet.   

Super tuner Frank Stanborough is flat on his back, having real trouble breathing with asthma induced by the smog. It's a bummer as we were going to my property later in the week to do some jetting on my bikes but the air's so bad I won't be going now.

[Davey Crocket]

The boarder will be open for you and your mates in less than a couple of weeks Firko, there's hope yet. Are you smuggling the pooch in?

[firko]

Are you smuggling the pooch in?

I considered bringing him with me but I figured he'd get in the way plus he hates just going to the shop in the car, let alone driving to Butte Plugge, Queensland. I've booked him into Doggie Motel, ironically the same RSPCA that Georgie my god daughter works at. If the situation gets any worse up there in the mountains  I may have to find a plan B for the little guy.

[FourstrokeForever]

Yeah it's sad that the animals are the forgotten victims in these fires. My heart goes out to all who have lost their best mate(s). Thanks for bringing it up Firko....I know where my donation money is going now. The RSPCA

[firko]

It's raining here at Casa del Firko right now (12pm). I'm about 20 odd kilometres from the fires so let's hope it's raining up there too. There doesn't appear to be much in it however.

[firko]

It didn't last long unfortunately.

[Ted]

It is now raining at the foot of the mountains and is about 20 deg cooler than yesterday. This will help

[pancho]

 I saw my ol' scrambles mate Albert Newton on the news last night doing his bit with the firies up at bilpin.
 
 Good onya Albert!

 cheers