Victoria Bush Fires

[whippetfan]

Latest update on Kirislin posted at 1.03 pm Eastern Australian Daylight Savings time:

Have just got off the phone to Kirislin.She seems to be in reasonably good spirits and is back at home for the moment

(but has been a bag lady the last 2 nights). We all know that with a wind change

anything could happen, so she is prepared to move again or for good at anytime.

So her house has survived thus far.

 

[whippetfan]

TC your message has been passed to Kirislin.

 

[elmaro]

For those that are interested...

Donations can be sent by cheque to bank transfer for Australians and Paypal is available for international exhibitors!!

INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL DOG SHOW

All money raised will be shared among our members who are victims of the bushfires

A catalogue of ‘the show’ will be given to each of our affected members as a sign of the support of their friends

Copies of the catalogue will also be available on the website

The catalogue will simply show breed, dog’s name and owner’s name. Why not make an entry in the name of your favourite dog that may no longer still be with you?

ANY dog is eligible to enter as there will be special classes for "dogs from mixed marriages" and "rainbow bridge" (dearly departed dogs),

More information is available HERE GET ENTERING YOUR POOCHES!! :cheers:

 

[aslan]

They've said nothing about the Beechworth fire tonight on our news - does anyone know what's happening with that?

Has anyone spoken to Molly or Jenny Johnson today - or anyone else up that way?

 

[Cartman]

Sorry, but thought I might of gone the day without an update. However now 181.

There is a site I think one of the CSIRO's that has a fire condition forecast. The ABC ran some numbers through it. You put in things like Temp. wind speed,Grass/ forrest, slope of ground & a few others. It will then tell you fire speed. Speeds of 40kph were nothing. You must remember fire goes in one direction & road dont. So hard to out run it.

Also on TV tonight someone had tape of embers from a fire 4kms away. A spot fire started in grass & started its own front 4kms from main fire. From nothing to 100ft in 8 sec.

Stories are coming out of people staying alive by being in a dam till fire had passed. Others were of 4 cars hit each other on way out & all killed.

I was in Victor Harbor today. The town hall was fenced off. Only cars allowed in were those giving donations of clothes, books, food etc. The que was long & moving well.

No Greenies are to be found. The ones stopping councils from removing fire hazards from roadways & forrests.

Thats my bitch for today.

 

[trac]

my thoughts go out to all those who are suffering ,its so sad to see and here are us complaining about a little bit of snow and rain when 100's are loosing their lives ,families ,homes :b

 

[Cartman]

They've said nothing about the Beechworth fire tonight on our news - does anyone know what's happening with that?
Has anyone spoken to Molly or Jenny Johnson today - or anyone else up that way?

Beechworth has been down graded. Cooler temps have helped reinforce containment lines.

Not heard of anyone that way. Dont know about Jen, but Molly is other side of river. But we are on same river & no water here.

 

[GotWhippet?]

I hope some good comes out of the Royal commission. You never know though, I am such a pessimist when it comes to governments.

Maybe they'll allow the cattlemen graze their cattle on crown land again and restart subsidising bulldozers to cut fire trials through heavily wooded areas.

 

[Cartman]

I hope some good comes out of the Royal commission. You never know though, I am such a pessimist when it comes to governments.
Maybe they'll allow the cattlemen graze their cattle on crown land again and restart subsidising bulldozers to cut fire trials through heavily wooded areas.

What about councils slashing the edeges of the roads?

 

[TC]

Latest update on Kirislin posted at 1.03 pm Eastern Australian Daylight Savings time:

Have just got off the phone to Kirislin.She seems to be in reasonably good spirits and is back at home for the moment

(but has been a bag lady the last 2 nights). We all know that with a wind change

anything could happen, so she is prepared to move again or for good at anytime.

So her house has survived thus far.

Thank you so much for this, and for passing on my message. I am so glad that so far her house has survived. I know it's only possesions, but to lose all of them in one hit like that will take a lot to recover from, without the unimaginable trauma of actually being part of this.

I'm so relieved and so grateful for the update.

TCx

 

[Angus]

For those that are interested...
Donations can be sent by cheque to bank transfer for Australians and Paypal is available for international exhibitors!!

INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL DOG SHOW

All money raised will be shared among our members who are victims of the bushfires

A catalogue of ‘the show’ will be given to each of our affected members as a sign of the support of their friends

Copies of the catalogue will also be available on the website

The catalogue will simply show breed, dog’s name and owner’s name. Why not make an entry in the name of your favourite dog that may no longer still be with you?

ANY dog is eligible to enter as there will be special classes for "dogs from mixed marriages" and "rainbow bridge" (dearly departed dogs),

More information is available HERE GET ENTERING YOUR POOCHES!! :cheers:

This is a great idea! My work is also donating $10 for every $1 we put in to go to the Red Cross appeal -very generous I think!! Will enter the virtual show tho too!

 

[Angus]

For those that are interested...
Donations can be sent by cheque to bank transfer for Australians and Paypal is available for international exhibitors!!

INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL DOG SHOW

All money raised will be shared among our members who are victims of the bushfires

A catalogue of ‘the show’ will be given to each of our affected members as a sign of the support of their friends

Copies of the catalogue will also be available on the website

The catalogue will simply show breed, dog’s name and owner’s name. Why not make an entry in the name of your favourite dog that may no longer still be with you?

ANY dog is eligible to enter as there will be special classes for "dogs from mixed marriages" and "rainbow bridge" (dearly departed dogs),

More information is available HERE GET ENTERING YOUR POOCHES!! :cheers:

This is a great idea! My work is also donating $10 for every $1 we put in to go to the Red Cross appeal -very generous I think!! Will enter the virtual show tho too!

 

[clardia]

For those that are interested...
Donations can be sent by cheque to bank transfer for Australians and Paypal is available for international exhibitors!!

INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL DOG SHOW

All money raised will be shared among our members who are victims of the bushfires

A catalogue of ‘the show’ will be given to each of our affected members as a sign of the support of their friends

Copies of the catalogue will also be available on the website

The catalogue will simply show breed, dog’s name and owner’s name. Why not make an entry in the name of your favourite dog that may no longer still be with you?

ANY dog is eligible to enter as there will be special classes for "dogs from mixed marriages" and "rainbow bridge" (dearly departed dogs),

More information is available HERE GET ENTERING YOUR POOCHES!! :cheers:

This is a great idea! My work is also donating $10 for every $1 we put in to go to the Red Cross appeal -very generous I think!! Will enter the virtual show tho too!

Hi there

I have friends in Newstead nr Castlemaine - I have tried emailing ith no reply - do you know if this area is OK

This friend is a Whippet person from the UK who came out about 12 yrs ago, but has other dogs and horses, but no whippets

Pat

 

[Seraphina]

I hope some good comes out of the Royal commission. You never know though, I am such a pessimist when it comes to governments.
Maybe they'll allow the cattlemen graze their cattle on crown land again and restart subsidising bulldozers to cut fire trials through heavily wooded areas.

The same was said after the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983; research was done, architects came up with fire resistant buildings. The first simple thing was to build on slab, so the embers cannot get under the floor. I lived in the Dandenong ranges in that time, that was one of the areas most affected. To my amazement as the houses started to be rebuilt, most of them were the same design as before. When i asked people why are they building on stumps rather than slab i was told that:

a- it is cheaper

b- the council will not allow them to alter the natural slope of the land (w00t)

Another effective way to stop house burning down in bush fire are metal shutter covering windows. I have not seen one single house that got those, of-course may be some not visible from the road.

The best idea to reduce death are bunkers, as most people die from the radiant heat. It will be interesting to see if the government will be able to put them into their building code for the fireprone areas. But I would not hold my breath.

After the Ash Wednesday fires I built a bunker in the dog run for my dogs, and the Borzois loved to hide in there once the temperature climbed to and beyond 30degrees.

 

[whippetfan]

Kirislin has reported in from her home this morning. She is shaken but OK.

I think some kind of community fire refuge in vulnerable towns would be a bloody good idea. Put it under a community hall or similar.

A change of council building code to make a fire cellar compulsory would also be great. Cellars and concrete have saved a few people so far.

 

[TC]

Kirislin has reported in from her home this morning. She is shaken but OK.
I think some kind of community fire refuge in vulnerable towns would be a bloody good idea. Put it under a community hall or similar.

A change of council building code to make a fire cellar compulsory would also be great. Cellars and concrete have saved a few people so far.

Sorry I should have posted! She is home and well thank goodness. Pagan is on 'holiday' and having a great time and the whippets are all within eyesight at all times. The car's packed just in case, but she's ok at the moment. Dependant on the wind more than anything else

TCx

 

[GotWhippet?]

I do remember all the hoo haa when they (they being the greens) stopped the cattlemen from grazing in the highlands. This increased fuel (undergrowth) around the areas and we got bush fires from that. The government put a hault to subsidising the diesel for bulldozers to make fire trails in heavily wooded areas. They have bunkers across the middle of the USA for tornados so why not for Australian bush fires. Even the ones that had evacution plans couldn't implement them as the firestorm came so fast.

I was thinking this morning (no it didn't hurt that much) where is PETA? What huge donation have they made to the wildlife? I have heard of donations from the major dog food companies, RSPCA and normal pet loving people that PETA target but nothing from PETA. It just confirms my belief that PETA are only there for their own gratification and egomania and don't give a damn about animals.

 

[Sarsanet]

Kirislin has reported in from her home this morning. She is shaken but OK.
I think some kind of community fire refuge in vulnerable towns would be a bloody good idea. Put it under a community hall or similar.

A change of council building code to make a fire cellar compulsory would also be great. Cellars and concrete have saved a few people so far.

Sorry I should have posted! She is home and well thank goodness. Pagan is on 'holiday' and having a great time and the whippets are all within eyesight at all times. The car's packed just in case, but she's ok at the moment. Dependant on the wind more than anything else

TCx

Peter & Peter (Byerley) live just around the corner from me in Emerald although we are almost Cockatoo. My back fence is part of the boundary. For now, we are as safe as houses (???) here while the fire rages all around us. However I'm starting to cast an anxious eye towards Gembrook, just 8 kms up the road. I'm listening to the ABC which tells me the Beenak fire is making its way along The Pack Track towards Gembrook. All the while the winds stays coming from the south we're okay but if it swings around to the north it'll be knocking on our doors in no time at all. The situation is so fluid, it can change in the blink of an eye.

The heat & winds were so bad last Sat. I've got a tree branch through my roof but the insurance assessors are so busy elsewhere it may be a few days yet before they get here. I'm actually hoping it DOESN'T rain, not over the top of my house anyway, for a few more days yet.

Gail.

 

[Seraphina]

Kirislin has reported in from her home this morning. She is shaken but OK.
I think some kind of community fire refuge in vulnerable towns would be a bloody good idea. Put it under a community hall or similar.

A change of council building code to make a fire cellar compulsory would also be great. Cellars and concrete have saved a few people so far.

Absolutely; every school, community center should have a cellar, and even an underground car park in the shopping center would make a great refuge. However some sort of protection on individuals property would be most effective. Garage made from concrete slabs (like most factories are made from) with another slab for roof will safe lives of people and animals especially if it can be partially under ground.

In such a firestorm situation like was last Saturday evacuating is just too hazardous, there are just too many totally unpredictable variables. Nobody can assess the situation; there is no way to know if there are trees fallen down, the visibility is that of the worst smog. Once you run off the road or hit the fallen down branch or another car there is not much chance of survival.

Evacuating large areas well in advance is also not an option, you would only clog up roads.

 

[GotWhippet?]

Kirislin has reported in from her home this morning. She is shaken but OK.
I think some kind of community fire refuge in vulnerable towns would be a bloody good idea. Put it under a community hall or similar.

A change of council building code to make a fire cellar compulsory would also be great. Cellars and concrete have saved a few people so far.

Sorry I should have posted! She is home and well thank goodness. Pagan is on 'holiday' and having a great time and the whippets are all within eyesight at all times. The car's packed just in case, but she's ok at the moment. Dependant on the wind more than anything else

TCx

Peter & Peter (Byerley) live just around the corner from me in Emerald although we are almost Cockatoo. My back fence is part of the boundary. For now, we are as safe as houses (???) here while the fire rages all around us. However I'm starting to cast an anxious eye towards Gembrook, just 8 kms up the road. I'm listening to the ABC which tells me the Beenak fire is making its way along The Pack Track towards Gembrook. All the while the winds stays coming from the south we're okay but if it swings around to the north it'll be knocking on our doors in no time at all. The situation is so fluid, it can change in the blink of an eye.

The heat & winds were so bad last Sat. I've got a tree branch through my roof but the insurance assessors are so busy elsewhere it may be a few days yet before they get here. I'm actually hoping it DOESN'T rain, not over the top of my house anyway, for a few more days yet.

Gail.

I've posted on the Dogs Vic that I can take 4-6 dogs (Lara). Don't hesitate to contact if you need somewhere safe for the dogs if things start to look bad.