Originally Posted By: LukeJavan8
My heart goes out to you all. We know the situation in California, usually each year. You are making our news continually with live update pictures.

Thanks very much Luke. Likewise we heard of the devastating fires in California the last couple of Summers with massive loss of life and property. I think you lost over a thousand homes in 2007? Australia sent specialist firefighters to help then, and we are presently making use of your big water-dumping helicopters.

There is another Aussie connection with Californian wildfires of course, and that is the Eucalyptus tree. One of the causes of the worsening fires in California (along with increased population and perhaps climatic changes) is the planting of gum trees (Eucalypts). Eucalyptus forest burns explosively, creating firestorms unlike any other, on account of the oil in the leaves.

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The very concept of the poor people is devastating.

The latest death toll is 181, and that will probably rise into the 200s. Around 800 homes and hundreds of other buildings have been destroyed and thousands are homeless. Perhaps a million native animals have perished. Here is a list of the known dead and missing. Many others will take months to identify. Some will probably never be found or identified.

These fires were totally different from any experienced even in Australia before. The intensity was so great and they moved so quickly, that many people fled when it was too late or were unable to protect their properties if they chose to stay. It moved faster than a car can drive at times and many people died in their vehicles. The heat was lethal at about 100 metres (350 feet) from the fire front. Part of the reason for this was the record high temperatures (see above in this thread re the tennis Open) in the three days prior to it. The day of the fire it reached almost 48 degrees C (118F).

There is an increased alert in the area of one of the fires today, with it flaring up again near the town of Healesville. Thankyou for your thoughts and prayers for the people of Victoria.