Tasman rivalry with our cussies over the ditch is all stop as the fires fanned by 40 knot winds devastate. over 173 dead and townships wiped out.
Then the news that police are closing in on arsonists that lit some of the fires.
Words fail. Hope it rains, hope the wind stops. Good luck Australia.
Lots of appeals for donations for the victims of the fires that lost homes and families.. donate!
Originally posted by NatsiaMap shows only areas where fires have already reached private land. There are also areas burning in national parks and state forests, which won't be displayed until they break out into private land, which often happens very quickly.
Map of areas affected:
http://mapvisage.appspot.com/fires/FireMap.html
Originally posted by MissOleumThat's crazy.. not on the news in NZ yet.. I hope Mr Rudd gets his wish and the main arsonists go for mass murder type charges..
Another pair of arsonists lit 2 fires last night, in an area where 3 people died earlier this week. No harm done, the 2 fires were quickly put out.
What motivates these people?
Originally posted by MissOleumIf there were two of them working together it might be pure devilment. Did you hear about the illegal immigrant in California who was a firefighter? He lit a bad one there so he would have a job. Got caught, too.
Another pair of arsonists lit 2 fires last night, in an area where 3 people died earlier this week. No harm done, the 2 fires were quickly put out.
What motivates these people?
Originally posted by MissOleumFire-bugs are the devil's children.
Another pair of arsonists lit 2 fires last night, in an area where 3 people died earlier this week. No harm done, the 2 fires were quickly put out.
What motivates these people?
But Australia seems to have more than its fair share of fire-bugs. Why?
11 February 2009
There are fears arsonists have struck again in Victoria. Authorities are investigating claims two fires were deliberately lit near Beechworth last night.
Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon says investigations are also well underway into how last weekend's fires started.
"Some fires could just not have occurred . . . without being lit. And so we're certainly sure that the Churchill fire, which was the one which went down to Port Albert - that fire we believe was lit, and we have evidence of that. But we're now looking at other fires."
The fire threat around Yea in Victoria's northeast is worsening because of strong southerly winds. Urgent alerts have been issued for six towns. There are still 23 fires burning out of control in the state.
The slow process of allowing residents to return to bush fire flattened towns is continuing. The death toll is now 181, with 800 homes destroyed. Police are taking anxious fire refugees one-by-one through the road-blocks.
Meawhile:
Australians wishing to donate to bush fire victims are being warned about bogus fundraisers. But the Red Cross says it is not all bad news, with the official appeal raising close to AU$34 million so far.
"Thankfully the 196,000 people that have actually given to this and know that they can trust Red Cross, every single dollar is going into the Government's bush fire appeal trust account."