Stay safe sparrow

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Araminta
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Stay safe sparrow

I know sparrow lives in Stawell, that is where the Grampian fires are. To you Mark and everybody in the area, please stay safe . Good luck with what ever your plan might be.yes

sparrow
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Thanks ML things have been a bit hectic around here today ,thankfully Stawell is probaly one of the safest town in the area, I've been out covering the fires most of the day sadly one person has died in the Wartook Valley ,most of those in the path of the fire have been evacuated to Stawell and Horsham , the most worrying fire for us is in the Black Ranges about 10km away , I was just outside Halls Gap as the fire front came over the hill and thought ok thats close enough for me and headed home much to Maggies relief who was ringing me at regular intervals.

now all we can do is wait and see what happens over night ,thanks again ,

cheers Mark

Araminta
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I hope no more lives will be lost. Glad you sound confident to be safe. Let's hope it stays that way.

I have just had a trial run of the sprinklers on the roof, filled a few drums with water and mops, the Diesel pumps are ready......the hoses connected....and I'm listening to the CFA .My plan is though should a fire start too close for my liking, I will turn the sprinklers on and leave. Hope it won't come to that? Right now it's 44* outside and 31* inside my house.

My brain is not working well. Talk to you when this is all settled and done.

M-L

sparrow
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While all the locals want the fire to stay in th N/park the CFA want it to blow this way and into the grass paddocks so they can get at it and bring it under control either way it going to be a long long night.

Araminta
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The cool change has just reached Gembrook, the temperature dropped from 43* to 26*. But unfortunately the wind has picked up and there is thunder in the distance. Out come the torches, wouldn't want to run around in the dark looking for the dogscrying

I hope all of us are going to have a quiet night.

M-L

Woko
Woko's picture

Nice to hear you're both safe, Araminta & sparrow. Soakes, I hope you're on the safe list, too, as I believe there are fires in Gippsland.

All's well here. The wind suddenly changed from about a 10 knot northerly to a fierce 70 knot south westerly in about 10 seconds. Now there's a gentle breeze through the open windows & doors to freshen up the house. No rain at all, tho' so goodness know how the fire fighters will cope with the sudden & fierce wind change. My thoughts are certainly with them.

There had scarcely been a New Holland honeyeater to be seen for nearly 5 days but there were 8 at the bird bath after the cool change came in.

Lachlan
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Good to hear you're all right- it must be worrying to have the fires only 10km away!

sparrow
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The Black Ranges fire came to within 6km of us and my step son 2km closer had a few embers falling in his yard my car was covered in ash ,I spoke to people today who had fire just meters from their homes, then the wind swung around and sent the fire back on itself just like the CFA guys said it would ,I will listen to them from now on insted of the weather experts ,most of the people evacuated have been able to go home the Halls Gap road  is still closed they will most likely go home tomorrow, its been a long couple of days for me work wise but nothing compaired to firies I dont know how they do it day after day in the heat but we are so glad they do !
 

Araminta
Araminta's picture

O boy. Should be safe now. As for the CFA , I trust them with my life, so to speak.

And don't I know how you felt. Ash Wednesday 1983 we lived in Cockatoo, our neighbour's shed burned down, then the fire changed direction. Black Saturday the fires came that close that we would have had 5 minutes before it would have reached us , then the wind changed. You wouldn't believe it, but today there was a fire in the Park behind us, thay was deliberately lit. The brigade got ontop of that quickly.

Summer has only started. Hope we will all make it through without any dramas. We can't thank the fire fighters enough for the great work they do yeskissyes

M-L

Woko
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Is there a case for charging with attempted murder those who deliberately light fires?

Araminta
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I'm not too sure about it Woko? There are some people that have been charged for lighting some of the Black Saturday fires.Don't exactly remember the charges though. But what I do know is, that we have a woman in our area who has lit a few "smaller fires" in the area, always within walking distance from where she lives. (points to the fact she has no car?)

At the time she was questioned by Police but released. When I talked to Police about it, the answer was: she is known to us and we will have keep a close eye on her on dangerous days.

Now you make of this what you want, I find this outrageous. Who knows , 4 years later the attitude may have changed?

M-L

Woko
Woko's picture

Outrageous indeed. Where is the notion of personal responsibility in this?

As far as I can see the charge of attempted manslaughter needs to apply to fire bugs otherwise as a society we're not treating the problem of bushfires seriously. In addition, I'd like to see the charge of accessory after the fact or incitement to commit manslaughter applied to news media which add fuel to the flames for fire bugs to earn notoriety & gain attention.

sparrow
sparrow's picture

If you want to see how close I was to the Gampions fire have a look online at the front page of the Stawell Times News,

Hi Woko ,Its very frustrating being part of the news media on the one hand we are there to inform the public of whats going on but we don't want to give these mongrels any press either ,trust me there have been a lot of news room meetings on this subject ,in the end we have to rely on police advice which is the public needs to be told so they can be watching out for these pr---s ,a TV add campaign has just started on this because unless someone sees them "actuly light the fire" there's not much the police can do its not enough to think you know who is responable they have to be able to prove it.

I agree that when they do catch someone they should get the maximum sentence possible and made an example of, unfortunately a large number of offenders are children and get let off over and over and become experts at covering up there activities which makes them even harder to catch in the act.

Woko
Woko's picture

Very scary, sparrow.

I agree, sparrow, that the news media has a role to play in reporting the news. However, in Adelaide, at least, there are several news outlets which beat up the stories rather than report them. In my opinion dramatic footage accompanying inflammatory language only rewards firebugs for their efforts. For many of them it gives them a sense of power & control (as well as notoriety) which they lack in most other aspects of their lives. Of course, evidence has to be uncovered to prove a case against these perpetrators, as you say. Of course, too, not all bushfires are deliberately lit by humans.

sparrow
sparrow's picture

Yes there are some in the industry that seem to work by the old journo's motto "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" thankfully I have not had to work with any of these bozo's

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On the topic of fires, there was a relatively small fire less then 1km away from my house, it caused quite a commotion but luckily no one was hurt or injured.

Three helicopters and this plane were all patrolling the area around us

Araminta
Araminta's picture

Great photo of the plane. That was very close then.

I have some larger fire about 10km behind us, also a few planes in action. The wind has just picked up a lot. Blowing sideways for now.It looked a lot closer at night when you can see flames.I hope they get on top of it soon, it's getting very hot, almost reached the 40* The fire is around Powelltown Vic.

M-L

Woko
Woko's picture

Scary times indeed, folks.

A local decided to mow a firebreak yesterday. He attracted a crowd of fire fighting units & water bombers after his mower lit up the neighbourhood. Luckily, it was only 39 degrees. Clearly, winter & spring are too cold for some folk to prepare firebreaks. His shame-faced appearance on the TV news suggested some awareness of the inappropriateness of his fire protection strategy.

sparrow
sparrow's picture

2 boys aged 9 and 11 admitted to lighting fires in the Bendigo area but can't be charged or even named because of there age this is what I was on about the other day ,now the little shits know they can get away with it whats to stop them going straight out and doing it again only next time people could die !

Araminta
Araminta's picture

That’s exactly what they will do, but not only tomorrow, but also in 10-20 years.

I lived through the Ash Wednesday fires in Cockatoo. Then some years ago there were some fires in the Dandenongs, the same afternoon I noticed a yellow Kingswood on the side of the road in Emerald and some blokes in their twenties in the grass. When I stopped the car next to them, they jumped into their car and sped off. Later I saw the car parked in a driveway. When I told Police about the incident and where the car was parked, they knew who those guys were, those kids had been suspected of arson years ago. . Now comes the best part, my question to the Police was, but I have seen the yellow Kingswood , know where it’s parked. I was told, the car belongs to an old man, and he swears he didn’t take the car out . The old guy was the grandfather of one of the guys. Now , you make of this story what you like?

M-L

Woko
Woko's picture

How to deal with young children who commit crime has always been something of a vexed question. In SA, at least, a child 10 years or older can be charged with arson so I'm a little surprised that the 11 year old in your post, sparrow, wasn't charged. Perhaps the Vic law is different from SA law.

In any case, I'm wondering if the police discussed with the boys' parents a consequence for their children with follow up from either the police or a child protection agency to ensure the consequence had been invoked.

There are many reasons for people to commit arson, some of which are deeply psychological but part of psychological health involves being able to behave responsibly. Making children responsible for their behaviour (within the limits of their capacity) at an appropriate, early age is more helpful for the child and society than waiting until the child becomes an adult. Far too many parents & authorities are inclined to avoid ensuring children are made responsible for their inappropriate behaviour. And that doesn't mean physical punishment or emotional abuse, either, which tends to provide poor modelling for problem solving.

Perhaps the same responsibility principle could be applied to utility companies which insist on constructing overhead power lines rather than undergrounding them.

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Well, here we go again - 3 fires,possibly lit by the same person, again even closer to my residence

Woko
Woko's picture

Anxious times, Nathan. I sincerely hope those who caused your anxiety are held responsible for their behaviour. And I trust the fire was kept from the TV screens so that the perpetrator(s) didn't gain any notoriety for their efforts. Otherwise the TV stations are colluding with the arsonist(s).

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Woko wrote:

Anxious times, Nathan. I sincerely hope those who caused your anxiety are held responsible for their behaviour. And I trust the fire was kept from the TV screens so that the perpetrator(s) didn't gain any notoriety for their efforts. Otherwise the TV stations are colluding with the arsonist(s).

http://video.news.com.au/v/28825/Nine-News-Arson-suspected-in-bushfires#ooid=tqMm00NToFLAf2zyU8_yt2THxxc-l79g

Woko
Woko's picture

The arsonist will be grateful to have confirmed the power he/she has by lighting these fires. Channel 9 is an accessory after the fact in my opinion & should be dealt with accordingly if the law permits. Otherwise the law needs to be changed.

Araminta
Araminta's picture

That looks very close Nathan. We had the same person starting fires for years, she is known to Police (as I said before) and they keep an eye on her. Unless someone can prove it was her, there is no chance of convicting her. In your area I'm sure there has to someone who knows them? Sometimes, depending on what kind of people the arsonist is, wittnesses are too scared to come forward.

I hope they wiil get caughtangry

Are the fires out now? Have you packed a little bag?I call my emergency bag Justin, for obvious reasons,"just in case"

Good luck Nathan, and keep your eyes and ears openyes

M-L

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The fires were all out in less then 24 hrs, they were quite small

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