Earth Changes: Australia’s Worst Bushfires on Record
I was very surprised to emerge from a silent meditation retreat to be told there are major bushfires around Australia. I am in Western Australia and felt the piercing heat on the days around New Years. My time at this retreat was to reflect on inner peace as I am aware that when we find harmony within ourselves we find harmony with nature. At the moment we are out of balance and nature is changing. Solar flare activity is increasing and there are real signs of change. The question is how do we change to deal with real life changes? We have to face our world with real honesty is my view and make changes that harmonise our civilisation with the natural order. We have to rethink resource extraction, pollution, governance and democracy, mega city designs, the way we work, the way we deal with conflict, what we value as a society, the way we educate people, the meaning of life and how we see ourselves in relationship to nature. Do we see ourselves in the position of dominion over the natural system? or do we see ourselves as stewards? In my view we have to find what is natural within ourselves. In my work it is about universal values that we are born wit. For example my REAL HOPE peace program is an acronym for responsibility, empathy, awareness, love, honesty, oneness, peace, enjoyment and service. After a 90 hour meditation retreat it became clear to me when I became peaceful that the grasping and grabbing in the world is due to our not feeling fullfilled. We are in states of craving or avoidance unable to find peace with what we have and where we are. We are not at peace and seeking temporary pleasures to fill the gaps that can be largely unconscious. When we integrate our values we will naturally work and live in harmony with our true nature. It also brings us to the present moment when we are neither living in the past and future, both of which do not exist. When we align our inner values we see the big picture. When realise best interest is naturally chosen over self interest. For myself these are the fundamental choices.
I send love to the people who are fighting the fires and those who are in fear of losing their homes or fleeing fires. I have a family member in Tasmania and keeping out of the path of the fires and another one near Bega. Australia does have a good warning system and has in recent times experienced quick and catastrophic fires, so they are learning how to warn the public. I recall firemen saying they’d seen nothing like the fires of the last decade.
Here is information from the news espousing the worst fires.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/full-coverage/australian-bushfires/a/-/article/15780732/nsw-faces-worst-ever-fire-danger-day/
Emergency warnings for many Australian towns
Bushfire crisis ‘worsening’
Australia’s bushfire crisis is worsening as firefighters fight against extreme conditions in three states.
Current fires
2:20pm: Emergency warning – A fast moving grass fire is burning near Corbie Hill Road north of Narrandera.
2:05pm: Tasmanian fires – More communities in the path of a destructive southeast Tasmanian bushfire are being told it is too late for people to leave.
The Tasman Peninsula blaze is threatening the small bayside towns of Eaglehawk Neck, Pirates Bay and Doo Town.
Residents were earlier advised to leave, but the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) says now they should head to the Eaglehawk Neck jetty or beach.
Winds with gusts of up to 70km/h are fanning the fire, which has already destroyed more than 100 properties.
2:00pm: Current stats about NSW fires
104 fires burning
190 trucks
600 firies
31 aircraft
26 thousand hectares are burning
1:33pm: 2 new Emergency Warnings
Tarcutta
A bush fire is burning is currently burning out of control three kilometres north west of Tarcutta, along Mates Gully Road near Blythes Road.
Ryan Road Fire, Munyabla (Lockhart)
There is an out of control bush fire burning near Ryan Road, Munyabla.
1:30pm: Yarrabin fire emergency warning has been upgraded to Emergency Warning 3. Fire is now on back doors of properties on:
– Tyban Rd
– The Avenue
– Haines Rd
– Warnocks Rd
– in the Kyeban Valley
1:09pm: Fire at Tarcutta, residents told to stay and seek shelter as the fire is only 3km away and could hit in minutes. Parts of Hume Hwy will be closed
12:57pm: Fire at Brogo, near Bega, expected to hit properties in next 15 minutes. 10 trucks at 10 properties under threat.
12:15pm: Fire at Lucas Heights is under control
11:56am: Fire at Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor
A fire has broken out in an electrical substation building at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney’s south. The fire is believed to have been started by an electrical failure.
More info: Fire burning at Lucas Heights reactor
11:30am: Emergency warning for Warrigal Range (Bega).
The fire is expected to impact on homes east of Warrigal Range Road or west of Eagles Nest Road by approximately 12.45pm.
NSW RFS urges people to leave now if they can and relocate in Bega.
More info: Emergency warning for Brogo fire
9:37am: Carlaminda fire – At Emergency Warning level which is the highest level.
A fire is threatening homes in southern NSW and people are being urged to take shelter inside as it’s no longer safe to leave.
An emergency warning was issued for residents of the township of Carlaminda shortly after 9am (AEDT) on Tuesday.
At 9.37am the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) advised residents in the area of Mount Forest Road it was too late to leave and people should “shelter in place as the fire impacts” and protect themselves from radiant heat.
RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd said the fire was impacting on homes.
“We have trucks there and firefighters obviously, we’ve also got some water bombing aircraft,” he told reporters in Sydney.
He said no homes had yet been destroyed.
More info: Warning issue for NSW township residents
GALLERY: The latest photos from the fire front from our reporters and fire fighters on the ground. Photo: NSW RFS
Shortly before 10.30am (AEDT), RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd told reporters the fire burning out of control around 12km east of Cooma had jumped the Numeralla Bridge.
It’s now headed towards around 20 properties in the Kybeyan valley. Those in the Kybeyan Valley should shelter where they are as it’s now too late to leave.
Mr Shepherd said residents in the valley should leave now and head to Nimmitabel, a small town in the Monaro region.
Police are currently door-knocking residents at risk, with the fire estimated to be around four hours from properties.
“We’re giving them fair warning,” Mr Shepherd told reporters at the RFS western Sydney headquarters.
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NSW bushfire press conference
NSW Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher and NSW Rural Fire Service Commander Shane Fitzsimmons share the latest information on the bushfires burning across the state.
NSW faces ‘worst ever’ fire danger day
Residents in three states are bracing for a day of catastrophic bushfire conditions.
New South Wales residents are being warned to prepare for one of the most serious fire threats in the state’s history today, with conditions in some areas rated as “catastrophic”.
A total state-wide fire ban has been issued for Tuesday, with a catastrophic rating in place for the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Southern Ranges.
Many other areas are expecting extreme danger levels.
Temperatures are expected to soar above 40 degrees in most parts of the state today, including in Sydney.
National parks, reserves and state forests across the state will be closed and anyone in parks should immediate prepare to vacate camping areas.
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Firefighter recovering from burns
A 30-year-old firefighter who suffered burns to 5 per cent of his body in Gunning yesterday is showing signs of improvement.
Premier Barry O’Farrell says record rains have produced large fuel loads which increase the risk of fire, combined with record temperatures and high winds.
“[It] is not going to be just another ordinary day,” he said.
“[It could] be perhaps the worst fire danger day this state has ever faced.”
Mr O’Farrell has warned Sydneysiders they will not be spared from the heat.
“If Sydney reaches 43 [today], it will only be the third time in the history of record keeping that the temperature in Sydney has been that high,” he said.
The Premier says people must have their bushfire survival plans in place, as complacency could cost lives.
Extreme fire danger prompts emergency declaration
The extreme fire danger conditions across rural New South Wales have prompted authorities to pre-emptively declare a bushfire emergency.
Section 44 declarations have been made in 19 local government areas across the northern and eastern Riverina fire districts as well as parts of the Southern Riverina, South West Slopes and Lower Central West Plains.
The declarations allow the Rural Fire Service to utilise all available resources in the event of a major fire.
RFS Southern Borders Manager George Alexander says incident management teams have been set up in Tumut, Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Albury and Deniliquin and staff and aircraft are on standby.
Mr Alexander says while the declarations are generally made after a fire has started, today’s extreme weather is of great concern.
“All preliminary forecasts indicate a very, very bad day,” he said.
“The reason we do the pre-emptive declaration before the fires are on the ground is so that we can put systems in place and get resources in place to comabt any fire that does occur on those bad days.
“A Section 44 comes out of the Rural Fires Act and the incident controller has delegated authority for the Commissioner to take all measures to extinguish any fires that occur on that particular day.
“We anticipate it will be a very bad day.”
More info: Extreme fire danger prompts emergency declaration
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Fire threat heightens in Victoria
The fire threat has heightened in Victoria overnight with authorities preparing to move water bombing aircraft into danger zones.
Fire crews on alert in Victoria’s north, south-west
A large bushfire in south-western Victoria is continuing to burn out-of-control as much of the state prepares for severe fire weather danger.
The Kentbruck bushfire is burning north-west of Portland, near Drik Drik and the CFA has issued a watch and act message for the area.
There are road closures in place and around 400 firefighters will be on the ground today after the fire burned through more than 7,000 hectares.
Euan Ferguson, the chief fire officer of the CFA, says the problem at Kentbruck today is freshening south-westerly winds of up to 40kph.
“That’s going to put smoke over the Princes Highway, Dartmoor, Digby and Heywood,” he said.
“Obviously we’ll jump on any outbreaks as they occur.”
He says conditions there are very difficult.
“There are both pine and blue gum plantations, grazing land, national park, some areas of public land which are difficult to get access to,” he said.
“Much of the area down there is very swampy.
“They’ve had trouble bogging both bulldozers and vehicles.”
Fire officials say they will only be able to manage the blaze today, they will not be able to control it under the current conditions.
More info:
Fire crews on alert in Victoria’s north, south west
Kentbruck blaze in Victoria doubles in size
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Man charged over massive bushfire
A 31-year-old man has been charged for leaving his campfire unattended which allegedly sparked a massive bushfire in the south of Tasmania.
Strong winds hamper Tasmanian fire fight
A bushfire in Tasmania’s south-east which has destroyed more than 100 properties could again force residents from their homes.
Winds up to 70 kilometres an hour are forecast in the Tasman Peninsula area where the state’s worst bush fire is still burning out of control.
The Tasmanian Fire Service is asking some residents to relocate to the fire refuge centre in Nubeena if they in the communities of Eaglehawk Neck, Pirates Bay, Doo Town, Old Jetty Road and Blowhole Road.
Fire may threaten the peninsula at any time throughout the day because weather conditions are changing regularly.
The fire service’s Phil Douglas says there is no evacuation in place at the moment, but people should leave.
“Whilst there’s not an immediate threat at the moment, there is a real chance that as weather deteriorates that these people may become impacted on the fire, so we’re trying to give these people as much warning to plan to either relocate or take whatever action they need to do to ensure their own safety,” he said.
He says people should only choose to stay if their home is well constructed and prepared.
“If they don’t have a plan in place, we strongly recommend that they decide to leave,” he said.
Strong winds will make it too dangerous for firefighters to use back-burning to create containment lines.
The fire service’s John Holloway says crews trying to control major blazes face difficult earthworks.
“It does mean that the work of creating containment lines is very arduous and takes a long time,” he said.
Almost 40 fires are burning around the state.
In the north-west, fire crews are concerned changing winds could allow a large bushfire to increase this afternoon.
The fire that started at Montumana has burnt nearly 2,000 hectares and destroyed two shacks near Detention River.
Barry Davies from the Fire Service says nearby communities could be affected later today.
“We’re not sure, it just depends on how strongly this wind comes through and how we can get on top of the fire edge, but we’d prefer people to, if they have an active fire plan, to maintain that active fire plan,” he siad.
“If they don’t have one, there’s no need to leave now but just forward plan so if they are asked to leave they’ve got somewhere else that they can go to.”
More info:
Strong winds hamper Tasmanian fire fight
Convoys underway on Tasman peninsula
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Burning house caught on camera
EXCLUSIVE: A volunteer firefighter in southern Tasmania has captured extraordinary footage of his brother’s
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