Tag: Fires

California Dreaming, Adelaide, Star Trek.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

To give some scale to what has happened here so far,  The 2018 California fires burnt 2 million acres; the 2019 Amazon fires 2.2 million acres; and the 2019 Siberian fires 6.7 million acres. So far, up until this morning,  Australia’s 2019/20 fires have burnt 15 million acres. To further put that into scale, 60,702 square kilometers or bigger than Denmark ( with Wales on the side) – Think West Virginia  Here, we are, to a large extent,

I wonder if he has the answer?

protected in that  any fire that started here would be out fairly quickly since – although we have some trees – we don’t anything like the density of woodland and forests like NSW and Victoria and, of course, other parts of SA. Yes, we have had a couple of fires here but mainly grass fires that were put out fairly quickly and a few of them were started by morons who thought it was fun. The court did too because it gave them a slap on the wrist and sent them home. The only serious fire near here is in Middleback Road and that’s about 50+ kilometers away. We did have rain here on Sunday and it started raining when I took Benji out at 6am. The rain, although not heavy, continued throughout the day. It was of some help but not as much as had been hoped for. At the moment the main (only) sealed highway between Western Australia and South Australia remains cut off and  trucks are still backed up at the border or at several service stations. Life here continues much as normal and there are no restrictions. However, there is talk about  how the bushfires may effect how we view holidays and if it really is in the best interest of Australia for people to be taking holidays and travelling during the  fire season. Perhaps we should look at holidays in the cooler periods, Spring or  Autumn. Most schools are fully air-conditioned so perhaps we should be looking at keeping the schools open during the hot weather, changing the semester dates. so that the long six week school break does not fall in summer during the fire season. But this is Australia, reluctant to change even when the reasons are  slapped in your face – a very much “She’ll  be right mate”attitude. What’s happened is alarming in that when fire has gone through an area,

To Boldly go…

generally it will come back again – in about 50 / 60 years. But here it’s only been 15 years since fires went through some areas and that is unusual. However, at the end of it all,  nothing much will happen. The fires will eventually go out, people will discuss how we are going to tackle them in the future, and they will still be talking when the next fire season comes around. We  do not seem to have either the social nor the political will  to put a stop to the seemingly endless cycle – Fire – destruction – rebuild – repeat.  We build houses with a Star Trek Philosophy _ “Boldly go where no one has gone before”.   Oh look, a lovely, pristine landscape – we could fit 10,000 houses, roads, supermarkets  etc. in this area and call it Ocean View Housing Estate.

Australia, like some other countries, has a serious problem. That problem is Queensland and the reliance of Queensland on Coal. The political party that attacks Queensland’s love affair with coal is in serious trouble when it comes to elections and votes. True the coal powered power stations are being closed down here, but there are many others across the world and a number of them rely on Queensland coal – the mining and exporting of coal from Queensland. Between the coal industry and the mining industry in Queensland we are  talking about 47,000 jobs. Australia exports a staggering 370.1 Million Tons of coal a year. The loss of jobs and the destruction of the Queensland Economy and the flow-on effect that will have,  does not bear thinking about.

Wednesday saw me in Adelaide. I did my least favourite thing and that is travel to and from Adelaide by coach. Had I driven down it would have meant an overnight stay and I didn’t want that, so the price for not doing that was 11 hours on a coach. Oh Joy!!  I use Ryobi tools and the only supplier of Ryobi, tools, batteries and accessories in South Australia is Bunnings. Apart from which there were a few other things I wanted I also wanted a couple of large things from Bunnings but they can wait until I go down in February with the car. Fires are still burning out of control in Victoria and  Kangaroo Island here in South Australia. It’s not improving at the moment. The temp today (Thursday) was 45c. Tomorrow (Friday)  27c

Dogs, Flowers and Fire Bans.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
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Dogs find something interesting to have a sniff at. I think it’s a blade of grass…

The weather has started to warm up a tad and the temperature today was 39c. but a cool change is on its way and it should cool down for  day or three before climbing back up again. The official Fire Season will being on 10th November and continue through until Mid-April. When I took the dogs out for their evening walk the wind had started back again. The Man was having some difficulty and after a little while I lifted him up and placed him in the dog sling for a bit – at least until he got his breath back.

Thre are still about 40 fires burning in NSW but the  State Firefighters can manage that and our Firepeople have come home.

This must be the worse state in the world for colds and flu and really, it’s not all that surprising. Not when you consider the serious flucuations in temperature. Yesterday it was 39c and hot – the temperature collapsed overnight and today it’s a very cool 24c and the wind started last night when the sun went down. Within the span of a 24 hour period the temperature climbed back to 38c  today and tomorrow will be 40c. A total fire ban has been declared in some areas.

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Northern Wild Flowers

One of the things that irritate me is the inability to edit something once posted. I don’t mean this post,  I mean comments made. I have gone through a comment to check that everything is ok – and it seems to be – but the very second you press the “post comment” button a glaring error jumps out at you. But then I suppose when you are commenting on a page that has 5500+ followers, one comment probably wont count for much – but still…..

A friend is travelling in the  Northern Flinders Ranges and sent some photographs of the wild flowers.

Tomorrow I take the Man back to the vet.

Fires, Dogs and Thank you.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
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Winmalee after the fire had passed

The situation in NSW is not getting any better. This morning a further 70 firefighters left South Australia to head to the  crisis center. There are additional fire units coming from as far away as Western Australia. We are fire free but we are back to Severe Wind Warnings again and at the moment it is blowing pretty bad – just keeping an eye on that other gum tree.

The military are believed to have been responsible for starting of  one of the larger fires through “live-fire” exercises. They are being very cagey at the moment. However – as I have said we are not really in a fire area but I also said that the military have taken over several stations (ranches)  – not too far from here  our emergency services were called out to assist in fighting a bush fire in one of the “training” areas. Anyway, that was put out.

Since starting this the fire situation has improved and the firefighters are starting to get things under control, but it is a concern that we have this kind of crisis and the fire season has not really begun. There is a very strong indication that the military were responsible for the  fires at Lithgow.

The dogs have been good. The Man sleeps a lot but  he seems to make up for it in bouts of high activity. He’s eating better since I gave up the chicken and rice and 20130723_114204started him on “puppy food” on the understanding that this should help to bring his weight back up again. I gave up on the chicken and rice because he just wouldn’t eat it – Strange dog!!  He uses a lot of energy during the high activity periods, then he sleeps. I also feed him treats and because I have two dogs and not one, Chienne also has to have a treat – can’t give to one and not the other. They have walks twice a day – morning and evening.

I am  humbled by the fact that a number of people thought of us during the height of the fires in NSW. We are  one thousand miles away from the fire front ( about 1700 kilometres) but as a friend said, all the rest of the world hears is that Australia is burning. Thank you for your concern – Herself, the Dogs and Me are fairly safe.

Fires and a Grim Outlook

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Herself’s brother telephoned from Scotland to ensure that we were ok and the fires firesnswwere not affecting us and she  explained to him that we  are more than one thousand kilometres from the fire danger.  But it was very kind of him to call and be concerned. My pain still continues but I have put it down to paying off Karma. I think me and the Little Man are a matched pair at the moment. Fires continue to  burn across NSW with the number of homes destroyed now reaching nearly 300. The weather forecast is not helping – hot and strong winds tomorrow and Monday. Many people have responded with incredulity at the comments by the Greens that it’s  all the government’s fault.  They lost a lot of ground – and seats –  at the election and only barely held on to two seats mainly because they were prone to doing silly things and making silly inappropriate statements. Looks like they have not learned anything.

I’m not really sure what constitutes the ” lowest of the Low” but I  believe the looters that have broken into houses in the fire areas of the Blue Mountains come pretty close. Didn’t we used to shoot looters – and can we still do that?? The NSW Government has declared a State of Emergency and things are looking pretty grim with hot conditions and winds of up to 70kph. The biggest concern is to prevent two major fires joining up and creating a 200 klm  mega-fire front.

fushesTook the dogs out for a walk last night and got to use the Dog Sling for a little while. The Man likes walking so when he feels he has enough rest he wants out and back down again. Couple of times he has almost jumped out of my arms once he gets another wind. He’s sleeping a lot, which is good: he is eating a little, cooked chicken and rice; and he’s better off in food than I am  :o) I asked for something that would help put on a bit of weight and was told to feed him cooked chicken and rice, so that’s what I’m doing. Apart from the medication he gets a daily dose of Fish Oil.

Fires, flood and cyclones – again.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

With some people, a break just cannot be caught!  Parts of Victoria were on fire and now other parts are threatened by torrential rain and flooding. Same in New South Wales as storm fronts  sweep in  from the Pacific and the Coral Sea, dumping massive amounts of rain. Sometimes it’s an advantage to live in the most boring state in the commonwealth. And in between all that comes the news that a young volunteer fire fighter has been killed. He was cleaning up after a fire when a tree branch fell on him.

Now we have major flooding in large areas of Queensland /  New South Wales and reports of three dead including a 17 y.o.boy who was swept into a flooded drain. He and his mate were wading through the water at the Golf Club looking for golf balls when they were swept away. His friend survived. Thousands have been evacuated and there are flood warnings out on over 15 river systems across two states. Sometimes we get a bit of localised flooding in Adelaide, but never to the same extent because we just don’t have the river systems. On top of all this comes the news that Western Australia is bracing for another tropical cyclone.

The last few days we have had high temperatures and yesterday at 43.5 was the high of three days of mid 40s. Today it’s supposed to be back down again –  think in the high 20s – just another day when you go to bed hot and bothered and wake up in the wee small hours looking for a blanket as you shut off the overhead fan. Added to this is the fact that it’s raining and things change very quickly  Apart from not doing flooding we don’t do snow here either.  Although, having said that we do have the occasional hail storm that temporarily covers the ground and looks like snow – for all of half an hour.

I am confined to the house and sheds and garage for most of the day. My car is away for repairs. Nothing too serious – the fuel  gauge is not working and I need that to be working when I drive to Adelaide.  It tells me the distance to empty so I can plan the fuel stops – although the truth is I really don’t need it because it’s a set route from here to Adelaide – unless I want to deviate by several hundred miles and arrive from a different direction. But the reason I use the distance to empty function is that if I want to get home for something, knowing where the petrol (gas) stations are,  I know how far I can go without having to stop for fuel.

A “Red Alert” has been issued for people in parts of the coastal areas of Western Australia as Cyclone Rusty approaches. Rusty is a category 4 cyclone , punching winds of up to 250kph and  although it’s a thousand miles away from us, we will expect to get some residual rain, not enough to cause any problems, but some. It is expected to hit land  this  afternoon sometimes – if it keeps its current speed.

Dogs, adoption and Adelaide

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Adelaide;

Why do we transport dogs to Adelaide for adoption?  Why not adopt locally? Ok. Only this week a little Maltese Cross was tied up outside a local supermarket in a shopping area. It was a very warm day and it was only when the little thing started going into distress that people realised something was very wrong. Dog owners frequently take their dog with them when they go to the supermarket, tie the dog up outside, get their milk or whatever, leave,  pick up the dog and go home. It’s common practice – but this character (whoever he may be), tied the dog up and vanished. Because it is a common enough sight, no one really paid much attention for several hours. Once it was discovered that there was a problem and the owner was nowhere in sight, the RSPCA (ASPCA??) were called.  Not so very long ago two puppies were tied up to a tree 10 miles from town and left there. They were spotted by a passing motorist who called the RSPCA and the dogs were taken to the pound.  To paraphrase the words of the late President Reagan ” locally is not the solution to the problem – locally is the problem.”  Backyard breeders are a problem and dogs – and kittens – get dumped on the doorstep of the local vet. The staff have frequently come to open up in the morning and found a box on the doorstep with two, or more puppies in it.  The other problem is that this is a kill pound. Two weeks is all they can stay, then they are euthanised. I cannot foster because of my own dogs but I  do what I can and help out with my frequent trips to Adelaide, but we do have a good number of people who cae enough to TasFirefoster until a new home is found. Oh but we are not uncivilised and  the council no longer uses a gas chamber, but uses a lethal injection. The gas chamber was taken out of service in 2009.

Queensland and Northern New South Wales are recovering from major flooding whilst  parts of Victoria and Tasmania are again having serious fire problems. I have a friend in Tasmania who sent me some photographs  of the fire in the hills above her property. They look quite disturbing and orders are out for evacuations. I said before, in this little corner of the commonwealth we are relatively free from real extremes of weather, fires and floods.

I find it interesting how attitudes change over time – well mine has.  I once looked on my trips to town as a bonus,  because  the early start to the Saturday Conference meant I  had to travel down on the Friday. However as the participants have become, over the years, more and more  metro centric ( if it’s good for Adelaide it MUST be good for the whole of the State) and have this belief that nothing of any importance happens beyond the Adelaide boundaries, I have come to look on the  Conferences as the price I have to pay for my frequent trips to the city. Sad, really. Still,  the dogs that I help to rehome benefit and that can’t be a bad thing.

Bit of a respite for others – but we are still ok.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

This is My Futon.Outback town swelters through week of 45+C

It’s been an interesting week and there is every indication that it is not over yet. South Australia has been spared much of the fire crisis and only one major fire and that is now under control. There are reports of a fire to the west of us but  nothing  definite yet. Our firefighters are still on standby and we are sending relief fire crews and some fire machines across the border into Victoria to assist and give some welcome  rest and relief to the crews over there. The hardest hit state is New South Wales with over 100 fires burning and fighters stretched to the limit.  Not a lot being done in the garden and the dogs are just flat out inside.

Police have arrested three arsonists who they believe are responsible for starting one of the  bush fires. I personally  think this should be classed as domestic terrorism, but I  have no doubt that there are those who have softer hearts ” they are ill people who need attention, not punishment – I mean they didn’t mean to kill 4000 cattle, 7 dogs and 32 people”. –  Sorry, I just don’t buy that!  Yes, by all means give them medical attention – but in the prison hospital over the next 15 years.

Since I started writing this the temperature here has gone down to 28c but it will go back to 37c tomorrow and building up over the next few days. There are over 130 homes destroyed in Tasmania and 100 people still unaccounted for.  Hopefully alive and well, somewhere, but unaccounted for at the moment. The dogs have enjoyed walks in the cool of the evening and in the early morning. Much of the day they have been inside, but as the temperature cooled they spent more time outside. They like to wander through the back yard and find places to hide as well as shade under the trees. I have two dogs, three dog houses,  three raised beds and six  padded  beds. I have a dog house in the garage and when I am working in there the little man generally takes up residence in that one. Also the door does not close properly so he can squeeze through and go into that bed when he just wants peace and quiet away from everyone – but  then, isn’t that what a garage/workshop is for??