Sunday, February 08, 2009

My heart and hope go out to all those people affected by the terrible bushfires in Victoria and New South Wales. I hope that non of my blog mates have lost anyone, been injured o affected...today's heat in NSW is going to be of the scale and we have just got to hope for a still day...
As of 9am 25 people have been confoirmed dead in the Victorian fires and they think it may rise to 40...
I just feel so sad for the people involved. i can not comprehend what they are going through.
"
From Nine news today
The death toll from the Victorian bushfires has risen to 25, police said today.
"I can confirm that we now have 25 people dead at this point in time," Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said.PHOTOS: Fatal inferno
Mr Walshe told reporters late Saturday that 14 people had been confirmed dead, with fears that the toll could rise above 40.
"Our concern is still... that we believe numbers will rise as we get further into the fire zones this morning," Mr Walshe told the Nine Network on Sunday morning.

Most of the bodies were discovered in towns northeast of Melbourne - six at Kinglake, six at Kinglake West, four at Wandong and St Andrews, three at Humevale, and one each in Arthurs Creek and Bendigo.
At least six bodies were found in the one car at Kinglake, with reports that others may have been trying to escape the fire in cars.
Children are believed to be among the dead. But police have so far been unable to confirm the gender or ages of the victims.
Mr Walshe said he feared the death toll would be much higher.
"At this stage, to have 25 confirmed deceased, that gives me great concern that the numbers are going to get substantially higher as the day goes on, as we're able to get into the fire zones behind the fires to do those searches," he said.
He said earlier that police would undertake a more thorough search of burnt-out properties on Sunday with the fire in the area under control and cooler conditions.
Police spokesman Senior Constable Wayne Wilson said the clarification on a final death toll would take time.
"We've got to go through these places in the daylight, where we can search them properly," he told ABC Radio.
"These sort of situations it does take time for clarification to come through... particularly when you are dealing with death.
"We do it as quickly as we can but we've got to do it in a methodical and accurate way."
Meanwhile, 18 people have been admitted to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital with burns and three are in a critical condition.
Seven of the injured have burns to more than 30 per cent of their bodies.
© AAP 2009"

10 comments:

Mom said...

How awful. Prayers are being said for all those affected by the fires.
We have had similar big fires in California, they are so scary.

Mal Kiely [Lancelots Pram] said...

It's truly a horrifying disaster :(

FoxyMoron said...

I am stunned. It's just too awful to contemplate.

And then on the back of the bushfire reports, we see footage of the Queensland floods.

"for flood, and fire, and famine, she pays us back threefold" Maybe the price is too high.

Sling said...

Damm..We don't hear anything about this in my part of the world.
I'll be praying for those poor souls.

Sara said...

Is this common over there? We get fires every year here in the western US - and they're getting worse, thanks to the decades of fire suppression that have turned the forests into large piles of tinder. But even with all that experience we're still at a loss as how to actually predict or control a fire once it gets going. And having actually been chased by a forest fire once, I can attest that it is in fact terrifying. Sounds like y'all are having a terrible summer. Hope it cools down soon.

Link said...

Well as of this evening, I think the human life lost in Victoria is up to 65+ and there are at least 70 in hospital with burns, some of whom are not expected to survive-- and that's just the human toll small in comparison to the stock and the wildlife.

Fire is terrifying, truly terrifying. I looked around my home on the escarpment at Medlow in 2001 a few days after a major fire, it was unrecognisable. I got lost going on a bushwalk I'd taken every morning because aside from the charred ground it was completely featureless. I was very upset, but prompted by a few friends, soon saw that the fire was cleansing and rejuvenating and that life is truly resilient and just keeps popping up everywhere. But I have never been as scared or stressed as I was when fires were dancing in the gullies just off the escarpment, threatening to dash up the hill, which of course, they eventually did.

Anonymous said...

Yahoo US says at least 84, how horrible.......we have a manufacturing plant in Sydney - ResMed. I pray for all the people, families and children for their loss, very tragic.

rosemary said...

You have been in the news here in little Sandpoint way up north in Idaho. Hope you stay safe....fire knows no boundaries. we are plagued every summer with them...I worry about them all the time. The best one can do is clear, clear, clear around the house. Keeping you in my thoughts.

gammamoma said...

OH MY! The statistics about the fires are horrendous! My prayers are with all Australians who are having this terrible heat and fires affecting them at this time! Pray for rains and cooler weather to get some relief for them all.

Middle Child said...

Mom..thank you

Mal... we know so much more now...more than horrifying.

Focymoron..."her neauty and her terror, the wide brown land for me."

Sling...even now they are still finding bodies...its a big wide country..."

Sara...common here but the lack of burn offs because of the "climate change freaks' has caused these fires and potential fires top be this savage...they have forced governments to ignore undergrowth build up.

Caroline...over 200 dead confirned and still finding bodies...tii sad.


Anon...good luck with it all

gammomomma the rains came but in the wrng state....Victroia is still burning as we are surrounded by water...go figure.