The Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia has approved a payout of A$494 million ($406 million) to survivors and families after 119 people were killed, more than 1,000 injured, 125,000 hectares (309,000 acres) burned, and 1,172 homes and properties were destroyed in a bushfire in Victoria on February 7, 2009.
Below are excerpts from an article at ABC.net.au:
The action, which involved about 5,000 people, was taken against power distributor SP AusNet and asset manager Utility Services Group. The defendants have denied liability.
The case came about after the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission found the Kilmore East-Kinglake bushfire was caused by an ageing SP AusNet power line.
Parties including SP AusNet and the Victorian Government had agreed to the $500 million settlement but it required the court’s approval.
SP AusNet has agreed to pay $378.6 million, while Utility Services Corporation Ltd will pay $12.5 million.
The Victorian Government, which includes Victoria Police and the Country Fire Authority, have agreed to pay $103.6 million.
At least one of the fires exhibited very extreme fire behavior, as we reported on May 21, 2009. Fire behavior expert Dr. Kevin Tolhurst determined that spot fires occurred a record 35 kilometers (21 miles) ahead of the main fire.
Scam Alert: Investigators for the RCPD would like to inform the public of a possible scam targeting local businesses. An individual has been soliciting donations for an organization called ‘Atta Katta Wildland Fire Suppression.’ The Rapid City Police Department has reason to believe that this organization is fraudulent. If you’ve been solicited for a donation to this organization, please contact Sgt. Warren Poches at 394.4134.
Moonlight fire scandal continues to grow
The accusations of prosecutorial abuse, fraud, and government coverups related to the 2007 Moonlight Fire in northern California are gathering more nationwide attention. Here is how an article by Kathleen Parker begins:
First there’s the spark, then the conflagration, followed by the litigation and then, surely, the movie. Call it “Moonlight Fire,” and prepare to suspend disbelief. The story is a doozy — a tale of corruption, prosecutorial abuse, alleged fraud upon the court, and possible government cover-ups in the service of power and greed. All the script needs is a Forest Service employee urinating on his bare feet in his lookout tower just as the fire was beginning.
What?!
This is what a real-life ranger discovered when she went to the tower to pick up a radio for repair. She also reported spotting a small glass pipe and smelling marijuana. As for the urinary exercise, the lookout said he was treating his athlete’s foot. But of course.
So goes one of the more colorful anecdotes surrounding the 2007 California wildfire that burned up to 65,000 acres — 45,000 of them on federal land — in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains…
A fierce wildfire that scorched part of Yosemite National Park burned less intensely in places that had fires in recent years – a finding that researchers said Wednesday supports a belief that controlled burning often curtails extreme fires.
The U.S. Forest Service study focused on areas of the Rim Fire that burned 400 square miles in Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite’s backcountry and private timber land.
It was the largest fire in the recorded history of the Sierra Nevada. It destroyed 11 homes and cost more than $125 million to fight.
Areas hit by the Rim Fire within Yosemite had burned within 14 years and experienced less intense flames, said U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, which authored the study.
Researchers recommend that forestry agencies with shared borders and interests combine their efforts to conduct controlled burns during moderate weather conditions, giving them the best chance for to avoid massive high-intensity fires.
Night flying helicopters in southern California
An article at The Coast News reports on the two night-flying helicopters operated by the city of San Diego.
10-year high for people charged with lighting fires in Victoria
The number of charges for lighting fires on days of total fire ban or during bushfire danger periods has reached a 10-year high, as police crack down on the foolishness that has sparked destructive blazes since Black Saturday.
There were 227 charges for lighting a fire on a total fire ban day or in a fire danger period last year, an increase of more than 17 per cent compared to the previous year and more than five times the number recorded in 2010-11.
While most of the fires raging in Victoria this week are believed to have started because of lightning strikes, Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said some of the 350 blazes burning on Wednesday would have been caused by people ignoring the volatile conditions.
“It wouldn’t all be lightning. There would have been some foolish behaviour…
Homes burn in Victoria bushfire
Four homes burned in a bushfire in the Creighton’s Creek area of Victoria. State Control Centre spokesperson Leigh Miezis said 1,500 firefighters are currently battling the blaze.
The video below was filmed by Jacob Haddrill in Creightons Creek. He saved his cattle but his feed and fencing was damaged in the fire.
An out of control bushfire on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula is believed to have been started by an angle grinder.
The Country Fire Service on Monday made 71 aerial water drops on the 280-hectare fire near Mt Terrible Road and Louds Hill Road which was travelling in a westerly direction towards Sellicks Hill. By Monday evening the fire had shifted northwest towards Plains Road, Chaff Mill Road, Culley Road and Rogers Road.
Outlook for Victoria bushfire season upgraded
From the AAP:
Victoria’s bushfire season has been upgraded from above normal to major for 2014-15 following record warm October weather. Record-breaking heat and an ongoing warming trend in southern Australia have worsened the state’s fire warning, a new Climate Council report released on Tuesday said.
“These types of conditions drive up the likelihood of very high fire danger weather in Victoria this season,” report author Lesley Hughes said.
Residents of Victoria: “leave and live”
From ABC:
A new safety campaign has been launched for this year’s Victorian bushfire season. The campaign, titled ‘Leave and Live’, encourages Victorians to leave their homes early instead of taking a wait-and-see approach. Premier Daniel Andrews said the expert advice was it would be a long, hot, dry and dangerous summer.
He said nobody could expect Country Fire Authority crews to be door knocking homes when they were trying to fight fires.
“This campaign we’re about to launch is an attempt, and I think it will be successful, in driving home the message that the Government and its agencies have a job to do and will get on and do that but the community has a responsibility as well,” he said.
He said lives were lost by those who left too late.
The City of Bunbury has changed its bushfire message to warn all residents they are at risk of an ember attack.
[…]
City’s spokesman Chris Widmer said Bunbury was not immune from the threat of fires.
“I guess the critical change to the message we have this year is that everyone is at risk from ember attack but if you are within 100 metres of any bushland, then you need to be concerned about the addition to radiated and convected heat from bushfires nearby,” he said.
“We’ve now done some assessments on bushfires risk using Australian standards and we can tell everyone in the City of Bunbury they are at risk from ember attack, which means they could lose their homes through embers from a nearby fire.
As Australia enters their bushfire season, there is a report that the Country Fire Authority in Victoria will eliminate 164 positions.
Below is an excerpt from an article at 9news.com.au:
…CFA documents obtained by the Herald Sun reveal close to 10 percent of the organisation’s paid staff will be cut.
The restructure, called Creating Our Future Together, will save the CFA $16 million annually.
CFA spokesman Gerard Scholten said no frontline firefighters positions would be cut. But 71 roles in “Fire and Emergency Management” are to be axed, 16 of which have already been cut. Business services will lose 59 positions, operational training and volunteerism 20, people and culture 7, and communities and communication 1.
United Firefighters Union Victorian Secretary Peter Marshall said he was “gobsmacked” when he found out about the job cuts. Many of the positions being cut lent critical support to firefighters during bushfires, he said.
“It is inconceivable that on the back of a royal commission into the loss of 173 lives, heading into what we now know to be another potentially catastrophic fire season you actually have an organisation that is downsizing critical positions,” Mr Marshall said.
A CFA spokesperson said most cutbacks, in back office positions, were due to the completion of projects stemming from the Victorian bushfires royal commission.
“All were by natural attrition or the completion of contracts,” the spokesperson said on Monday.
“The process is about putting CFA on a more efficient, sustainable footing and living within its means.”
Lightning in Western Australia struck and injured three people, including a person near his home who was believed to be a volunteer firefighter. According to a neighbor the man later walked to an ambulance but was holding his arm. A spokesperson for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the man fell to the ground after being hit.
“He had an initial check and was cleared, suffering a little anxiety, and was transported to hospital,” the spokesman said.
Firefighters in Victoria contained the spread of a fire that came within 250 meters of properties in the state’s north-east on Monday.
U.S. Representative activated with the National Guard in response to volcano lava flow in Hawaii
Tulsi Gabbard working in the Command Cell at Joint Task Force Response in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Photo: SSG Katie Gray/DVIDS)
The lava from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii continues to spread and ignite vegetation that it contacts, but for now the threat of significant wildfire has decreased
U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard completed her State Active Duty orders with the Hawaii Army National Guard last week in response to the lava flow.
The Congresswoman served as a military police captain in the command cell at Joint Task Force Response in Pahoa, assisting with personnel and logistics.
Gabbard worked with approximately 80 other National Guard soldiers and airmen working to patrol the area and assist the Hawaii Police Department with traffic control points.
Planes: Fire and Rescue released on DVD
DisneyToon Studios has released the animated film Planes: Fire and Rescueon DVD. The movie about fire aviation hit theaters in July and had a domestic and overseas box office of $219 million. It was in the top five highest-grossing family films of the summer.
Yesterday we wrote about the rollout of Victoria’s new ground-based $82.1 million forest firefighting fleet. Now, above, thanks to Wol, we have a video about the new trucks. The slide-outs for a chain saw and spare tire are interesting.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan Smith said the 306 new firefighting vehicles to be rolled out over a six-year period were specifically designed to provide greater protection to fire crews and would deliver increased water carrying capacity of 630 litres (166 gallons), up from 400 litres (105 gallons) previously.
The new vehicles, based on the Mercedes Benz G Wagon, are fitted with equipment designed for Department of Environment and Primary Industries’ (DEPI) firefighting and planned burning needs, including cabin fire curtains for improved crew safety and, the highest level of falling object protection for a vehicle of this size.
