Airborne leaf

Yesterday Michael picked up something black in the backyard and said ‘Look - a burnt leaf!’ It was black, and it was a leaf, but it looked to me like maybe it was from something with naturally dark foliage, so I said to him no, I don't think it’s from the bushfire. On Friday the wind was blowing from the further fires inland, and they are 70km away, so I didn’t really believe it could be from there.

Then last night I went for a run around the soccer ground, and in that big open area with short grass, it was easy to see that in fact there were scorched leaves and bits of bark everywhere, that must have travelled from the Lake Repulse fire on Friday.

So I apologised to Michael and we agreed we should keep these leaves in a little jar and label them 4 Jan 2013, Hottest Day in Hobart Ever.

As of Jan 8 this is our collection. Amazingly, tomorrow is going to be 16° max with snow above 700m!

Fires

Just a quick post about the bushfires in Southeast Tasmania. We are fine and everyone we know in the affected areas are OK. Hobart had a record high temperature of 42°C on Friday, high winds and inevitably when fires started they were impossible to control. So far about 100 homes have been destroyed and thousands of people have been evacuated.

Some people are yet to be located but so far there are no confirmed fatalities, and I have not heard of any serious injuries. That's a testament to an amazing effort from the fire service, other emergency services and a huge flotilla of volunteer boats who ferried people away from the stricken areas when the roads were impassable.

On a world scale I know this is a very minor natural disaster, but if anyone felt they wanted to help out, there is an online appeal for donations here - scroll down to South Eastern Tasmania Bushfire Appeal.

Black days in Victoria

Victoria burst into flames on Saturday. They had been through a long heatwave, and everyone was preparing for the worst, but what happened has redefined "worst". There are about 180 confirmed dead and the toll is now expected to reach 300. Several towns have effectively ceased to exist.

It is extremely sad and upsetting. We have many friends and family all over Victoria, and everyone we know is OK. I have no real comment to make except we give thanks for their safety, we grieve for the dead and injured and their families, and we hope somehow the rest of the fire season can be endured with no more loss of life.

I always try to leave a record in the blog of the major things that are happening, but far be it from me to think I have any original revelations about why this happened or how to avoid a repeat.

The Premier of Victoria has said "We need to examine every possible issue, every single fact, every single policy … so that lessons can be learned."..

On changes to Victoria's "fight-or-flight" policy, Mr Brumby told the Fairfax Radio Network: "It's served us well for 20 years or more — that is, if you decide to leave, leave early and if you decide to stay make sure you've got a fire plan.

"But there is no question that there were — you will talk to them there at Whittlesea — there is no question that there were people there who did everything right, put in place their fire plan and it wouldn't matter, their house was just incinerated."

Here is an article with some good points for discussion on bushfire policy.

And here is a quite harrowing account of one family's escape on foot.