Desperate situation in Australia .

[kristina]

Today I have seen many terrible pictures and have heard gruesome reports about the fires in Australia and my thoughts are with all the Australians.

[MooseMom]

I have a childhood friend who lives in Australia; she has been posting on Facebook about the fires, one of which destroyed a coastal town in which she and her husband had a time share.  It's like the world is about to end!

[Simon Dog]

They will no doubt get a special assessment to make the management company that is the de-facto real owner of the timeshare whole.

[MooseMom]

They will no doubt get a special assessment to make the management company that is the de-facto real owner of the timeshare whole.

I have no idea.  That's not really the point.  The entire town is gone.

[Paul]

This has been happening for months. All of that part of Australia has been at risk for months. In most countries, the population of any town in the "at risk" area would get together and chop a fire break around the town. Seems that the Australians were too lazy to do this, they expected "someone else" to do it for them. Then when they lost everything, they blamed the Prime Minister for not personally saving their town.

Although they have my sympathy, they have no one to blame but themselves. A little cooperative tree chopping down would have saved their towns.

[Sue]

Thank you Kristina for your kind thoughts for Australia X
Paul I have no intention to get into a conversation or debate regarding the fires in Australia, you clearly have no understanding of the situation. Lives have been lost, many homes lost , thousands of acres of bushland destroyed , millions of animals lost. I can assure you that 'chopping a few trees down' would not have stopped this inferno. My old mum used to say that sometimes " It's better to remain silent etc etc "

[kristina]

Hello Sue and I do hope this letter finds you as well as can be and it is lovely to "see" you again.
I do hope some way can be found to stop these horrific fires a.s.a.p. and I send you my best wishes and my thoughts are with all the Australian people and I am very sorry for what is happening to so many homes and lives.
Take great care and best wishes from Kristina.

[Sue]

Thank you Kristina X

[Paul]

I can assure you that 'chopping a few trees down' would not have stopped this inferno.

Of course "'chopping a few trees down" would been of no use whatsoever. I was talking about full sized fire breaks. This is where wide strips are cleared of trees, bushes, and anything flammable. The gap has to be wide enough that fires cannot cross it. The US forestry agency use them all the time, and when they do, it works. Similar cases in America to what is now happening in Australia was blamed on a relaxation in the building of fire breaks. And in most places, the fire was stopped by enormous fire breaks being constructed.

Paul......you clearly have no understanding of the situation.

Actually my comments were based on what the survivors said. They claimed that their homes would have been saved if the government had built these fire breaks. My anger was caused by the fact that when it became obvious that the government was not going to do this, they could not be arsed to do it themselves. They just sat back and hoped it would rain. Then afterwards blamed their prime minister for not building fire breaks.

Your comment "you clearly have no understanding of the situation" is unhelpful in the extreme, because I was basing it on statements made by people who lived through the fires, who have lost everything. So who am I to believe? The people who suffered from the fires,who were actually there, or you, who watched it on TV and decided you know better than the people who were actually there? I think you should seriously consider your mother's advice yourself.

[Sue]

You are right that back burning would have been helpful in containing some of the fires Paul.
I obviously also owe you an apology, I thought that you were in the UK watching the fires burn here in Australia on TV.