Record Heatwave In Australia, death toll down to 173

[Sanibel]

I'd have to see real reports on conditions down there before I attacked environmentalists. The southern California fires were worst in areas built out into the fire areas from sprawl. And I suppose the 118 degree heat dried the area out to the point it exacerbated fire conditions.

[Aslkahuna]

Insofar as the fires I mentioned in Arizona are concerned, there is no doubt that the actions of so called environmentalists in preventing measures that would have mitigated the effects of the fires were a significant factor in the amount of damage. Other fires in Arizona have had the same result for the same reason. Legitimate environmentalists would take time to study the ecosystems they wish to protect and that includes understanding the role of fire in our wildlands and how to manage it.

Steve

[HURAKAN]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7971270.stm

Police in the Australian state of Victoria now say that fewer people than originally believed died in the bush fires that ravaged lands in February.

They think 173 people died, not 210 as previously given.

A police official gave several reasons for the discrepancy as forensic work progressed after the devastating fires.

Last month, thousands of firefighters fought blazes across the state, hundreds of schools were closed and many homes were destroyed.

Deputy Commissioner of the police, Kieran Walshe, explained that some people thought to be missing had been accounted for.

Scientific tests on remains had shown some to be from animals, and some remains belonged to single people rather than groups.

Bushfires had been burning in Victoria for a month, sparked by high temperatures and a prolonged drought.

Police are also investigating whether some of the blazes were man-made; one man has been arrested.

[HURAKAN]

Australia bushfire inquiry opens
By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney

Victims of February's bushfires in Victoria have complained they are being locked out of a public inquiry into the worst disaster in Australian peacetime.

The Royal Commission into the fires is opening in Melbourne, the state capital, but victims groups say they are being denied a voice.

There is also anger that the initial focus of the inquiry is the response to the fires rather than what caused them.

The Black Saturday bushfires killed 173 people and ruined more than 2000 homes.

In announcing the Royal Commission into the worst bushfires in Australia's modern history, the state government said it would allow everyone to have a say - that it would be a "peoples' commission".

But groups and lawyers representing hundreds of victims claim they are being excluded.

The commission has decided to hear evidence from people whose conduct will come under scrutiny during the inquiry - that is to say state officials and the emergency services.

The victims have argued that the best way to identify the causes of bushfires is to hear directly from those who have suffered from them: people who lost their relatives and their homes.

The state's leading forestry body has also been denied the right to appear - even though the management of forests and bush land is thought by many to have contributed to the ferocity of the fires.

There has also been disquiet that the commission of inquiry will focus initially on the government's evacuation strategy - the controversial "stay and defend or leave early policy."

They would prefer it to focus on the causes of the fires.

"If you can stop the fires," said one lawyer, "you don't have to worry about whether you are going to flee."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 007480.stm

[brunota2003]

Sadly, when you get a massive heatwave, with winds gusting up in the 50's and 60's, there is not much you can do once the fires get going.