I hope all my friends from Australia are well

[TempoKing]

Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd described
the recent fires in the southern part of Australia
as an appaling tragedy.

He said

"Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria,"

I hope that all of you and your families are well.
Best wishes and courage.
Anastasios

[jas55]

The fires are just awful, I can't believe it!!

[yannis]

May i grab the opportunity and wish the best to our Australian fellow members and friends too. We suffered a lot two summers ago because of the catastrophic fires in Greece too...i hope it soon ends guys! Also it proves the extent of damage we have caused to our planet's climate all these extremely high temps and resulting fires in South Australia or the rain in the north of Australia or the extremely low temps in Europe.....

[sam25magic]

Thx guys. Luckily I stay in Sydney NSW and it is safe.
Over 700 homes were damaged so far and over 80 were killed in the fire in Victoria.

[idk01]

Hi Guys,

I live in Sydney, and we have quite a few bush fires all over but no lives lost as yet.

My heart goes out to all the people who have lost their lives or lost loved ones in Vic the past few days. I also take my hat off to all the firefighters and volunteers who are working 24/7 saving peoples lives.

The part that sickens me the most in this situation - there is the possibility a number of these fires in VIC and NSW were deliberately lit. There should be a murder sentence put on the arsonists with the grief they cause innocent residents.

We even had small fires on the M5 motorway yesterday and today caused by cigarettes thrown from car windows, doesn't take much to start them.

[Dan Pierce]

All the best to our many TRF members from down under. Stay safe!
dP

[Gedanken]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

I bumped into Kai this afternoon, so two of us are well and accounted for!

My thoughts go out to the families of the people who have been killed, and also those who have lost their homes. There's a call going out for donations for people who have been affected by the fire, so we'll be putting in a bit of dosh to help out.

[vapalux]

Originally Posted by yannis7777

May i grab the opportunity and wish the best to our Australian fellow members and friends too. We suffered a lot two summers ago because of the catastrophic fires in Greece too...i hope it soon ends guys! Also it proves the extent of damage we have caused to our planet's climate all these extremely high temps and resulting fires in South Australia or the rain in the north of Australia or the extremely low temps in Europe.....

x2

Something is wrong somewhere

Si

[bodybump]

All the Best for the People Living in Victoria Australia...its heart breaking..From everyone us here in TRF...I hope everything will be fine after this tragedy...

[mcoccia]

I live in a semi rural area on the northern outskirts of Melbourne about 15/20 minutes drive from the trouble spots of St Andrews and Kinglake. I understand that there were no problems in my area but quite a few spot fires just minutes up the road.

I'm currently in Indonesia and my wife packed the kids and animals and went to the beach shack on Friday night.

I know people that live in the devastated areas but to date I think everyone is OK.

The loss of life is horrendous and I now know that in the event of future fires we'll definitely be leaving and not staying to try and save the house.

[JJ Irani]

It's very sad and tragic when such natural calamities take over certain parts of the world and cause such havoc, destruction and needless death.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those poor souls and their suffering families.

JJ

[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

It's very sad and tragic when such natural calamities take over certain parts of the word and cause such havoc, destruction and needless death.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those poor souls and their suffering families.

JJ

X 2 what JJ stated, and having lived through two instances of fires here in San Diego in the last five years, (evacuated my house on both occasions, had friends that lost theirs), I understand what a difficult and dangerous time this could be, I wish you guys to be safe and healthy through this horrible time.

[Rob_b]

Although I'm not affected by the fires, thanks for the well wishes everybody . I can see that Fire has damaged peoples lives somewhere, somehow, sometime around the globe. They say some were delibrately lit by arsonists. They should be on murder charges
My thoughts also go out to those that have lost loved ones, and the people that have lost all of their possessions.

Rob

[chenx15]

please let us know how we can help

[Nucengineer]

May their gardian angels watch over and protect our TRF members down under!!!

[bradg]

God Bless those down under and stay safe. WE are thinking of you

[Lol-x]

On Saturday we had our hottest day in 100 years here 46+ degrees celcius.

There are some tragic stories emerging. Some of these fires were deliberately lit. The loss of life and property is devastating.

[2careless]

It is awful.
A colleague has her house burned down in Kinglake. Her family is okay and they got out in time with most of the important stuff. Everything else gone. This is the township with most of the fatalities.
Another colleague is defending their home near Warburton - preparing to fight any ember attacks. When she called in this morning they haven't slept for 2 nights and dead tired already.


P.S. In case you wonder, my workplace is 45min east of Melbroune CBD at the foothill of Mt Dandenong. A lot of our people live in the bush and many are CFA volunteers.

[Gerry]

It's horrible. My wife's boss used to live in Kinglake. His neighbours died and his old house was burnt to the ground.

[Nica64]

The best to our many TRF members from the land down under and God bless you all.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

On Saturday we had our hottest day in 100 years here 46+ degrees celcius.

There are some tragic stories emerging. Some of these fires were deliberately lit. The loss of life and property is devastating.

Yes, Steve, I saw that on our evening news today at 6 pm.

I was shocked and aghast to learn that some of the fires were deliberately started up and your PM has declared those perpetrators to be murderers. So shameful......what a useless waste of life and property!!

JJ

[Denny M]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Yes, Steve, I saw that on our evening news today at 6 pm.

I was shocked and aghast to learn that some of the fires were deliberately started up and your PM has declared those perpetrators to be murderers. So shameful......what a useless waste of life and property!!

JJ

Yep, one major fire was apparently started by a 15 year old. Will probably just get a slap on the wrist for being underage.

As someone in the education system, i have to say that some of the behaviours i see in children even younger than that, are shocking! Complete lack of parental discipline/control plays a large part. Some of these deadbeat parents (drugs, alcohol, dole bludging) should never have even been allowed to have children.

Too many rights have been granted by the state with not enough responsibility taken.

Laws have to be changed and made much harsher. Singapore's example is something "western democratic" societies should seriously adopt.

It's much cooler today, which will hopefully assist in fighting the fires.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Denny M

Yep, one major fire was apparently started by a 15 year old. Will probably just get a slap on the wrist for being underage.

As someone in the education system, i have to say that some of the behaviours i see in children even younger than that, are shocking! Complete lack of parental discipline/control plays a large part. Some of these deadbeat parents (drugs, alcohol, dole bludging) should never have even been allowed to have children.

Too many rights have been granted by the state with not enough responsibility taken.

Laws have to be changed and made much harsher. Singapore's example is something "western democratic" societies should seriously adopt.

It's much cooler today, which will hopefully assist in fighting the fires.

Agreed, Denny.....all boils down today's bullsh!t psychology of sparing the rod and literally spoiling the child!!

In our days, no nonsense was tolerated by our parents. I was dead scared of my dad - couldn't even look him straight in the eyes when he was reprimanding me.

We were taught the right things by our parents and given the proper discipline. No crap was tolerated from the children who had to speak ONLY when they were spoken to.

I think all that made for much better citizens today!!

JJ

[Gedanken]

We don't have to look that far, Denny. Last week some Sydney teenager got a three-month jail sentence for graffitti, and I reckon that's a damned good start. Unfortunately, the case is being appealed and some bleeding-heart judge has already let this girl off with unconditional bail.

Frankly, the system needs a review and all spineless judges need to be given the sack, no questions asked. They're simply sending this country down the gurgler.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Agreed, Denny.....all boils down today's bullsh!t psychology of sparing the rod and literally spoiling the child!!

In our days, no nonsense was tolerated by our parents. I was dead scared of my dad - couldn't even look him straight in the eyes when he was reprimanding me.

We were taught the right things by our parents and given the proper discipline. No crap was tolerated from the children who had to speak ONLY when they were spoken to.

I think all that made for much better citizens today!!

JJ

Yeah? Why do we have to keep banning you then?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

We don't have to look that far, Denny. Last week some Sydney teenager got a three-month jail sentence for graffitti, and I reckon that's a damned good start. Unfortunately, the case is being appealed and some bleeding-heart judge has already let this girl off with unconditional bail.

Frankly, the system needs a review and all spineless judges need to be given the sack, no questions asked. They're simply sending this country down the gurgler.

Agreed, James.

And what about the guys who go around smashing windscreens, rear screens and side glasses on parked cars?

I'm in the Autoglass industry so get just about a tiresome amount of calls on the same subject every working day.

Best punishment for those who are caught.....

A solid week's detention in jail and for work......an 8-hour day in the nearest quarry where they should be given 10-pound sledge hammers and then ordered to smash away to glory all the rocks they want.

A week of that with calloused and bleeding hands should take that "smashing" feeling out of their system.....hopefully, for good.

JJ

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Yeah? Why do we have to keep banning you then?

I don't know.....only one bastid does it.....let's ask Paulie!!!

[Trurolexer]

Originally Posted by Nica64

The best to our many TRF members from the land down under and God bless you all.

X2!!!

[gaopa]

Yes, we are worried about our Australian friends. What a sad thing! Bill P.

[esm]

my wife just read some of the online news reports today - what a tragic, especially for the Victorians and South Australians.
hope everyone will get over this fire season soon.