RE: When will there be a reckoning?
There MUST be a reckoning!! I too, have family and friends on the Victorian side of this fire disaster - not holidaying , but living. Or trying to. They Australian government has been pissing around with this for 50 years and the Australian voters have failed to hold them accountable. Ash Wednesday we nearly lost our home and knew several who died. That was 40 years ago!! Yes, it is inevitable. No, it is not a freak natural event or unlucky phenomenon. The failure to back burn according to the indigenous Australian way has drastically increased fuel load. That wealthy Australia is still using a predominantly volunteer rural fire service? Shame. My neice's husband, Russell, is one of the firies volunteering around Mallacoota today.
We must globally listen and act. But the Australian govt almost needs to be dragged to The Hague (ironically my hometown) for crimes against humanity.
That everyone focuses on the travelers and tourists and not the eco-living people who have created sustainable lives there (my brother in the Strezlecki Ranges) upsets me too.
Hope your family-in-law holidays more wisely next time and evacuates safely. Prayers for those who live there.
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Yes, it is a bit confluence of many past and current decisions that have led to this... This does seem worse than most years, but it happens (albeit on a smaller scale) every year.
I have read a little about the indigenous methods of fire management... Leaving aside the changes climatic conditions, is it something that is compatible or adaptable to the fixed population centres that modern Australia has?
That volunteer fire fighting is the backbone of a seasonal fire effort is a bit of a joke. No offence to the fire fighters, but we make more than enough via mining to at least funnel some resources towards paying these people who risk their lives and for equipment as well...
My parents in law have a coastal house in Tathra (which survived last years disaster...), but they are a touch on the old side to stay and fight... Plus too many little ones down there with them. They chose to leave, but still be back there next year as it has been their second home for past few decades! Thankfully, their group of cars made it back safely in early hours of Friday.
It sounds like Victoria is also having a huge crisis and the potential for the fires to link across borders... Best of luck to your friends and relatives, and a special thanks to Russell, hope he stays safe. (Mallacoota, that was where they were cut off and had to be evacuated by the Navy?)
Yes, Mallacoota is where there were cut off and the evacuees had to be taken off by the navy. You're sooooo right about mining profits!!! Glad your in-laws made it out safely and hope their holiday house survives for the next generation.