Australia, we're on fire.

Raven, we don’t do politics in this forum. Your joke is insensitive to others here who may hold different political views than you and who don’t appreciate the joke, and it is not sensitive to the dreadful situation that’s unfolded in Au. An apology would be the appropriate response here, and thinking things thru in future before posting something like this. Thx

Just drop it. We do not do politics or insult political figures in this forum.

I have deleted any posts of a political nature from this thread. My definition is any mention of any political figure and any support/attack for that said person. Go ahead and talk about scientific facts, but leave partisanship and personal agendas off this thread.

This thread was created by a well meaning individual to raise awareness and support for a country suffering. Let it remain that way.

Technically it's posted in the wrong section as well but I find it crass and demeaning to move it to "Off Topic".

So I have moved it to News and Announcements. People are suffering folks, this isn't the time to push stands, opinions or draw party lines. Love and support, that's all that needs to be done right now.

Peace

So you deleted the one where I explained why I posted what i did. but left these others up so everyone could think that I was just being foul. Yeah thanks for being objective and fair mr. moderator. 

Just replying to this one again since our objective moderator thought it was fair to leave it. 

I wasnt making a joke out of trying to be funny. I had a moment of exasperation. Reading your post just brought me back. Worrying about dying in flames I was attempting to drive my family through. To make it to safety and be greeted by that on a television set. The sight of others really taking this in... with smoke still in the air. Just blows my mind even now. Only my outburst asking if the suggestion was that i just drove through a chinese hoax seemed to snap the hypnosis. 

I did say sorry but the moderator felt it prudent to delete that part without mentioning it. 

Above all else and in all seriousness Please dont forget to stay hydrated. 

I see that folks on this forum are real quick and ready to jump down your throat and spit bile in your face, but not as quick to say maybe we shouldnt have jumped to conclusions or thrown poop so fast. Quick to say quit moaning, while even quicker to moan about it. Look around. Are we not catching enough hell from everywhere as it is? What is it that makes people look for any opportunity to throw daggers at others when the very planet around us is swallowing us whole?

Hello?

Last warning for you too.  You might be right or wrong, but this is not the thread for this.  Tell folks to write to their MP and move along

I second what Superhero is explaining, Raven. No discussion with him outside of this thread; I just came in late right before your post was edited to remove the political part. I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice response from you in your follow up post, but yes, it did transition into more heated political discussion further down in the post. Please, let's just let it go and focus on the fact that there's a catastrophe going on and we should do our part to help.

Wow, leave you guys to your own devices for a day and look what happens. We have a slight reprieve today. You've all probably seen broadcasts and news reports, but it's still going on here. Please don't fight it out amongst yourselves, you're all better people than that. Help us. God knows we need it. I'll leave you with this sombre image.

".....our land abounds in nature's gifts of beauty, rich and rare...."

And thank you for support whether just reading this thread and being aware, making a donation, buying Australian products, writing to your political representative, watching a news bulletin and not walking away.

You can all make a difference, and thank you.

from the emergency site above:

"If your maximum visibility is 1.5 kilometres or less, your air quality is in the hazardous level, and you need to limit your time outdoors, limit exercise and follow any treatment plans........"

I dont think i can see more than a few hundred meters in Melbourne.

Anyone know if Red Cross is taking donations? My wife and I usually donate through them. I'll check with her later today.

No expert in this matter but from what I can gather after listening to whats in the news and having gone through a few cycles of such intense fires during the past few decades is that climate change is a contributing factor at a macro level. Climate change is not responsible for sick idiots deliberately lighting fires. Nor is climate change responsible for the inadequate/insufficient back burning practices. This ?dookie? happens like every 10 years (as in significant fires) and we know its coming but partially ignore it then ?dookie? hits the fan. Climate change is a fact but looking at climate change as a major contributor to such situations is perhaps a bit unrealistic.

Edit: forgot to say that a squadron of water bombing Hovers would be awesome.

 Yep.  You're right about the Bush needing fire to regenerate and the indigenous first nations used to use fire to hazard reduce and did so for countless millenniums. 

I grew up in the bush land suburbs of Sydney and have seen many a fire rip through and then within 5 years it's pretty much back to normal. My dad was in the bush fire brigade for over 60 years.  I grew up in it and have helped with hazard reduction when I was a kid.

I'm 47 and have seen a few fires but I've never seen fires of this magnitude or for this duration of time.  The heat has obliterated the bush this time around. It's gonna take a few decades to recover from this. There's a 「dookie」 tonne of bushland that is untouched and a 「dookie」 tonne of summer to go.