Sometimes it truly is an ass:
(Seven) years after the Sheahans bulldozed trees to make a fire break — an act that got them dragged before a magistrate and penalised — they feel vindicated. Their house is one of the few in Reedy Creek, Victoria, still standing.
Although Liam Sheahan’s 2002 decision to disregard planning laws and bulldoze 250 trees on his hilltop property hurt his family financially and emotionally, he believes it helped save them and their home on the weekend…
“The house is safe because we did all that,” he said as he pointed out his kitchen window to the clear ground where tall gum trees once cast a shadow on his house.
“We have got proof right here. We are the only house standing in a two-kilometre area.”
At least seven houses and several sheds on neighbouring properties along Thompson-Spur road in Reedy Creek were destroyed by Saturday night’s blaze.
I was surprised to learn that Victoria’s “green laws” prevented farmers from building firebreaks around their residence. California is about as green as US states get, politically – and the state actively encourages clearing during fire season.
Hmm. Methinks “Gum Trees” = “Eucalyptus” = “Trees with aromatic high-energy-if-burned hydrocarbon sap.”
Sorta reminds me of the creosote bushes in Southern Kali, and the doodahs there who keep re-building their cedar-shingle houses again and again, no matter how many times they’ve been burned down.
Maybe we could distill gasoline from some of these easily-lit vegetables?
Don’t worry Mr. Sheahan, the “Dickheads”
who devised the policy and the Greenies who advocated/pressured for it will publicly apologize and admit they were wrong about the same time Glaciers cover the Caribbean Sea, i.e., never.
Nillumbik is a bit different… it actively promotes itself as a green wedge.
Probably thought they were close enough to town to get away with it….
Severe firestorm effect in some areas probably not experienced before due to the very unusual (but possibly more usual in future) circumstances. For Oz this is a complex problem. I’m hoping some good will come out of this tragedy. It would seem to me (media reporting of details at this stage not good though) that a lot of people were ‘surprised’ by a ferocious firestorm, that they tried to escape by vehicle, only to die on the road/driveway. Often their own house is best shelter (especially from radiant heat); even though it may burn down later.
The strategy is to shelter in the house, save it if possible, otherwise exit the burning house once the firestorm has passed. Usually the fire will pass very quickly, as quickly and terrifyingly as it has arrived. I’m in the Lower Blue Mountains west of Sydney surrounded by National Park. I’m staying in this house to protect from radiant heat whilst trying to put out spot fires when the fires come (and they do at regular yearly intervals).
Good preparation (if possible – not relying on outside help) is the key from my understanding/ education by local fire brigade sources. Still and all it is a complex issue for individuals to solve.
Bear in mind that Victoria (& most parts of Oz) have been in a prolonged drought with Victoria having its hottest day on record on the day of the tragic firestorm.
San Diego county actively discouraged clearing breaks before the 03 fire here in SD.
I remember Roger Hedgecock railing about the stupidity of the enviromentals who made it impossible or difficult to do. “They claim there’s an endangered (insert plant/animal/insect here) that might live somewhere in the area” sort of stuff
It usually takes a disaster for common sense to prevail.
I blame the nuttiness of the australian pols purely on it’s history as a prisondump: That are the slightly mad/retarded lines cropping up. And maybe incest if the family is old and influential: Wouldn’t want to breed to with riffraff so go marry your aunt.
For the record: For the average politican no insult is too low. And I haven’t seen anybody above average in the last ten year at least in an non retired role.
Bush junior maybe an exception but for heads of state one should wait a handful election seasons before making an assessment.
DNM & JTG: Eucalypts imported to SoCal by ‘saps’? Oz can take the convict jokes.
ISTR that supporting controlled burns was one of Bush’s numerous sins early on in his presidency… there was an awful lot of ink spilled over the evils of such things.
I thought that southern California chaparral brush was refined to produce gasoline.
It’s not?
“…an important factor in the success of eucalyptus in California which has been virtually disease-free; thus, from the beginning of its introduction into California, eucalyptus seed and not seedlings have been imported from Australia.”
http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/section2.htm
&
“California. In the 1850s Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians travelling to California during the California Gold Rush. Much of California has a similar climate to parts of Australia. By the early 1900s thousands of acres of eucalypts were planted with the encouragement of the state government.”
&
“In some parts of California eucalypt forests are being removed and native trees and plants restored. Individuals have also illegally destroyed some trees and are suspected of introducing insect pests from Australia which attack the trees.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus
& then in the 1930s Oz imported ‘Cane Toads’ from Hawaii – after we gave you Macadamia Nuts no less!