Thread: Fire

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I'd take the photos and computer with me... I know you guys in the US are used to hurricanes and what-not but this is as close to an emergency situation as I've come. The wife was all teary and panicky... She keeps telling me to leave but I keep telling her I'm able bodied and can assist in the defence of the town. Mt Torrens is only a very small town of 200 people. I think there'd be only 50 or so left...

i admire your bravery and dedication to the town !!
in my town we had a tornado come through ( not a fleeing situation like a fire ) but our police were to busy catching thieves that were in damaged homes , that they couldn't assist , which made it even worse ..

i used to trim trees around the power lines and every ice storm , tornado , hurricane , ect we would pack our bags for out of town clean up all over the U.S. being younger then i figured "heck ya ! , overtime from the time i leave home , till the time i get back home " but what i missed back then at first i realized on the first job ( a hurricane on the east coast) when i saw the sadness , disbelief , destruction , and disheartening wrath that was left behind !! i remember the red cross bringing us sandwiches and us giving them to the residents , and in return residents bringing us pillows ( that we turned down) because we slept in the work trucks at times and they figured 1 pillow was good enough for 2 of them .. its a shame that in some places it takes devastation to bring people together and have what your community has at the moment by standing by each other and helping out !!

Originally Posted by gooser

i admire your bravery and dedication to the town !!
in my town we had a tornado come through ( not a fleeing situation like a fire ) but our police were to busy catching thieves that were in damaged homes , that they couldn't assist , which made it even worse ..

i used to trim trees around the power lines and every ice storm , tornado , hurricane , ect we would pack our bags for out of town clean up all over the U.S. being younger then i figured "heck ya ! , overtime from the time i leave home , till the time i get back home " but what i missed back then at first i realized on the first job ( a hurricane on the east coast) when i saw the sadness , disbelief , destruction , and disheartening wrath that was left behind !! i remember the red cross bringing us sandwiches and us giving them to the residents , and in return residents bringing us pillows ( that we turned down) because we slept in the work trucks at times and they figured 1 pillow was good enough for 2 of them .. its a shame that in some places it takes devastation to bring people together and have what your community has at the moment by standing by each other and helping out !!

It's a nice old town with some old homes worth saving; not mine, mine's a dump :-) and I'd feel like a loser if I left. It's not like I'm an old lady. It's looking a lot more positive around here now, but things can change quickly.

It's going to be an interesting night. I'm actually feeling tired, just the stress I think. I have, however, my son's Rebellion Bay Spiced Rum and my ancient Dalmatian to keep me company.

I'm where the blue arrow is...

How's it going Carl? Any improvement in the fire situation?

It's pretty quiet, no wind at all at the moment. I'd RATHER the wind was still pushing the fire away from me, as now I don't know which way it might turn. I'm pretty sure we're safe here though now. This is a fair sized fire, a LOT of ground has been burnt and it's sort of created its own strange weather and clouds. Very apocalyptic. Volunteers are our main fire fighters in Australia for bush fires. Community support has been great,, with donations of food, accommodation, places for people to take horses to, etc flooding in.

Me and the guy across the road have vowed to keep an eye on each other. I'll get up every hour or so to see what I can see...

Sort of makes you take stock, and consider how able you are... I reckon I'm pretty able; you've seen my climbing videos, I'll just climb away from it

Heaven help the next person that has a crisis and reports it on the forum if he is in anyway pissin and moaning about his life, looking for pity.

Carl, whether or not you like it, you are showing how a decent human acts in the face of adversity. The Universe grant us each the strength to act as you are at this time.

Early reunion with your family to you, sir.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Heaven help the next person that has a crisis and reports it on the forum if he is in anyway pissin and moaning about his life, looking for pity.

Carl, whether or not you like it, you are showing how a decent human acts in the face of adversity. The Universe grant us each the strength to act as you are at this time.

Early reunion with your family to you, sir.

Well, gee, thanks but I think that's rather over stating it. I'd feel like a dickhead leaving the town and leaving it to volunteers to look after. I'm going to sleep on the lounge tonight so i don't find it easy to sleep, it'd be a bit silly to wake up to an orange glow

I reckon I'll be able to get back with the wife and kids tomorrow. The wife is chastising me for eating her chocolate and cheesecake. And I'm here protecting her assets and all!

I'd rather laud a good deed than a bad act that thinks they are owed the world for their usually self inflicted misery.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Well, gee, thanks but I think that's rather over stating it. I'd feel like a dickhead leaving the town and leaving it to volunteers to look after. I'm going to sleep on the lounge tonight so i don't find it easy to sleep, it'd be a bit silly to wake up to an orange glow

I reckon I'll be able to get back with the wife and kids tomorrow. The wife is chastising me for eating her chocolate and cheesecake. And I'm here protecting her assets and all!

Just tell Cindy that they melted

Glad you are OK.

Mate,
guess by now all is well with yourself, Mt Torrens is a pretty little village, hopefully no damage. I went through the ash wed fires years ago, never seen anything like it. We had a fire just a few miles east of us the other night, dry storm, 3 strikes, 60 volunteer units and helitacs, all out now. I hate to know about all the stock, wildlife, pets. An uncle and aunt of mine lost everything in an Adelaide Hills fire back in 1960, some friends of mine lost everything in Vernal Utah a few months ago from a bushfire. I hate the bloody things, and to find idiots deliberately lighting them.
Ember attack is often what does you home in, and you need to be set up to fight it, at least a petrol, preferably one of those little pull start diesel pumps, less affected by heat, and keep your gutters etc clean. We have emergency generators here which will keep our house pumps running. Here we go for another really hot summer down under, good luck to all.


Cheers

Heelerau