Why 'Stay and Defend' failed this time
February 10th 2009 03:53
Like the breath of Kali herself the beast has come and not yet been conquered. I think we can all agree the most terrifying words right now are "Burning out of control". We are used to heat, we are accustomed to bushfire season, and desensitized to hearing the words being spoken by newsreaders - "Fires still burning" but particularly right now, that last...."Out of control" is enough to strike terror into every last one of us.
We in NSW can only sit and watch as though shell shocked - we feel the acute sharp shame of survival, the heat was just as bad here as it was there. It could have been us. It could have been all of us. This, each and every Australian feels right now. I must comment on the Auzzie spirit - Parliament lays down its swords. Auzzies everywhere, even those in a natural disaster themselves (the QLD floods) donate all they can and offer their services. So many families in need of aid refuse it, saying their neighbor needs it more. That is Auzzie Spirit. That is what we are.
I thought it was just me, numbed into silence with shock. But a quick trip to the shop for milk and bread shows that everyone feels the same. Perhaps it is because we are in a country area of farms, but all are quiet and grim with the implications. The bus, usually a lively place of gossip - I on most days being greeted by loud boystrous shouts of "Pony Girl!" and the bus driver who jokingly uses my big fat horse as his bus stop landmark making his comments - was today utterly silent. Any smile we could work up died on our faces. There was one moment of pure reaction throughout every passenger - when the radio announced they had a solid lead on the firebug. Jaws clenched, lips tightened, eyes narrowed. Disgust and fury was evident in every person. But there was no chatter, no small talk. Just silence and shock.
I am disgusted with those who say 'We were not prepared' I am angry with the implications that the 'Stay and Defend' should be discouraged.
I spoke to a friend of mine in Canada today. I really, wanted him to understand why this event was so shocking to us.
From the time we are in Primary School, we are taught the nature of this country. The ease to which she combusts. We dont just learn fire safety, we learn BUSHFIRE safety. These lessons continue into high school, and we are all taught how to protect property, stock and ourselves. The further into the country you go the more lessons you recieve.
Here is my point - this is a country of fire. It is BUSHFIRE season. We knew that. We are, as always, prepared for it. The reason that we are so shocked, so helpless in the face of it, is because this fire did not (and still does not) obey the usual rules. I have read countless reports of people using the traditional fireproofing techniques - techniques that are proven to work - that this time, did not hold up longer than seconds.
The thing we must all realize - this was no ordinary fire. The kind of heat we were experiencing at the time should be the first clue. Radiation heat burns were possible simply standing next to your car. This means that the air was already as hot as fire, and when it ignited, it would have been with the force of an explosion. One of our key weapons in fire fighting is fuel. What will the fire eat, where is it likely to go for fuel? The time the fire takes to chew through the bush is our greatest weapon, we slow it down, try to direct it.
This fire needed no fuel save the oxygen in the air. This fire was so hot that not even skeletal remains of houses are left - as is the norm. Sheets of Iron look like paper. Houses are flattened, disintegrated. This was heat like we have never seen. It moved so fast because it did not depend upon the fuel, 'jumping' from place to place, it simply became the air. It was as if the air itself became fire, and when the spark was added, it was determined to suck every last atom from the atmosphere.
I saw a photo of a tractor - half of it is just gone, ash barely holding its shape. The rest is still there, even its red paint. Also note the photos showing houses just vanished next to untouched neighbors. Always fire is known to be unpredictable in this way, but in particular I have noticed that it did not 'bleed' away into areas of greater fuel, it did not stay to eat as was usual. Instead it raced. I think something most Australians have found particularly shocking is the amount of people dead in their cars - not that this has never happened before, but seeing the flame touch your back fence was usually enough time to get a head start. You could bolt while it chewed on your house. But this fire did not eat, it did not chew, it did not obey any of the rules we have lived by for so long. It simply flew, demolishing everything in its path.
There are no words to describe it, the heat, the combustion that is evident in this particular fire. Instead of examining our procedures - which are utterly solid and have protected us for at least a hundred years - we need to get our heads around the fact that This Is a Natural Disaster. This fire was above and beyond anything we know how to deal with, akin to the earth opening beneath your feet or a twister spinning away your house.
Perhaps we should create a new system, one for identifying the standard bushfires that people have been defending their homes from for years, and an upgrade to firestorm. That once a fire has been upgraded to the point of firestorm Stay and Defend is no longer an option. Rather than tossing our long running procedures out of fear we need to examine a way to escape this new kind of fire.
All Australians are sensitive to the threat of fire, still, we know we have firebugs in our midst. I have to say that if this was lit, that person would have been lucky to make it out of the firestorm alive. I can attest, here on my own property, that nothing moved, nothing breathed, in the worst of the heat. To step outside was to burn to red in seconds - my mum did not heed the warnings, went out to the car for a few moments and has blisters. She was out there about 15mins. My point is that even here, if any spark had been brought into contact with that superheated air, we would have had that same fire here. It was like every creature knew it, that this heat was deadly, just waiting for an excuse, any chance. I believe, without the help of arsonists we could still have had a disaster, as there are always combustible elements on properties. Still, that firebug that the police say they are now chasing - that person is the most hated person in Australia. Desperate for a scapegoat we wont care who or what they are, or if they only started a small part of it kilometres from the worst of the deaths, no, we wont care about any of that! If they tie them up in a public place for everyone to come spit on, I wont be surprised.
I cannot imagine the mentality of a person that would do this. I have been described as crazy, having a deathwish, chasing danger.....And yet to be suffering in that heat, to feel the lethal power of it, all I could feel was utter respect. Often, while out in the bush in the heat, I have felt the silence seems to say - "I will kill you" There is a fear deep down inside that if we cannot return to civilization, shelter, and fluids, the heat alone will kill us. We know it, but I guess not all of us respect it. I tried to prepare for the heatwave, but I knew nothing could really be done. We suffered, we came through it, but in its midst on Saturday and Sunday, I could not ever, at any point, imagine increasing the danger for any reason. Adding spark to that heat would be like poking a sore dragon with a pointy stick.
And still, it is not over. As I said, we almost expect, at this time of year, to have newsreaders droning out - "fires burning, still burning" but its those dreaded final words that make us look up, stop, take notice. "Out Of Control" Right now its almost too much to bear - not only has this happened, on such a scale we could not hope to fight, but it is still going. The beast is living, though I am hopeful that the cool weather has tamed it down a little and it is now, at least, a standard (though dangerous) bushfire.
My heart goes out to them, all of them. One story in particular touched me, of a family that had to run for their lives, believing their 12 horses to be dead. We are instructed to let the stock escape and run where it will, but stock tends to panic and stampede - horses in particular will panic, go mad, and race the fire, always death. This family found all 12 of their horses and got permission to go back into the fire zone with donated hay to feed them.
I recently watched a video at Yahoo News - aerial views of the fire. It was mentioned that this footage has not been released simply because 'The Australian public is not ready for this'. For once, I agree with media shading. It struck me through my guts that footage. So much gone.
And how much I appreciate our Prime Minister, showing his pain, his emotion to the nation. It shows how much he cares for this country, and how prepared he is to make things right.
What I would like to do is actively volunteer - you can bet if I could drive I'd be in the car heading down there right now. Cook meals for shelters, bring in injured animals or be first aid triage at a vet surgery. The university of Melbourne is offering free vetrinary care at the moment, large and small animals. RSPCA is on the move too, for pets and wildlife.
Although we have done what Auzzies do - pulled together, pulled on our hats and fought and begun to clean up, we all know its not over. I think that is contributing to our shock, that theres more to go. Still damage to be assessed, persons to be found. Land to be regenerated, losses to wildlife populations to be counted. And fires still burning, out of control.
We in NSW can only sit and watch as though shell shocked - we feel the acute sharp shame of survival, the heat was just as bad here as it was there. It could have been us. It could have been all of us. This, each and every Australian feels right now. I must comment on the Auzzie spirit - Parliament lays down its swords. Auzzies everywhere, even those in a natural disaster themselves (the QLD floods) donate all they can and offer their services. So many families in need of aid refuse it, saying their neighbor needs it more. That is Auzzie Spirit. That is what we are.
I thought it was just me, numbed into silence with shock. But a quick trip to the shop for milk and bread shows that everyone feels the same. Perhaps it is because we are in a country area of farms, but all are quiet and grim with the implications. The bus, usually a lively place of gossip - I on most days being greeted by loud boystrous shouts of "Pony Girl!" and the bus driver who jokingly uses my big fat horse as his bus stop landmark making his comments - was today utterly silent. Any smile we could work up died on our faces. There was one moment of pure reaction throughout every passenger - when the radio announced they had a solid lead on the firebug. Jaws clenched, lips tightened, eyes narrowed. Disgust and fury was evident in every person. But there was no chatter, no small talk. Just silence and shock.
I am disgusted with those who say 'We were not prepared' I am angry with the implications that the 'Stay and Defend' should be discouraged.
I spoke to a friend of mine in Canada today. I really, wanted him to understand why this event was so shocking to us.
From the time we are in Primary School, we are taught the nature of this country. The ease to which she combusts. We dont just learn fire safety, we learn BUSHFIRE safety. These lessons continue into high school, and we are all taught how to protect property, stock and ourselves. The further into the country you go the more lessons you recieve.
Here is my point - this is a country of fire. It is BUSHFIRE season. We knew that. We are, as always, prepared for it. The reason that we are so shocked, so helpless in the face of it, is because this fire did not (and still does not) obey the usual rules. I have read countless reports of people using the traditional fireproofing techniques - techniques that are proven to work - that this time, did not hold up longer than seconds.
The thing we must all realize - this was no ordinary fire. The kind of heat we were experiencing at the time should be the first clue. Radiation heat burns were possible simply standing next to your car. This means that the air was already as hot as fire, and when it ignited, it would have been with the force of an explosion. One of our key weapons in fire fighting is fuel. What will the fire eat, where is it likely to go for fuel? The time the fire takes to chew through the bush is our greatest weapon, we slow it down, try to direct it.
This fire needed no fuel save the oxygen in the air. This fire was so hot that not even skeletal remains of houses are left - as is the norm. Sheets of Iron look like paper. Houses are flattened, disintegrated. This was heat like we have never seen. It moved so fast because it did not depend upon the fuel, 'jumping' from place to place, it simply became the air. It was as if the air itself became fire, and when the spark was added, it was determined to suck every last atom from the atmosphere.
I saw a photo of a tractor - half of it is just gone, ash barely holding its shape. The rest is still there, even its red paint. Also note the photos showing houses just vanished next to untouched neighbors. Always fire is known to be unpredictable in this way, but in particular I have noticed that it did not 'bleed' away into areas of greater fuel, it did not stay to eat as was usual. Instead it raced. I think something most Australians have found particularly shocking is the amount of people dead in their cars - not that this has never happened before, but seeing the flame touch your back fence was usually enough time to get a head start. You could bolt while it chewed on your house. But this fire did not eat, it did not chew, it did not obey any of the rules we have lived by for so long. It simply flew, demolishing everything in its path.
There are no words to describe it, the heat, the combustion that is evident in this particular fire. Instead of examining our procedures - which are utterly solid and have protected us for at least a hundred years - we need to get our heads around the fact that This Is a Natural Disaster. This fire was above and beyond anything we know how to deal with, akin to the earth opening beneath your feet or a twister spinning away your house.
Perhaps we should create a new system, one for identifying the standard bushfires that people have been defending their homes from for years, and an upgrade to firestorm. That once a fire has been upgraded to the point of firestorm Stay and Defend is no longer an option. Rather than tossing our long running procedures out of fear we need to examine a way to escape this new kind of fire.
All Australians are sensitive to the threat of fire, still, we know we have firebugs in our midst. I have to say that if this was lit, that person would have been lucky to make it out of the firestorm alive. I can attest, here on my own property, that nothing moved, nothing breathed, in the worst of the heat. To step outside was to burn to red in seconds - my mum did not heed the warnings, went out to the car for a few moments and has blisters. She was out there about 15mins. My point is that even here, if any spark had been brought into contact with that superheated air, we would have had that same fire here. It was like every creature knew it, that this heat was deadly, just waiting for an excuse, any chance. I believe, without the help of arsonists we could still have had a disaster, as there are always combustible elements on properties. Still, that firebug that the police say they are now chasing - that person is the most hated person in Australia. Desperate for a scapegoat we wont care who or what they are, or if they only started a small part of it kilometres from the worst of the deaths, no, we wont care about any of that! If they tie them up in a public place for everyone to come spit on, I wont be surprised.
I cannot imagine the mentality of a person that would do this. I have been described as crazy, having a deathwish, chasing danger.....And yet to be suffering in that heat, to feel the lethal power of it, all I could feel was utter respect. Often, while out in the bush in the heat, I have felt the silence seems to say - "I will kill you" There is a fear deep down inside that if we cannot return to civilization, shelter, and fluids, the heat alone will kill us. We know it, but I guess not all of us respect it. I tried to prepare for the heatwave, but I knew nothing could really be done. We suffered, we came through it, but in its midst on Saturday and Sunday, I could not ever, at any point, imagine increasing the danger for any reason. Adding spark to that heat would be like poking a sore dragon with a pointy stick.
And still, it is not over. As I said, we almost expect, at this time of year, to have newsreaders droning out - "fires burning, still burning" but its those dreaded final words that make us look up, stop, take notice. "Out Of Control" Right now its almost too much to bear - not only has this happened, on such a scale we could not hope to fight, but it is still going. The beast is living, though I am hopeful that the cool weather has tamed it down a little and it is now, at least, a standard (though dangerous) bushfire.
My heart goes out to them, all of them. One story in particular touched me, of a family that had to run for their lives, believing their 12 horses to be dead. We are instructed to let the stock escape and run where it will, but stock tends to panic and stampede - horses in particular will panic, go mad, and race the fire, always death. This family found all 12 of their horses and got permission to go back into the fire zone with donated hay to feed them.
I recently watched a video at Yahoo News - aerial views of the fire. It was mentioned that this footage has not been released simply because 'The Australian public is not ready for this'. For once, I agree with media shading. It struck me through my guts that footage. So much gone.
And how much I appreciate our Prime Minister, showing his pain, his emotion to the nation. It shows how much he cares for this country, and how prepared he is to make things right.
What I would like to do is actively volunteer - you can bet if I could drive I'd be in the car heading down there right now. Cook meals for shelters, bring in injured animals or be first aid triage at a vet surgery. The university of Melbourne is offering free vetrinary care at the moment, large and small animals. RSPCA is on the move too, for pets and wildlife.
Although we have done what Auzzies do - pulled together, pulled on our hats and fought and begun to clean up, we all know its not over. I think that is contributing to our shock, that theres more to go. Still damage to be assessed, persons to be found. Land to be regenerated, losses to wildlife populations to be counted. And fires still burning, out of control.
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Comment by Cheryl J
Rhythmatism
Budget Centsability
After being in the fires when they raged through Canberra and defending our home when the daytime sky turned to night and the burning embers were raining down on us I still cannot imagine what these people have been through. We lost so many homes and the lives of people and animals but it was not even close to being on par with what is happening in Victoria. The fear I felt then pales in comparison to what must have been felt as people raced for their lives in their cars up to the moment that they realised they would not escape. The pure horror is hard to comprehend.
I have just written a post urging people to donate to the appeal rather than swap inane Valentine's gifts. so many people need help right now.
Comment by Cheryl J
Rhythmatism
Budget Centsability
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
I have a very very good friend, who I've known almost a year, caught in that fire. His street was evacuated, and he spent the last day defending a friend's house, fighting the fire.
It struck him. He's still in shell shock. The house-his and his friend's-were fine, but his friend's neighbour's is completely gone. The friend's shed was melted. He said trees weren't lighting up, they were exploding.
There was a moment when something blew up and he thought he was going to die.
I was so scared until I heard from him... so scared.
I want to murder the person. Slowly. Painfully. Very very much so.
~Dianna
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
The point Im trying to make is that usually, all of our bushfires are contributed to by humans in some way. Ive seen fire just appear, and dance along the ground with no fuel, Ive seen gum leaves just ignite from the inside. Most of the time, our bushfire season is pushed by arsonists. Yet still, this one was worse. The reports have terrified me - people who's homes were well set up to fight, but they were overwealmed in seconds. That heat was so bad, I was freaking. Our property was once a junkyard of cars, very bad for horses, and I always find small chunks of glass, beer bottles, and pieces of metal. That heat was so bad a stray nail against a gum leaf could have started it.
When the warning went out - extreme fire danger this weekend, dont be an arsonist, I thought, you just gave them a bloody invitation. Nothing could be more seductive than an official warning.
Thats a great idea - donate instead of valentines gifts. Awesome!
My purpose in this post was to defend our 'stay and defend policy' because Ive done it, as you have, probably not in such extreme conditions, but like all auzzies, I know how to fight a fire. The speed and heat of this one in particular was beyond human capability. Its a hard thing to accept, but there was nothing we could have done to prevent it, save bunkers.
Dianna,
That is just terrifying. I had no loved ones down there but my best friend mentioned to me a few weeks ago she would be driving through VIC to pick up a friend, and now Im starting to worry about her. What your friend said about the trees - thats so scary. Normally, you can rate how much time you have for escape or fight by how much fuel there is, but this fire just didnt care. People who have fought fires before were saying things like, "If it gets to this fenceline, we know we have enough time to escape. It got to the fenceline, we tried to run, but it was already here."
Those are the quotes scaring me, cos Im a stay and fight kinda girl, but I recognize no one could have stood up to this fire. Crazy stories are emerging - a guy who drove through the fire front with an EMPTY petrol tank! He survived, but other cars blew up. That makes NO SENSE!
If the majority of fires are arsonist assisted, I dont think they all lived. Sure, they say they are on the trail of one, but the fires were over a very large area. I cannot imagine those responsable for the worst of it survived their handiwork - it was just too much heat.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
You've written a great post here. Mother nature certainly lets you know she's in charge. Arsonists or not, the life this fire had...still has...is unbelievable.
If your theory that arsonists wouldn't have made it out alive...then justice has been done.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Since I wrote this, more people are understanding that this fire was just somehow hotter and faster than anything humans have ever seen. We have a lot of rubbish on our property - it was once a dump - and Im doing an impossible job trying to collect it all, simply because this scared me. Its a job we started about a hundred times but seems impossible to finish, a good hard rain and more trash is revealed. Still, its all combustable - heat like that needs no spark.
As for the firebugs, just knowing fire like I do, I know where the spark went up it would have been an enveloping fireball in about a kilometre radius. If they used accelerant, it would have been bigger. Even if they got the chance to run, they couldnt have made it far.
Bodies will be found for years. And we wont know who they are. And the fire is still going, its not over. Its just crazy that its still going.