The 2019 - 2020 fires burnt out 46.3 Million acres across the country. The only small mercy was the (comparatively) low number of deaths at 34. In contrast the Black Saturday fires in 2009 killed 173 people. The record prior to that was 75 killed in Ash Wednesday in 1986.
For the season ended up being 60 million acres with less fires up in the Northern areas then usual. I think we probably got lucky that more people weren't killed there were all lot of close calls.
the public response in these events is absolutely amazing....most of our firefighter are volounteers teams come from all over the country... people come from everywhere to help...even afterwards people come in to help fix fences and truck in feed for livestock...aussies are pretty amazing at that
A couple of years ago during a very bad bushfire season, the radio stations and TV asked for help for the fighters and those evacuated. Hundreds went to supermarkets, charity shops, anywhere to buy bottled water, food, soap, nappy wipes, tissues, clothes you name it. I saw trucks pull up at collection centres full of anything they could supply. Even for the treatment of injured animals, the charity shops were very useful to get second hand towels, pillow cases & cushion covers, and baby wraps so vets and volunteers could treat the huge number of injured animals. Very horrible time when bushfire season starts. But we pull together from one end of Australia to the other, it's the only way to survive here.
Aussies are definitely scared of Bushfires! If you flick a cigarette butt out the car window, anyone that saw it is likely to punch you in the mouth!!😢
Neal, to those of us who lived through them, those fires still feel all too recent. It really did feel like the whole country was burning. Part of the Daintree Rainforest even burned, which has never happened before.
The whole country was on fire. I lived in Gracemere Central Queensland and the whole town got evacuated, it was the scariest day of my life, thank God for the firers and all the volunteers who help everyone.
Thank You so much for covering this. There is so much to say but just Heart breaking! The Love, resilience and Community Spirit is un fathomable. Us Aussie's are a funny bunch....But when Our Serious Faces come on then We mean tough business. I cried like a baby when I saw the Goats come back.
I remember the fires. The fire front came within less than 4 miles of my place. Only a wind change stopped the fire from coming any closer. Lake Conjola is only 40 minutes drive from my place.
Really appreciate you doing this Neal, not an easy subject to cover 😪 I think every Australian has their own vivid memories of bushfires, its always been part of life here but they are getting significantly worse. I mean who would have ever though Ash Wednesday would be beaten like it was 😭
For me personally it was the Dunalley fires in Tassie. I couldn't get in contact with my friends who lived in the area and the road was closed. I waited with about 50 people on the beach watching the fire come down the hill on the other side of the river. Everyone who had a boat was trying to get it out for rescue. The sky was red with black clouds and the online weather station in Dunalley stopped reporting as the fire approached, the last thing it told us was 60 Celcius (=140°F) air temperatures and high wind. Then some boats came back. The people who arrived across the river were burned, their hair was scorched. Some were farmers who lost their lambs, some lost dogs and horses, most lost their homes and cars. A small few managed to save their pets. The community did their best to help eachother in the years that passed since then, but you can't bring it up without making somebody cry. It was the worst thing that happened to our lands in a hundred years.
The Aussie spirit was huge during this time.. unfortunately when it came time to have the same spirit by wearing a mask and staying home the spirit died. Save a stranger in a flood or fire but wouldn't wear a mask for them.. It's bushfire season now.. all Aussies have a nose for smoke..
My daughter and I were helping move car loads of donations (water food hygiene products bedding towels clothes etc) from the donation point up into the lower blue mountains. On our 2nd trip we almost got caught in a massive fire front but luckily made it out. Unfortunately the drop off point for the donations burnt to the ground.
Yes, the Australian spirit! 👍 Just get on with it, and help each other! It's most difficult for the animals, they are totally reliant on human care! You cannot replace people or favorite, or pet animals! 😭 You can never replace photos either! 😯😩 I've been in a rural bushfire and a Unit block fire with a faulty alarm, every time I hear a fire alarm now I freak out! 😨 Thanks Neal! We cannot forget these real people's stories, ever! 🫂🧐
Thank you ❤️ So many youtubers keep it light and avoid these hard videos. I don't think people overseas realise when everywhere is on fire there is nowhere to run to.
Bushfire is the only thing of Aussie life that can create fear in me. Many years ago we were driving home after visiting family in the city, and without warning drove into a bushfire. It was on one side of the road and not big. A few cars came toward us and we thought it must have been clear ahead but a little way on the fire had jumped the road, so we turned back, only to find the road was impassable with fire all around us and trees down. So, no choice but to turn back and hope we made it through. I put the kids on the floor because they were terrified and covered them with a blanket which I dampened. It seemed like forever and flames were hitting the car and smoke was choking us, but we made it, and I know how blessed we were that we did when so many don't.
Australian fires are crazy, with high winds even a single lightning bolt can trigger bushfires with the amount of Euccalyptis trees (home to the Koalas) that are highly flammable and explosive
I live in Brisbane, Queensland Aus, and was not close to the fires but the smoke drift was so bad. It made it all the way to New Zealand! The smoke caused such a problem with the air quality in areas of Australia that asthmatics like me had a really hard time and hospitals found themselves with emergency rooms full of people with breathing problems.
Wish I could post some photos on here , I was in Moruya which is just north of Cobargo, I was living in a little fibro shack near the airport dude it was like Vietnam or something with all the helicopters...... I was fairly confident that living near such a critical piece of infrastructure id be fine until they made me evacuate because it was borderline waterbomb the airport and a few tons of water will smash a house. Like im near 50 now and have seen some rip snorta bushfires but this was apocalypse style
i live in the bush real bush big trees thick scrub, when it burns the flames can be higher than a basketball court on top of the trees. i've lived through a dozen bushfires and lost everything but the house once. there's things you can do to protect yourself and your house. and in an open area like in the video they could've prevented a lot of loss, when you choose to stay and fight the fire you are on your own, there is little point ringing 000 at that stage there are dozens if not 100's of people in the same situation and emergency crews aren't getting through a fire to you anyway.
nearly 12 months of these insane fires followed by 3 years or relentless flooding and back to fires again , survived them all so far, watched helicopters and planes water bomb fires on 2 sides of us on 3 separate occasions and they managed to keep my suburb safe , amazing human beings .
As a teen lived threw a few bush fires, went to beach one day, saw trees on the left and side of the road a blaze, on the drive back saw trees on the left side a blaze. Only comment was hey it crossed the road.
The fires burn so intensely hot in these area that almost nothing is salvageable. The homes may be rebuilt, but the heartache of losing irreplaceable memories, keepsakes &family heirlooms is unimaginable. My family fell victim to the ASH WEDNESDAY bushfires whilst i was younger & living with my parents in Victoria. It's a devastating position to be in. It looked like you were extremely heartbroken just from the images too, Neal. Thank you for your sombre reaction to a highly feared & extremely painful experience for a lot of Aussies. Great job mate.
The look on your face shows just how much this hits. I knew Cobargo fairly well as my parents lived there for years. It was devastating to see. I was not in risk of the fires but they weren’t to far away & the emotional ride just made us all feel helpless. The black Saturday fires years before were closer to me although I still wasn’t immediately affected the depression & sense of loss surrounding us all was there.
I'm 6 months late, but thanks for taking the time to watch. We're expecting a big bushfire season this year. After the big season you're watching we haven't really had one yet, everything has been growing back. And the last few years have been quite good for rainfall so there has been a lot of growth, particularly with the grasses and other small fast burning plants. We're in the first month of Spring now, so it's going to start getting dryer and warmer in the next few weeks/months.
Fires in general over here are bad enough and when you get bad conditions thrown in as well it's a bit like trying to fight a big overpowering animal and on many occasions it's overwhelming. Watching walls of fire, fireballs little tornadoes chucking sparks everywhere sometimes not much you can do. Our fire-fighters both professional and the volunteer fighters do a great job.
I live in outer suburbs of Perth and had one come through a few years back and yes is terrifying loud and dark the sky turned black with a red glow in periphery visibility dropped and smoke was choking could hardly see I left when big chunks of treebark in flames were flying throug the air and landing in my back yard amidst the swirling ash grabbed my stuff and left luckily my home was ok some neighbors lost theirs. I hope I never get that close again
As someone that heard, saw and smelt mega fires near Mt Maria Queensland, I still can’t watch or listen to this, I’m glad your sharing it though. Mental trauma
I live in Narooma half an hour from Cobargo , Narooma was the refugee centre for people escaping the fires, only 4 years ago however the tragedy and horror still remains in our memories
Bush fire season has just started again. There are currently 21 fires burning within a 2 hour drive of my home on the North coast of New South Wales. We are on fire restrictions, that means we have to have a permit to light a fire which can be canceled at a moments notice. This is only the 5th day of Spring in Australia , the 5th September, and it is 31c temperature which is 87.8F with only 25% humidity. We are not expecting much in the way of rain now. They bush is a Tinder Box waiting to go up in smoke and flames. Keep us in your prayers it is going to be a dangerous Summer for us down under.
Australia is used to bushfires. We are well prepared for the power and devastation that they can cause. Sometimes though, they’re like a Tsunami of flames. Sucking the oxygen from the air, super heating everything around you. Bricks and mortar literally explode in seconds. The 2009 Black Saturday Fires were some of Australia’s worst.
Yeah, the fires here can get so bad they feed themselves, and are best described as cluster bombs sometimes. It's like getting hit with a tornado. That's on fire. This stuff was not common before 2000, but now our bushfire season starts in spring. It's scary. Forecasts for this fire season are not good. Homes have already been lost this year. It's technically still spring. Wish us luck for the next 4 to 5 months. We will need it, I think
Here in Australia we have the typical weather the rest of the world gets summer and winter but we also get the f$%k you weather . F$% you dose not have a assigned month and can happen when ever it want from extreme heat to life destroying fire from extreme storms to heart bracking floods its not uncommon to have one side on fire while the other side is flooding. As for the Australian people I think what get us through times like this is are community spirt the need to not only lift up are self but those around us we are a hard working stubborn people who can not be stoped when we put are mind to it we may go through hell but there is no where else I would rather be.
Im surprised people stay to fight because its so dangerous. Ive tried to make so many suggestions to council and state and federal govt but they .. i mean.. what can i say.. Ive made many suggestions for people: Organising an animal register outside areas that are usually affected to take in ithers animals as soon as theres a ridk rsther than leave to last minute and then when they escape animals can't go with them or get left behind Finding ways to create safe underground bunkers that are ventilated Having areas just outside fire risk areas to ship animals to a month ir two prior to fire season if can if there are close More people trained in wildlife in fires for free and have people there on standby over summer. Free fire and flood training training in all councils in Australia The list is endless. Haven't explained too well on here. Requested a state animal minister. Register houses just outside with council or other people can stay, look after pets, help with kids, lend farm space or vehicle help etc and have organised in August/ September so plan in place since October can have 40 degree days onwards.
I’d very much appreciate if you could check out the black Saturday bushfires documentary on UA-cam it’s extremely well done and shows how bad the fires were on that day back in 2009. Even just a quick reaction to Black Saturday its self would mean a lot to me as I live very close to where they happened. I know many people that were impacted by them. Love every single, one of your videos man such a genuine spirit. Much love from Australia.
If you can imagine having an open fire - a safe one - stand in the smoke and put your face as close as you can to the flames safely and breathe in while taking in the smoke. That's what a fire zone is like. Leave some metal near the fire and try to touch it. That's the basic idea except that you can back away at any time. This isn't unique to Australia. Canada, US, South America, NZ, they know it. That's why our fireys help each other out. It's why we rent the sky tankers - the Flying Elvis's (Elvi?) Not sure where that name came from but we cheer when we see them. Our lot go to you in your burn season, and you lot help us when we burn. Better bush/forest management would go a long way if we listen to the Indigenous Elders and do cold burning, but people complain about air quality in towns and Cities. They/we bitch about it when the land is burning too, but cold burning, when done right doesn't kill people and it doesn't happen during breeding season for the animals. They know to move away and come back to fresh growth, new bugs and new flowers to eat when it is timed right. They give warning to shut windows, stay inside or keep up asthma meds when they do cold/backburning. With a full blown fire, there is no warning.
We woke up to a beautiful cloudless day, by 2pm, it was as dark as midnight. We had to check on an old farmer in his 80s whose house was maybe 200 metres from us, and had to wear bandannas over our faces to breathe and walking with a torch, we could hear this crackling under our feet. We had a national park across the road from us, and it was burning like crazy. Luckily for us it missed our 2 homes…but we lost our hay shed. When we woke up in the morning, that crackling we could hear under our feet was the gum leaves from the national park, completely dried out and had blown to our ground…about 6 inches deep of dried out and burnt leaves…so much more to the story but I don’t want to go into it …. ❤️🩹
Thanks for your great empathy Neal. Climate catastrophe is here. We burn, flood, die and cry as world governments bow down to the fossil fuel corporate power looks on and turns a blind eye.
My Godfather and his family were in bed, and he just happened to get up in the middle of the night for some reason, and looked out the back door in time to see a fireball hit their yard. They escaped with what they were wearing, they didn’t have time to even get their dog off the chain. All their farm animals were killed. They lost everything. The farm equipment was melted to puddles. During the clean up, the neighbours put up fences inside his property lines, effectively stealing land. The legal costs for getting a land assessor out to then get it fixed were far beyond anything he could afford, so those neighbors have gotten away from it. He had to dig pita for all his sheep. He said their flesh would just fall from their bones, and now he can’t stand roast lamb. We were able to give him our caravan so he was able to have some place to stay on his land while trying to clean up. I don’t think he will ever actually return to the land to live though.
The 2019 - 2020 fires burnt out 46.3 Million acres across the country. The only small mercy was the (comparatively) low number of deaths at 34. In contrast the Black Saturday fires in 2009 killed 173 people. The record prior to that was 75 killed in Ash Wednesday in 1986.
For the season ended up being 60 million acres with less fires up in the Northern areas then usual. I think we probably got lucky that more people weren't killed there were all lot of close calls.
the public response in these events is absolutely amazing....most of our firefighter are volounteers teams come from all over the country... people come from everywhere to help...even afterwards people come in to help fix fences and truck in feed for livestock...aussies are pretty amazing at that
A couple of years ago during a very bad bushfire season, the radio stations and TV asked for help for the fighters and those evacuated. Hundreds went to supermarkets, charity shops, anywhere to buy bottled water, food, soap, nappy wipes, tissues, clothes you name it. I saw trucks pull up at collection centres full of anything they could supply. Even for the treatment of injured animals, the charity shops were very useful to get second hand towels, pillow cases & cushion covers, and baby wraps so vets and volunteers could treat the huge number of injured animals. Very horrible time when bushfire season starts. But we pull together from one end of Australia to the other, it's the only way to survive here.
Our beautiful country comes with the good the bad n the ugly. Life for an Aussie
we get fires that create their own weather systems. Couldn't watch this without tearing up
Aussies are definitely scared of Bushfires! If you flick a cigarette butt out the car window, anyone that saw it is likely to punch you in the mouth!!😢
As they should. Its a slap for littering, but it's punching for cigarette butts.
God bless all Australians, we are with you 🙏 ❤
Our cousins from down under, love you all from S Wales UK 🇬🇧 ❤
Neal, to those of us who lived through them, those fires still feel all too recent. It really did feel like the whole country was burning. Part of the Daintree Rainforest even burned, which has never happened before.
Thank you so much for showing this ❤
The whole country was on fire. I lived in Gracemere Central Queensland and the whole town got evacuated, it was the scariest day of my life, thank God for the firers and all the volunteers who help everyone.
Thank You so much for covering this. There is so much to say but just Heart breaking! The Love, resilience and Community Spirit is un fathomable. Us Aussie's are a funny bunch....But when Our Serious Faces come on then We mean tough business. I cried like a baby when I saw the Goats come back.
I remember the fires. The fire front came within less than 4 miles of my place. Only a wind change stopped the fire from coming any closer. Lake Conjola is only 40 minutes drive from my place.
13.5 million acres were burnt out in those fires. That’s about a 10th of Texas for some perspective. Truly horrific summer in deed.
It ended up 59million acres and killed or displaced 1.2 billion animals
Really appreciate you doing this Neal, not an easy subject to cover 😪 I think every Australian has their own vivid memories of bushfires, its always been part of life here but they are getting significantly worse. I mean who would have ever though Ash Wednesday would be beaten like it was 😭
For me personally it was the Dunalley fires in Tassie. I couldn't get in contact with my friends who lived in the area and the road was closed. I waited with about 50 people on the beach watching the fire come down the hill on the other side of the river. Everyone who had a boat was trying to get it out for rescue. The sky was red with black clouds and the online weather station in Dunalley stopped reporting as the fire approached, the last thing it told us was 60 Celcius (=140°F) air temperatures and high wind. Then some boats came back. The people who arrived across the river were burned, their hair was scorched. Some were farmers who lost their lambs, some lost dogs and horses, most lost their homes and cars. A small few managed to save their pets. The community did their best to help eachother in the years that passed since then, but you can't bring it up without making somebody cry. It was the worst thing that happened to our lands in a hundred years.
The Aussie spirit was huge during this time.. unfortunately when it came time to have the same spirit by wearing a mask and staying home the spirit died. Save a stranger in a flood or fire but wouldn't wear a mask for them..
It's bushfire season now.. all Aussies have a nose for smoke..
My daughter and I were helping move car loads of donations (water food hygiene products bedding towels clothes etc) from the donation point up into the lower blue mountains. On our 2nd trip we almost got caught in a massive fire front but luckily made it out. Unfortunately the drop off point for the donations burnt to the ground.
Yes, the Australian spirit! 👍 Just get on with it, and help each other! It's most difficult for the animals, they are totally reliant on human care! You cannot replace people or favorite, or pet animals! 😭 You can never replace photos either! 😯😩 I've been in a rural bushfire and a Unit block fire with a faulty alarm, every time I hear a fire alarm now I freak out! 😨 Thanks Neal! We cannot forget these real people's stories, ever! 🫂🧐
Thank you ❤️
So many youtubers keep it light and avoid these hard videos. I don't think people overseas realise when everywhere is on fire there is nowhere to run to.
Bushfire is the only thing of Aussie life that can create fear in me. Many years ago we were driving home after visiting family in the city, and without warning drove into a bushfire. It was on one side of the road and not big. A few cars came toward us and we thought it must have been clear ahead but a little way on the fire had jumped the road, so we turned back, only to find the road was impassable with fire all around us and trees down. So, no choice but to turn back and hope we made it through. I put the kids on the floor because they were terrified and covered them with a blanket which I dampened. It seemed like forever and flames were hitting the car and smoke was choking us, but we made it, and I know how blessed we were that we did when so many don't.
Australian fires are crazy, with high winds even a single lightning bolt can trigger bushfires with the amount of Euccalyptis trees (home to the Koalas) that are highly flammable and explosive
Thanks for Reacting to this. Like I said previously, your jaw will just drop man…. Smoke was so thick we couldn’t breath here in Sydney, it was insane
Yes, it was years ago, but still fresh and raw for most Australians. Catastrophic.
I live in Brisbane, Queensland Aus, and was not close to the fires but the smoke drift was so bad. It made it all the way to New Zealand! The smoke caused such a problem with the air quality in areas of Australia that asthmatics like me had a really hard time and hospitals found themselves with emergency rooms full of people with breathing problems.
Wish I could post some photos on here , I was in Moruya which is just north of Cobargo, I was living in a little fibro shack near the airport dude it was like Vietnam or something with all the helicopters...... I was fairly confident that living near such a critical piece of infrastructure id be fine until they made me evacuate because it was borderline waterbomb the airport and a few tons of water will smash a house.
Like im near 50 now and have seen some rip snorta bushfires but this was apocalypse style
i live in the bush real bush big trees thick scrub, when it burns the flames can be higher than a basketball court on top of the trees. i've lived through a dozen bushfires and lost everything but the house once. there's things you can do to protect yourself and your house. and in an open area like in the video they could've prevented a lot of loss, when you choose to stay and fight the fire you are on your own, there is little point ringing 000 at that stage there are dozens if not 100's of people in the same situation and emergency crews aren't getting through a fire to you anyway.
nearly 12 months of these insane fires followed by 3 years or relentless flooding and back to fires again , survived them all so far, watched helicopters and planes water bomb fires on 2 sides of us on 3 separate occasions and they managed to keep my suburb safe , amazing human beings .
We had fireballs flying into our yard and the house was just smoke.
It was terrifying!!
We left very quickly..
As a teen lived threw a few bush fires, went to beach one day, saw trees on the left and side of the road a blaze, on the drive back saw trees on the left side a blaze. Only comment was hey it crossed the road.
The fires burn so intensely hot in these area that almost nothing is salvageable. The homes may be rebuilt, but the heartache of losing irreplaceable memories, keepsakes &family heirlooms is unimaginable. My family fell victim to the ASH WEDNESDAY bushfires whilst i was younger & living with my parents in Victoria. It's a devastating position to be in. It looked like you were extremely heartbroken just from the images too, Neal. Thank you for your sombre reaction to a highly feared & extremely painful experience for a lot of Aussies. Great job mate.
The look on your face shows just how much this hits. I knew Cobargo fairly well as my parents lived there for years. It was devastating to see. I was not in risk of the fires but they weren’t to far away & the emotional ride just made us all feel helpless. The black Saturday fires years before were closer to me although I still wasn’t immediately affected the depression & sense of loss surrounding us all was there.
This makes you strong brother
I'm 6 months late, but thanks for taking the time to watch. We're expecting a big bushfire season this year.
After the big season you're watching we haven't really had one yet, everything has been growing back. And the last few years have been quite good for rainfall so there has been a lot of growth, particularly with the grasses and other small fast burning plants.
We're in the first month of Spring now, so it's going to start getting dryer and warmer in the next few weeks/months.
The true meaning of Brotherhood, family and Australian.
It's now 2023 and stilll so heartbreaking to watch. 😭😭😭
Thank you for sharing. Us Australians are resilient. We help where we can, no matter who you are, no matter where you're from... ❤🇦🇺
DEVASTATING! But..
Her beauty & Her terror,
The wide,brown land 4 me
I’ve all ways loved the R.F.S even more so after the bush fires
we don't just get bushfires , we get fire tornados
I've lived through 3 bush fires in 3 different locations. I had to man a garden hose in each of them.
I will never forget any of them.
Fires in general over here are bad enough and when you get bad conditions thrown in as well it's a bit like trying to fight a big overpowering animal and on many occasions it's overwhelming. Watching walls of fire, fireballs little tornadoes chucking sparks everywhere sometimes not much you can do.
Our fire-fighters both professional and the volunteer fighters do a great job.
I live in outer suburbs of Perth and had one come through a few years back and yes is terrifying loud and dark the sky turned black with a red glow in periphery visibility dropped and smoke was choking could hardly see I left when big chunks of treebark in flames were flying throug the air and landing in my back yard amidst the swirling ash grabbed my stuff and left luckily my home was ok some neighbors lost theirs. I hope I never get that close again
As someone that heard, saw and smelt mega fires near Mt Maria Queensland, I still can’t watch or listen to this, I’m glad your sharing it though. Mental trauma
This was hard to watch. Thank you!
I live in Narooma half an hour from Cobargo , Narooma was the refugee centre for people escaping the fires, only 4 years ago however the tragedy and horror still remains in our memories
Blessed be the Sunburned Country Downunder
I am a West Australian, my biggest fear is fire, hands down.
Bush fire season has just started again. There are currently 21 fires burning within a 2 hour drive of my home on the North coast of New South Wales. We are on fire restrictions, that means we have to have a permit to light a fire which can be canceled at a moments notice. This is only the 5th day of Spring in Australia , the 5th September, and it is 31c temperature which is 87.8F with only 25% humidity. We are not expecting much in the way of rain now. They bush is a Tinder Box waiting to go up in smoke and flames. Keep us in your prayers it is going to be a dangerous Summer for us down under.
If I could like this 1000 times I would!
Oh crap...it doesn't matter how many time, I cry so hard 💔🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🙏.
Australia is used to bushfires. We are well prepared for the power and devastation that they can cause. Sometimes though, they’re like a Tsunami of flames. Sucking the oxygen from the air, super heating everything around you. Bricks and mortar literally explode in seconds. The 2009 Black Saturday Fires were some of Australia’s worst.
Yeah, the fires here can get so bad they feed themselves, and are best described as cluster bombs sometimes. It's like getting hit with a tornado. That's on fire. This stuff was not common before 2000, but now our bushfire season starts in spring. It's scary. Forecasts for this fire season are not good. Homes have already been lost this year. It's technically still spring. Wish us luck for the next 4 to 5 months. We will need it, I think
Sorry, but this hurts so much. You don't want to be in a bushfire; but thanks for your condolences
Here in Australia we have the typical weather the rest of the world gets summer and winter but we also get the f$%k you weather . F$% you dose not have a assigned month and can happen when ever it want from extreme heat to life destroying fire from extreme storms to heart bracking floods its not uncommon to have one side on fire while the other side is flooding. As for the Australian people I think what get us through times like this is are community spirt the need to not only lift up are self but those around us we are a hard working stubborn people who can not be stoped when we put are mind to it we may go through hell but there is no where else I would rather be.
Im surprised people stay to fight because its so dangerous.
Ive tried to make so many suggestions to council and state and federal govt but they .. i mean.. what can i say..
Ive made many suggestions for people:
Organising an animal register outside areas that are usually affected to take in ithers animals as soon as theres a ridk rsther than leave to last minute and then when they escape animals can't go with them or get left behind
Finding ways to create safe underground bunkers that are ventilated
Having areas just outside fire risk areas to ship animals to a month ir two prior to fire season if can if there are close
More people trained in wildlife in fires for free and have people there on standby over summer.
Free fire and flood training training in all councils in Australia
The list is endless. Haven't explained too well on here.
Requested a state animal minister.
Register houses just outside with council or other people can stay, look after pets, help with kids, lend farm space or vehicle help etc and have organised in August/ September so plan in place since October can have 40 degree days onwards.
when bushfires are that big you are mostly always on your own.
no one gives you a house ,you have to create it in your own fashion . and it cant be replaced .even with insurance.
I had people I went to high school with and old teachers in tathra that got their places destroyed .. pretty brutal..
I’d very much appreciate if you could check out the black Saturday bushfires documentary on UA-cam it’s extremely well done and shows how bad the fires were on that day back in 2009.
Even just a quick reaction to Black Saturday its self would mean a lot to me as I live very close to where they happened. I know many people that were impacted by them.
Love every single, one of your videos man such a genuine spirit. Much love from Australia.
Might be a bit long for most but there is an ABC (Australia) documentary on the Black Saturday fires ua-cam.com/video/tuYZRttpD9Y/v-deo.html
If you can imagine having an open fire - a safe one - stand in the smoke and put your face as close as you can to the flames safely and breathe in while taking in the smoke. That's what a fire zone is like. Leave some metal near the fire and try to touch it. That's the basic idea except that you can back away at any time. This isn't unique to Australia. Canada, US, South America, NZ, they know it. That's why our fireys help each other out. It's why we rent the sky tankers - the Flying Elvis's (Elvi?) Not sure where that name came from but we cheer when we see them. Our lot go to you in your burn season, and you lot help us when we burn.
Better bush/forest management would go a long way if we listen to the Indigenous Elders and do cold burning, but people complain about air quality in towns and Cities. They/we bitch about it when the land is burning too, but cold burning, when done right doesn't kill people and it doesn't happen during breeding season for the animals. They know to move away and come back to fresh growth, new bugs and new flowers to eat when it is timed right. They give warning to shut windows, stay inside or keep up asthma meds when they do cold/backburning. With a full blown fire, there is no warning.
my experience was in year 8 of school and i remember one time i looked outside the window of music class and it was just white due to the smoke
We woke up to a beautiful cloudless day, by 2pm, it was as dark as midnight. We had to check on an old farmer in his 80s whose house was maybe 200 metres from us, and had to wear bandannas over our faces to breathe and walking with a torch, we could hear this crackling under our feet. We had a national park across the road from us, and it was burning like crazy. Luckily for us it missed our 2 homes…but we lost our hay shed. When we woke up in the morning, that crackling we could hear under our feet was the gum leaves from the national park, completely dried out and had blown to our ground…about 6 inches deep of dried out and burnt leaves…so much more to the story but I don’t want to go into it …. ❤️🩹
The woman at the beginning (Marylin) is my mums friend, she has really bad ptsd from this now.
nothing can stop a big one. even 50 fire trucks cant stop it.
Learn from this...be prepared, it takes a few mistakes by humans and you will lose your animals
Kinda crazy to think that I am watching this in 2024 and just a couple of months ago we had more major fires
Thanks for your great empathy Neal. Climate catastrophe is here. We burn, flood, die and cry as world governments bow down to the fossil fuel corporate power looks on and turns a blind eye.
My Godfather and his family were in bed, and he just happened to get up in the middle of the night for some reason, and looked out the back door in time to see a fireball hit their yard. They escaped with what they were wearing, they didn’t have time to even get their dog off the chain. All their farm animals were killed. They lost everything. The farm equipment was melted to puddles. During the clean up, the neighbours put up fences inside his property lines, effectively stealing land. The legal costs for getting a land assessor out to then get it fixed were far beyond anything he could afford, so those neighbors have gotten away from it. He had to dig pita for all his sheep. He said their flesh would just fall from their bones, and now he can’t stand roast lamb. We were able to give him our caravan so he was able to have some place to stay on his land while trying to clean up. I don’t think he will ever actually return to the land to live though.
This is one thing we share with America & Canada. Our fires are monenumental. 😪😪
Our whole country was burning at this time, there were no where near enough rescources, no way to get to certain places