I will tell you, as a first responder in the U.S.A., my chest swells with pride seeing my Australian brothers going into harm's way to protect their fellow man.
I was only 12 but got stuck in the worst of this for a while. It was 2 firefighters in a hilux that got a dozen or so families off the road we were stuck on, clearing fallen powerlines with a wall of intense flames on all sides and kangaroos and horses running everywhere, screaming and on fire. Thank you for doing what you do, there is NOTHING I respect more in this world. Stay safe
As an Aussie, thankyou for your service. You lot are legends! We had a bunch of American and Canadian fighters here in '06/'07 and again in '19 best bunch of guys I've had the pleasure to meet. Keep safe.
14:00 "engine warning lights come on, engines cut out. We have no engines" *static on the radio*. I thought I literally just heard the final moments of firefighters then, so glad they got out safely
The Fire and Rescue Pumpers which is in this video (the crew of Bravo 3 that were rescued) did not have Burnover safety systems. Rural Fire Servive trucks are equiped with the sprinkler systems and heat shields today. Burnover systems weren’t a thing in 2003 and neither fire agencies had them. It was 2006 bushfire vehicles from RFS and F&R were fitted with the shields and sprinklers, not including the Urban Pumpers/ Rescue Pumpers
I stayed and defended my house in Cargelligo St. I have never seen before this footage. You tube has made me realise with what force this bushfire had attacked my suburb.
these fires started by dry lightning on the property of a family member of mine. he did everything he possibly could to put it out as quickly as possible but the weather was horrendous. he still feels guilty and has attempted suicide twice despite everyone from the coroner down saying it wasn't his fault in any way, shape or form.
Absolutely, This country is a tinderbox in summer and much less could have started the fire. I hope your relative comes to terms with this now, he did all he could and he's no arsonist.
I total agree with your answer the blame is nature it self I was on the night shift friday before it got Canberra and the flame height was well in the 60m at times
it was just nature he did his very best this happens everywhere sometimes dilipiritly (Victoria 2009) but it wasnt him and I hope he knows that there are people who care about him and dont want him to blame himself or comet suicide nature cant be stoped and it may have been his land but it wasnt his fault...
I was on my mate's roof about a mile away from Duffy, when the firestorm hit. Words cannot describe the conditions. The fire front created its own weather, sucking the air into it, with massive fire tornadoes everywhere. You could see and hear the gas lines exploding at the base of the tornadoes, the sound was like a 747 taking off, the Duffy Forest was an inferno with about 300 foot balls of flame from the trees crowning. We were busy putting out spot fires and watering the roof, but we knew that Duffy was a disaster area. I said to my mate that if people were there they couldn't survive what we were seeing, and how more people didn't die is a miracle. To see this footage brings it all back. A day I will never forget.
It's still one of if not the most intense fire's in the history of Australia, I was living in Duffy at the time and my dad lived in kambah, I got caught in the middle of a tornado at the top of loins, I literally couldn't even see the bonnet of my car, my car had come to a complete stop because there was no oxygen for it to run, I thought i was dead and then all of a sudden the power station that powers Woden and the surrounding suburbs blows Up and blew the flames back enough for my car to start running even though it was running ruff it was enough to get out of the situation I was in but now I can see that the whole suburb is on fire, I was trying to get to Kambah, I was nearly there and I came across a road block, the fire fighters were saying go back the way you came, I was like no worries and the moment they look away I ran the road block, I had to my dad house was only 500m away and the Fire was heading straight towards it anyway the fire all of a sudden started to die down and there was only 3 more house's to go before it got to us, a hour or so after the fire showed signs of dieing out Dad and I went back to Duffy to check my cousin's house that I was living in and sure enough it was still there, every other house in the area was gone and I mean GONE but my cousin's house was still there, the back balcony was on fire but the water was working again so we had that out in no time That day has been burnt into my brain, I'll never forget standing on the roof at dads and watching house after house catching on fire and thinking it's our turn any minute, only to have it stop 50m or so away.
On 18th January 2003, temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius, humidity of 20% and wind speeds of 60km/h at 10am was the main weather features that day. During that time, several fires were burning uncontrollably in the Brindabella and Namadgi National Parks, sparked by lightning strikes on the night of 8th January 2003. These fires weren't contained because it is believed that they could cause no harm. But with these weather conditions, the fires continue to pick up speed and intensity. By 2pm, it continues to burn closer to the fringes of the Canberra suburbs of Duffy, Chapman, Rivett, Holder and Gordon, as well as affecting the suburb of Tuggeranong. Tharwa narrowly avoided the vigorous fires, but the town, along with the historic Lanyon Homestead did receive ember attacks. Humidity dropped to 10% by 3pm, temperature rose to 48 degrees Celsius and wind speed increased to 110km/h. With the fire destroying everything in its path. Houses were reported destroyed in Duffy, Chapman, Holder, Rivett and Gordon by 5pm as the fires came roaring out from the adjacent Stromolo Forest. The first casualty is officially recorded shortly after, an elderly woman, Dorothy McGrath, 76. Other casualties recorded were Alison Turner, 38, Peter Brooke, 74 and Doug Fraser, 60. As official, 4 people were confirmed dead whilst more than 500 were injured in these fires, as well as 500+ properties were destroyed. 91% of these 500 properties were confirmed completely destroyed, with small portion of them fit in 'little damage' and 'large scale damage' category. Out of these damages, the most iconic infrastructure, Mount Stromolo Observatory, was badly damaged in the bushfire, where the fires destroyed 5 telescopes and dealt critical damage to the 90 year old observatory. The nearby region was made the Canberra Bushfire Memorial in 2006, 3 years after the fires. At the same time, a fire fighting helicopter crashed into the forest while its extinguishing the fires.
My mate lives in Bonython, The fire reached the top of his street, luckily only a fence was burnt but I remember seeing photos. A 20meter wall of fire 100m from his house, they were fortunate enough to have winds blow back onto the fire and essentially put itself out.b
My family lost our house that day and we were lucky to make it out alive. Everyone in the affected areas was. They told everyone to stay put and protect their houses unless they sounded an evacuation alarm, but it was pitch black sky, power out, raining embers and houses beginning to burn before any sort of evacuation alarm sounded on the radio.
@@sherry1613 I lived in Rivett when the fire hit Duffy, and still do. Duffy got hit so hard and fast with such short notice. We were lucky enough to have heaps of time to pack our car ready to evacuate. But luckily never had to. Ever since the Canberra fires, my heart has the biggest soft spot for any and everyone that suffers from any fire related shit. Including the animals. When that woman said in this video "we have animals in there" i exploded into tears.
I've been looking for this for a while. I first watched it as a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. It makes me proud and angry at the same time. Proud of the men and women who do this for NO PAY, and furious at the ar**holes in government who allow developments in the wrong places, and play political games with fire reduction activity. Had the wastes of skin in Parliament behaved like sensible human beings, these fires would not have been a fraction as bad. The same as the 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of land that has been burned out so far this year, in New South Wales. They were warned, again and again, over decades, what was going to happen, but they ignored the warnings, choosing instead to allow things to carry on the way they were.
Oldman Heff local councils now even PROFIT off of the build up of dangerous fire fuels, they now fine people taking dead wood, fallen trees and other dead bush land in national parks and Forrest land. It is absolutely criminal, those who enacted such laws should be put up for manslaughter and others related to property damage when fires in their shores occur.
The aboriginal people burned for thousands of years and it worked and now not just the public is in a lot of danger but the lives of us fireies is at even my risk now
Oldman Heff Who owns those 2 million of hectares of land ? Living overseas Lords, Dukes and other multinational corporations. Who is governing government ? Definitely not everyday people
Fire and rescue are most definitely paid buddy. And yeah there is development. it's called infastructure and it happens everywhere. Fires are going to fire no matter what, and no matter where. YOU might be part of the volunteer fire service, but they weren't. If you want to become a full fledged fire fighter, then take the training and do it.
I served with the Fire and rescue Service in the UK for a number of years and saw and met some extremely brave fire fighters. But these Aussie Fire Fighters go above and beyond ordinary duty. Considering most are Volunteers, who are going without rest and are also away from their work place and Home and Family They are TRUE HERO's although they will probably say they're not. To all those fighting this Fire Storm I SALUTE YOU ALL. I hope you are all safe and well. TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
Thank you for looking after our community. I only drove through just after the storm to Duffy - going back to gunners - it seemed the world was on fire! Big walls of flame in other suburbs. Hope you are doing well - still terrifies me!
Mid afternoon the sky was pitch black for a while and the street lights were on, it was very eerie I'll never forget that. Couldn't get to my girlfriends house (just behind eucumbene drive) so held up at my friends house in Lanyon where there were many fires coming over the hills towards the houses there. Later, her place was still standing but damaged and all the surrounding houses had been burned to the ground. Salvaged her belongings but the house and her car was a write-off
Yes it was very eerie indeed. Let's just hope they can put out the fire that is happening at this very moment around Pierces Creek, And is only just 8 kilometers away from the nearest suburbs.
I lived over a 120 km away from these fires when they happened, and I remember that in mid afternoon the entire sky went black and ash started falling, it was quite surreal.
January 18, 2003 is a day I will never forget. During the firestorm I lived in the suburb of Lyons, which is 5km or a 7 minute drive from Duffy, one of the worst affected areas. I remember evacuating and driving through embers to my mum's house on the north side of Canberra where it was safe. The sky was so dark, it was like night time at 3pm in the afternoon. Thank you to all the brave firefighters and other emergency services people who put their lives at risk to save others.
I was born in 2004 and I have been a member of the CFS for A few years now. I am very proud of my Firefighter comrades all around Australia and around the world :)
Apart from the first class professional conduct of everyone shown in this video, this footage is notable for its excellent record of ember attack within a fire front. Of particular note is the almost liquid movement the swarms of embers make in front and to the side of the vehicle. In other places the embers cover the ground motionless, or appear to be pouring down tree trucks into pools of fire. I guess the worst images were of those massive flames in the pine plantation, dark with unburnt wood gas... The fire was so hot it was conducting the fuel straight up before it could fully ignite.
Burning pine plantations are scary, but they don't hold a candle to a burning eucalypt plantation. Eucs in a firestorm tend to have the leaf canopy vaporized by the radiant heat of the advancing flame front (as do pines with their needles), but the terpene compounds in eucalyptus oil and waxes on the sclerophyll leaves burn almost 500C hotter than vaporized pine terpenes. In wind-driven fires, eucs will throw off enormous knots of vaporized oils, which often take a moment to ignite, and often do so in an afterburning fashion 100-200 meters above the fire in bright blues and purples. Look up "Gospers Burnover" to see this in dramatic fashion.
Far out, I was in hospital about 20ks away, their were fire fighters hosing down the hospital and we were getting ready to evacuate, it was unbelievable, mate of mine stayed with his house the hole time, every house around him burned to the ground, what caused so much damage as well was the amount of people not even close to the fires were running the qater lines dry spraying their own roofs for hours on end, most of canberra had no water pressure
For everyone criticising Canberra's lack of preparation, stop it. There was absolutely nothing anyone could have done. The ONLY thing that could have saved Canberra was if NSW had got off their lazy asses and put out the lighting-strike fire that started in the Brindabella Range on January 8. It moved regularly - but on the 17th January it began picking up speed. At that point it started CREATING ITS OWN WEATHER. By the 18th there was nothing anybody could do to stop it - only run.
You're absolutely right. The trees and their foliage are quite unique to Australia and are Eucalyptus. Forests of these can go up in just a short time and since they are filled with flammable liquid that is on par with gasoline, are especially prone to flashover. I have dried Eucalyptus in my house for decorative reasons and I took a match to one stem and used a grill thermometer to gauge the temperature. One small light and it went up and not only did it go up quickly, it had an explosive nature as the plant cells burst. The temperature was very high as well. I can imagine one treetrunk of the Eucalyptus heating up and just exploding like a small incendiary bomb. It is almost as if it is natural for them to behave in this way, as if the trees have evolved to spread fire more than others.
Brindabella range is a remote area. It would have been difficult to get brigades up there to fight it. Best NSW could really do was dump water on it from above and wait until it moved into an area where they could engage it.
matt mammone It's more than that. Eucalypts have evolved to propagate fire - not just by burning their leaves, but after rain in a hot spell they will release an aerosol that actually does explode. You can tell if you ever walk under them after a summer rain, they smell really strongly (nice smell though) and will make your eyes water. It benefits them to create bushfires, since they bud after fire and release seeds into the ash layer.
+Oscar Wang I'd imagine. I live in Kansas, and don't get me wrong, tornado's are terrifying, but before this video I had never seen footage of a firestorm up close. It *literally* looks like hell.
First time I've ever had a panic attack from a video. We live just far enough to escape fire but not smoke. We get that from all sides. Luv from Western Canada 🇨🇦
I may be wrong so don’t quote me on this but evacuation orders are issued but up until black Saturday in 2009 stay and defend was a very common tactic. It’s very ingrained in society here. There’s signs all over country towns and city outskirts about property management. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Being Australian, watching this video is very disturbing to me, whats even more disturbing is the burning fire truck, you would think the professionals would be safe but not even they are completely safe, imagining that things like this can have and may happen at any time scares me, I have constant paranoia of things like this :(
It is one of the reasons we are constantly drilled in Burnover (Flash over for the Americans) as are the cabb safety systems now being employed in our fire trucks. Number one priority Is our safety.
I remember this day quite clearly, leaving work to go home and prep my home, I was in Weetangra then and if it had jumped the road we and hawker and others would have been gone. These guys did amazing with what they had I will never for get this day. Standing on the roof of my house and it was so close scariest thing I have experienced
Biggest memory: A Duffy house hade burnt to the ground (still flaming and parts smouldering) - the only thing standing was the letterbox and a 'For Sale' sign. A man had the hose on the letterbox. I drove to Duffy from Gungahlin to see if my father in-law was OK with his Son (my then partner) when we heard the Petrol station blew up. We got trapped on the parkway due to flames, found a lone a Firey trying to put out a not small fire with a hand pump in Lyons who gave us directions. I drove through Duffy and houses were still going up in flames, a barefoot woman walked around in a daze in front of my car. This was a war zone by nature. It was an amazing effort from all services (Police, Fire, Emergency, Air Bombers etc) that the loss of life was (unfortunately 4) low. The residents that fought for their homes and their neighbours all over the South of Canberra that day are also the Hero's - garden hoses, buckets of water and walking into burning hell to help save something... The next day we were under threat from the north - fires coming in. Thankfully we were saved from the Hell Fire of our South of the Lake Friends.
They've all done a spectacular job, even some of the local residents who stay behind to protect their surrounding properties. They did try and save some of them, but as we all know you can't save them all. Just do the best they can by their training and hope everyone got out safely and all of the crew members of the brigade are all accounted for. Great work to Darrell who went in and save some of his colleagues as well as the civilians. Many respects to and for every one of them.
I moved to Canberra from Indiana 10 years ago...blows my mind that nature can do something like this. Aussies are the most hardened people in the world, i've sat with work colleagues who talk about how they lost their house in the fires like its no big deal
I lived in Canberra for nearly 3 years and am shocked that they have built like nearly to the base of Mt Stromlo where they got obliterated. Ive seen the wrecks of the observatory and it is so sad that they couldn't replace the telescopes etc. True Aussie larinkism that a PHD student lost in the fire her only copy of her thesis that she was about to submit a few days later. Now any PHD student in that field has a burning the thesis ceremony
I've lived in Canberra my whole life. I live in Rivett. the suburb right next to Duffy, and was 12 years old when the fire hit. After the fire cleared, me and my dad went to check a house that belonged to his friend that lived in duffy. I have forever scratched into my mind the memory of a father and his son hosing off the smoldering remains of what once was their house. Just even the look on the fathers face.... 17 years later, it STILL makes me cry thinking about it. My fathers friends house in Duffy was still standing... the fire was stopped 3 houses down the road from his. He was so lucky. But after those last three houses was a black field, where many houses used to stand.
I live in canberra about 50 meters away from houses that were lost. It kills me to see streets I drive on everyday ablaze. THis was by far one of the worst days of my life. My thoughts go out to the people fighting fires in NSW right now
Hats off to these guys and girls. Bloody awesome effort. Love from South Australia. I had family in ash Wednesday. I wasn't in ash Wednesday but I so much appreciate the job that you guys/gals do. Keep up the fantastic effort when Australia needs you. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou
If the conditions are right your chances of outrunning a fire are nill, having been a member of the volunteer fire service for over twenty years, it is quite amazing the speed these fires can travel at.
My nan lives in Holder and I remember coming home from school to hear that my Dad had rushed down to help protect her house. A few neighbouring homes were lost but I can remember being scared for my nan thats for sure.. Rip to all the loved pets that died in Weston Creek/Woden animal hospital. I will forever miss the big pine forest we used to walk through and collect pine cones in school holidays. Thank you to all the officials that did their best.
Some thing we will never forget. Our Home is 3 klms from this footage. Two fires came over us, but we were ok, sadly other people lost everything, our hearts go out to them.
From the words, "you'll see it at 30 meters here soon 8:30 -9min and that reporter asking him what will you do if the flames come across like that? "It Will come across like that." Its obvious This guy is a Gaangster Firefighter from way back.
i agree with belligerent truth ! it does make me proud to see my fellow firefighters in another country give it 1000% while going toe to toe with the red dragon, these guys truly went to hell and back to save as many lives and property as they could ! we texas boys know a thing or two about fire storms like this ( fire season 2011 ) and a few others. if i could have been there helping out i would have been !
Mate, It was so bad that it actually made it down near the South of Canberra's Central Business district. My house faced it and the only thing that saved it was the road.
@Phoenix mate the adrenaline, stress and fear is what keeps em going, you'll mind that majority of them would have dropped near dead once they had time to stop and relax
@Phoenix we drink water like you wouldn't believe. I seem to drink about a litre an hour when its going like that. We alternate with an electrolyte powdered drink that honestly tastes terable but it seems to do the trick. You keep going on adrenaline and stubbornness till your given a break. You don't want the break. Until you actually lie down. Then it's the sleep of the dead till some officer less than politely wakes you up to go back to work
im so greatful for vids like this that inform us all how dangerous and quick these fires can be.. thankyou Chris ..Very proud of our aussie firerys .. my bro is now one as well .stay safe all..
Oh my god 17 years today. I wasn’t born for another 2 years and it is no good for those poor people who lost their lives and property and stuff and also the poor animals.
Congratulations to these beautiful people! Could you imagine being within that circumstance/environment and talking on the radio like your are on the phone to a telemarketer? My house was probably about 3Km away from this footage and even at the age of 4 I remember helicopters dumping water in the near distance. At 11am the sky only glowing red, we had German family friends staying with us and as far as I could remember the were under the impression that this was our every day life.
hats off to all serving and ex fire fighters! they are true blue bloody hero's and that give me so much pride to be an Australian!! risking their lives to protect other people's property!!! hats off to the camera man as well!! he kept such a cool head under so much pressure and he was extremely helpful in situations!!
As fire fighter its a afternoon that I will never forget it was 3.00pm when the first embers fell from the sky a took out the forestry camp at Duffy where the NSW Rural Fire Service had there base camp.
5:47 I pass that house on the way home from school everyday. So strange to think that almost every other house on that street was destroyed except that one
When I applied at ANU to study at the research school for astronomy and astrophysics on Mount Stromlo, I learned about this fire from the pictures of completely destroyed (antique) telescopes. It really is a shame those got destroyed, but I wondered why no effort was made to save them. However, seeing these videos really puts things in perspective, it showcases the absolute destructive power of those fire storms! Those telescopes could never be saved.
It's amazing how the Eucalyptus just explodes in gas and fire upwards. Of all the places in the world for trees with oil in their systems to grow, it would be Australia. We have Mananita that grows wild here, and it's an oil based plant. Wow man. As always, stay safe! I watched another video about how people prepare for the bush fires, and the properties that fare the best are the ones with English Deciduous trees, water retaining plants, not grass, near the house, and a LOT of guts.
this particular fire actually changed the way the federal government of australia dealt with bush fire threats. prior to that, the country had way worse fires, and nothing was ever done, just more speeches and forgotten about. when canberra was threatened they jumped up and down and had the audacity to blame the bush fire brigade for not doing their job... what wasn't mentioned was the greens, who are basically protecting "nature" had burn offs outlawed, so the bush fire brigades could not do their job. before this day and the change in policy, new south wales had the main highway cut not once, but twice, in the exact same spot due to raging fires that actually evaporated water before it got anywhere near it. i'm only stating all this as not all the story is ever told, and considering the childish behaviour in australian politics, usually forgotten if it is in days after. in no way will i ever detract, or disrespect, any of the firefighters of those days, or any to come. the job they have regardless of country, area, region, anything... is not an easy one and is also one of the most hazardous. full respect to all the boys and girls.
+sparhawk29 thanks from me and all the firefighters at last someone that understands what we have to put up with when we are out there trying to save the life's of others it a day that I will remember for the rest of my life as one of the many rfs personal on the ground that day.
Fake news, maybe for fact checking this www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/12/is-there-really-a-green-conspiracy-to-stop-bushfire-hazard-reduction
Looking back 15 years later I find some things so strange. Knowing there was a full fire storm coming through the forest, why did they bother watering the gums? Why didn't they just cut them down so they could control their burn at a lower level reducing ember throw? The trees could have been replaced (and inevitably needed to be anyway). It's the small things like that which catch my thoughts about that weekend. I also wonder today, 15 years on what, in reflection, would have been lessons learned by the professionals that would carry to today and whether they share them with the newbies of their crews today.
The majority of the trees probably survived just fine - eucalypts (gum trees) have adapted to and actually promote bush fires. They generally don't drop seeds until a fire has gone through and cleared the undergrowth.
Wow! This footage is one of the scariest situations I've ever seen. Everything seemed to be ablaze; trees, cars, houses...even the lawn and the hedges alongside the roads. For miles and miles they rode and it was always that same scene, and the darkness and those waves of embers flying everywhere all added up to make it look like a post-apocalyptic scene.
I was evacuated from bushfire zone in 2001 south of Canberra. The scariest thing i remember about the fires is how fast they're moving. It's ridiculous
Only an Australian would you drive into the middle of a burning maelstrom, jump out of the car and say "Have fun. Phew, it's hot out here!" 16:18
I will tell you, as a first responder in the U.S.A., my chest swells with pride seeing my Australian brothers going into harm's way to protect their fellow man.
BelligerentTruth Thanks mate im sure they would off appreciate it! Stay safe....
I was only 12 but got stuck in the worst of this for a while.
It was 2 firefighters in a hilux that got a dozen or so families off the road we were stuck on, clearing fallen powerlines with a wall of intense flames on all sides and kangaroos and horses running everywhere, screaming and on fire. Thank you for doing what you do, there is NOTHING I respect more in this world. Stay safe
I dunno man, they definitely took it to a dangerous level. Normally they'd retreat if fire is on both sides of the road right?
Would you? Would you go this far. This looks borderline suicide. Especially an SUV being choked by soot
As an Aussie, thankyou for your service. You lot are legends! We had a bunch of American and Canadian fighters here in '06/'07 and again in '19 best bunch of guys I've had the pleasure to meet. Keep safe.
14:00 "engine warning lights come on, engines cut out. We have no engines" *static on the radio*. I thought I literally just heard the final moments of firefighters then, so glad they got out safely
The Fire and Rescue Pumpers which is in this video (the crew of Bravo 3 that were rescued) did not have Burnover safety systems. Rural Fire Servive trucks are equiped with the sprinkler systems and heat shields today. Burnover systems weren’t a thing in 2003 and neither fire agencies had them. It was 2006 bushfire vehicles from RFS and F&R were fitted with the shields and sprinklers, not including the Urban Pumpers/ Rescue Pumpers
The bravery of these responders is unbelievable.
Can't pull a gun on a fire.
That's some of the most incredible footage i've ever seen, and the most terrifying too. Those firefighters deserve enormous respect.
They need more footage like this to show the general public what is really like, been through this on black Saturday. CFAvol.
I stayed and defended my house in Cargelligo St. I have never seen before this footage. You tube has made me realise with what force this bushfire had attacked my suburb.
these fires started by dry lightning on the property of a family member of mine. he did everything he possibly could to put it out as quickly as possible but the weather was horrendous. he still feels guilty and has attempted suicide twice despite everyone from the coroner down saying it wasn't his fault in any way, shape or form.
Absolutely, This country is a tinderbox in summer and much less could have started the fire. I hope your relative comes to terms with this now, he did all he could and he's no arsonist.
I total agree with your answer the blame is nature it self I was on the night shift friday before it got Canberra and the flame height was well in the 60m at times
it was just nature he did his very best this happens everywhere sometimes dilipiritly (Victoria 2009) but it wasnt him and I hope he knows that there are people who care about him and dont want him to blame himself or comet suicide nature cant be stoped and it may have been his land but it wasnt his fault...
Phosphaze glass could have done it
Swag Master CT or high heat around 45c+
I was on my mate's roof about a mile away from Duffy, when the firestorm hit. Words cannot describe the conditions. The fire front created its own weather, sucking the air into it, with massive fire tornadoes everywhere. You could see and hear the gas lines exploding at the base of the tornadoes, the sound was like a 747 taking off, the Duffy Forest was an inferno with about 300 foot balls of flame from the trees crowning. We were busy putting out spot fires and watering the roof, but we knew that Duffy was a disaster area. I said to my mate that if people were there they couldn't survive what we were seeing, and how more people didn't die is a miracle. To see this footage brings it all back. A day I will never forget.
It's still one of if not the most intense fire's in the history of Australia, I was living in Duffy at the time and my dad lived in kambah, I got caught in the middle of a tornado at the top of loins, I literally couldn't even see the bonnet of my car, my car had come to a complete stop because there was no oxygen for it to run, I thought i was dead and then all of a sudden the power station that powers Woden and the surrounding suburbs blows Up and blew the flames back enough for my car to start running even though it was running ruff it was enough to get out of the situation I was in but now I can see that the whole suburb is on fire, I was trying to get to Kambah, I was nearly there and I came across a road block, the fire fighters were saying go back the way you came, I was like no worries and the moment they look away I ran the road block, I had to my dad house was only 500m away and the Fire was heading straight towards it anyway the fire all of a sudden started to die down and there was only 3 more house's to go before it got to us, a hour or so after the fire showed signs of dieing out Dad and I went back to Duffy to check my cousin's house that I was living in and sure enough it was still there, every other house in the area was gone and I mean GONE but my cousin's house was still there, the back balcony was on fire but the water was working again so we had that out in no time
That day has been burnt into my brain, I'll never forget standing on the roof at dads and watching house after house catching on fire and thinking it's our turn any minute, only to have it stop 50m or so away.
Police rolling in the VX commodores with chasers... seems pretty old school now
On 18th January 2003, temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius, humidity of 20% and wind speeds of 60km/h at 10am was the main weather features that day. During that time, several fires were burning uncontrollably in the Brindabella and Namadgi National Parks, sparked by lightning strikes on the night of 8th January 2003. These fires weren't contained because it is believed that they could cause no harm. But with these weather conditions, the fires continue to pick up speed and intensity. By 2pm, it continues to burn closer to the fringes of the Canberra suburbs of Duffy, Chapman, Rivett, Holder and Gordon, as well as affecting the suburb of Tuggeranong. Tharwa narrowly avoided the vigorous fires, but the town, along with the historic Lanyon Homestead did receive ember attacks. Humidity dropped to 10% by 3pm, temperature rose to 48 degrees Celsius and wind speed increased to 110km/h. With the fire destroying everything in its path. Houses were reported destroyed in Duffy, Chapman, Holder, Rivett and Gordon by 5pm as the fires came roaring out from the adjacent Stromolo Forest. The first casualty is officially recorded shortly after, an elderly woman, Dorothy McGrath, 76. Other casualties recorded were Alison Turner, 38, Peter Brooke, 74 and Doug Fraser, 60. As official, 4 people were confirmed dead whilst more than 500 were injured in these fires, as well as 500+ properties were destroyed. 91% of these 500 properties were confirmed completely destroyed, with small portion of them fit in 'little damage' and 'large scale damage' category. Out of these damages, the most iconic infrastructure, Mount Stromolo Observatory, was badly damaged in the bushfire, where the fires destroyed 5 telescopes and dealt critical damage to the 90 year old observatory. The nearby region was made the Canberra Bushfire Memorial in 2006, 3 years after the fires. At the same time, a fire fighting helicopter crashed into the forest while its extinguishing the fires.
Plus the whole Cotter Reserve and water for canberra
My mate lives in Bonython, The fire reached the top of his street, luckily only a fence was burnt but I remember seeing photos. A 20meter wall of fire 100m from his house, they were fortunate enough to have winds blow back onto the fire and essentially put itself out.b
My family lost our house that day and we were lucky to make it out alive. Everyone in the affected areas was. They told everyone to stay put and protect their houses unless they sounded an evacuation alarm, but it was pitch black sky, power out, raining embers and houses beginning to burn before any sort of evacuation alarm sounded on the radio.
“Sorry honey, I will call you soon, bye bye.”
Respect!
when the older couple said we have animals and did not want get in car...dam that broke my heart...tears
Same. I cried for the rest of the video.
Too much fire, not enough men. Bloody scary! Hats off to those who did what they could.
Incredible footage considering it was filmed in the afternoon of what was effectively a cloudless sunny day.
this seems like a traditional vision of hell , and its absolutely terrifying
welome to Australia in Summer!!!
That was our day of hell...over 500 houses burnt,5 lives lost but the day after...the whole of Canberra rallied together
@@sherry1613
I lived in Rivett when the fire hit Duffy, and still do.
Duffy got hit so hard and fast with such short notice.
We were lucky enough to have heaps of time to pack our car ready to evacuate. But luckily never had to.
Ever since the Canberra fires, my heart has the biggest soft spot for any and everyone that suffers from any fire related shit. Including the animals.
When that woman said in this video "we have animals in there" i exploded into tears.
The man in the Pajero is worth his weight in gold..Well done Old Mate
I've been looking for this for a while. I first watched it as a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
It makes me proud and angry at the same time. Proud of the men and women who do this for NO PAY, and furious at the ar**holes in government who allow developments in the wrong places, and play political games with fire reduction activity.
Had the wastes of skin in Parliament behaved like sensible human beings, these fires would not have been a fraction as bad.
The same as the 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of land that has been burned out so far this year, in New South Wales. They were warned, again and again, over decades, what was going to happen, but they ignored the warnings, choosing instead to allow things to carry on the way they were.
Oldman Heff local councils now even PROFIT off of the build up of dangerous fire fuels, they now fine people taking dead wood, fallen trees and other dead bush land in national parks and Forrest land. It is absolutely criminal, those who enacted such laws should be put up for manslaughter and others related to property damage when fires in their shores occur.
The aboriginal people burned for thousands of years and it worked and now not just the public is in a lot of danger but the lives of us fireies is at even my risk now
Oldman Heff Who owns those 2 million of hectares of land ? Living overseas Lords, Dukes and other multinational corporations. Who is governing government ? Definitely not everyday people
Oldman Heff the act fire and rescue where there in full force they where paided
Fire and rescue are most definitely paid buddy. And yeah there is development. it's called infastructure and it happens everywhere. Fires are going to fire no matter what, and no matter where. YOU might be part of the volunteer fire service, but they weren't. If you want to become a full fledged fire fighter, then take the training and do it.
20th anniversary today,18th Jan' 2023. What an amazing bit of video.
I served with the Fire and rescue Service in the UK for a number of years and saw and met some extremely brave fire fighters. But these Aussie Fire Fighters go above and beyond ordinary duty. Considering most are Volunteers, who are going without rest and are also away from their work place and Home and Family They are TRUE HERO's although they will probably say they're not. To all those fighting this Fire Storm I SALUTE YOU ALL. I hope you are all safe and well. TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
I lived in Canberra and you can still notice that majority of the trees are black still
yeah especially in Duffy holder and Kambah
@@difficultinterest1582 yeah Duffy and Kambah were hit particularly hard
I was on shift that night and it was crazy flames were big and scary and thanks to all my fellow mates helping to obtain this fire
No thank you
Charl Bekker I respect you all
Thank you for looking after our community. I only drove through just after the storm to Duffy - going back to gunners - it seemed the world was on fire! Big walls of flame in other suburbs. Hope you are doing well - still terrifies me!
Mid afternoon the sky was pitch black for a while and the street lights were on, it was very eerie I'll never forget that.
Couldn't get to my girlfriends house (just behind eucumbene drive) so held up at my friends house in Lanyon where there were many fires coming over the hills towards the houses there. Later, her place was still standing but damaged and all the surrounding houses had been burned to the ground. Salvaged her belongings but the house and her car was a write-off
Daniel Jacob 2 word Messed-UP
Yes it was very eerie indeed. Let's just hope they can put out the fire that is happening at this very moment around Pierces Creek, And is only just 8 kilometers away from the nearest suburbs.
@@swagmasterct4523 you master the swag grammar nazi...
I lived over a 120 km away from these fires when they happened, and I remember that in mid afternoon the entire sky went black and ash started falling, it was quite surreal.
January 18, 2003 is a day I will never forget. During the firestorm I lived in the suburb of Lyons, which is 5km or a 7 minute drive from Duffy, one of the worst affected areas. I remember evacuating and driving through embers to my mum's house on the north side of Canberra where it was safe. The sky was so dark, it was like night time at 3pm in the afternoon. Thank you to all the brave firefighters and other emergency services people who put their lives at risk to save others.
At 10:30 the fire-tornado is clearly visible.
first ever recorded in history
im a fireman and the footage shown on this video is better than some of the training footage we have to watch
great work
I was born in 2004 and I have been a member of the CFS for A few years now. I am very proud of my Firefighter comrades all around Australia and around the world :)
Wa bushfire brigade here mate stay safe and make good decisions onya for joining up
@@perthfalcon Will do mate! you too! thank you also for your service as well! Keep Safe Mate
Apart from the first class professional conduct of everyone shown in this video, this footage is notable for its excellent record of ember attack within a fire front.
Of particular note is the almost liquid movement the swarms of embers make in front and to the side of the vehicle. In other places the embers cover the ground motionless, or appear to be pouring down tree trucks into pools of fire.
I guess the worst images were of those massive flames in the pine plantation, dark with unburnt wood gas... The fire was so hot it was conducting the fuel straight up before it could fully ignite.
Burning pine plantations are scary, but they don't hold a candle to a burning eucalypt plantation. Eucs in a firestorm tend to have the leaf canopy vaporized by the radiant heat of the advancing flame front (as do pines with their needles), but the terpene compounds in eucalyptus oil and waxes on the sclerophyll leaves burn almost 500C hotter than vaporized pine terpenes. In wind-driven fires, eucs will throw off enormous knots of vaporized oils, which often take a moment to ignite, and often do so in an afterburning fashion 100-200 meters above the fire in bright blues and purples. Look up "Gospers Burnover" to see this in dramatic fashion.
I remember standing in my driveway watching the mountain over the houses, only reason you could see it was because of all the fire.
Extraordinary footage, I hope this is registered with the national archives.
I'll never forget the noise of the crackeling fire.
What an amazing job done by our emergency services!
They deserve a medal.
Far out, I was in hospital about 20ks away, their were fire fighters hosing down the hospital and we were getting ready to evacuate, it was unbelievable, mate of mine stayed with his house the hole time, every house around him burned to the ground, what caused so much damage as well was the amount of people not even close to the fires were running the qater lines dry spraying their own roofs for hours on end, most of canberra had no water pressure
For everyone criticising Canberra's lack of preparation, stop it. There was absolutely nothing anyone could have done. The ONLY thing that could have saved Canberra was if NSW had got off their lazy asses and put out the lighting-strike fire that started in the Brindabella Range on January 8. It moved regularly - but on the 17th January it began picking up speed. At that point it started CREATING ITS OWN WEATHER. By the 18th there was nothing anybody could do to stop it - only run.
You're absolutely right. The trees and their foliage are quite unique to Australia and are Eucalyptus. Forests of these can go up in just a short time and since they are filled with flammable liquid that is on par with gasoline, are especially prone to flashover. I have dried Eucalyptus in my house for decorative reasons and I took a match to one stem and used a grill thermometer to gauge the temperature. One small light and it went up and not only did it go up quickly, it had an explosive nature as the plant cells burst. The temperature was very high as well. I can imagine one treetrunk of the Eucalyptus heating up and just exploding like a small incendiary bomb. It is almost as if it is natural for them to behave in this way, as if the trees have evolved to spread fire more than others.
Brindabella range is a remote area. It would have been difficult to get brigades up there to fight it. Best NSW could really do was dump water on it from above and wait until it moved into an area where they could engage it.
Yes, but they didn't even do that! They just left it alone.
matt mammone It's more than that. Eucalypts have evolved to propagate fire - not just by burning their leaves, but after rain in a hot spell they will release an aerosol that actually does explode. You can tell if you ever walk under them after a summer rain, they smell really strongly (nice smell though) and will make your eyes water. It benefits them to create bushfires, since they bud after fire and release seeds into the ash layer.
Phillip Unrau The satanist Illuminati aliens, you mean?
January 18, 2023. 20 years on. Canberra remembers!
Pajero took it like a champ. A hero's car.
Its so scary seeing all the cars going away from the fire then you guys heading straight for it. Amazing.
I was 4 back then and saw this disastrous 2003 Canberra bushfires unfolded when displayed on news that night, it was terrifying to say the least
+Oscar Wang I'd imagine. I live in Kansas, and don't get me wrong, tornado's are terrifying, but before this video I had never seen footage of a firestorm up close. It *literally* looks like hell.
Yeah i was only 9 months old when it happened
me too kai
I was 2 Months old when it happend. My parents only just moved into their house in Weston (6 Minutes away from where the trucks were.)
First time I've ever had a panic attack from a video. We live just far enough to escape fire but not smoke. We get that from all sides.
Luv from Western Canada 🇨🇦
I remember watching all of this in Weston & on streeton drive. Unforgettable.
How fast do these brush fires move in Australia? It looks like the residents had no warning or evacuation orders. Damn...
Brian Bull they move very fast!
300kph.
They move quicker then you can panic with the right conditions
I may be wrong so don’t quote me on this but evacuation orders are issued but up until black Saturday in 2009 stay and defend was a very common tactic. It’s very ingrained in society here. There’s signs all over country towns and city outskirts about property management. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
ua-cam.com/video/8T_pBZenLi8/v-deo.html a visual version
Heroes
bolls hm-mh
Being Australian, watching this video is very disturbing to me, whats even more disturbing is the burning fire truck, you would think the professionals would be safe but not even they are completely safe, imagining that things like this can have and may happen at any time scares me, I have constant paranoia of things like this :(
ZombiNinjaGamer 2195 Me being a firefighter myself it is still quite scary and disturbing to watch.
What’s scary is that you can see my old house in the background of this video
It is one of the reasons we are constantly drilled in Burnover (Flash over for the Americans) as are the cabb safety systems now being employed in our fire trucks. Number one priority Is our safety.
@@glynnjck Here is an example of a burnover, it shows how quickly it can all happen ua-cam.com/video/SIHIsSJ2Txk/v-deo.html
Im a probie in the rfs and it is a really good video to learn off
I remember this day quite clearly, leaving work to go home and prep my home, I was in Weetangra then and if it had jumped the road we and hawker and others would have been gone. These guys did amazing with what they had I will never for get this day. Standing on the roof of my house and it was so close scariest thing I have experienced
Biggest memory: A Duffy house hade burnt to the ground (still flaming and parts smouldering) - the only thing standing was the letterbox and a 'For Sale' sign. A man had the hose on the letterbox.
I drove to Duffy from Gungahlin to see if my father in-law was OK with his Son (my then partner) when we heard the Petrol station blew up. We got trapped on the parkway due to flames, found a lone a Firey trying to put out a not small fire with a hand pump in Lyons who gave us directions. I drove through Duffy and houses were still going up in flames, a barefoot woman walked around in a daze in front of my car. This was a war zone by nature. It was an amazing effort from all services (Police, Fire, Emergency, Air Bombers etc) that the loss of life was (unfortunately 4) low. The residents that fought for their homes and their neighbours all over the South of Canberra that day are also the Hero's - garden hoses, buckets of water and walking into burning hell to help save something...
The next day we were under threat from the north - fires coming in. Thankfully we were saved from the Hell Fire of our South of the Lake Friends.
The Courage of these guys Is Incredible
They've all done a spectacular job, even some of the local residents who stay behind to protect their surrounding properties. They did try and save some of them, but as we all know you can't save them all. Just do the best they can by their training and hope everyone got out safely and all of the crew members of the brigade are all accounted for. Great work to Darrell who went in and save some of his colleagues as well as the civilians. Many respects to and for every one of them.
The firestorm just looks like the end of the world as it used to look.
I moved to Canberra from Indiana 10 years ago...blows my mind that nature can do something like this. Aussies are the most hardened people in the world, i've sat with work colleagues who talk about how they lost their house in the fires like its no big deal
I lived in Canberra for nearly 3 years and am shocked that they have built like nearly to the base of Mt Stromlo where they got obliterated. Ive seen the wrecks of the observatory and it is so sad that they couldn't replace the telescopes etc.
True Aussie larinkism that a PHD student lost in the fire her only copy of her thesis that she was about to submit a few days later. Now any PHD student in that field has a burning the thesis ceremony
I've lived in Canberra my whole life.
I live in Rivett. the suburb right next to Duffy, and was 12 years old when the fire hit.
After the fire cleared, me and my dad went to check a house that belonged to his friend that lived in duffy.
I have forever scratched into my mind the memory of a father and his son hosing off the smoldering remains of what once was their house.
Just even the look on the fathers face.... 17 years later, it STILL makes me cry thinking about it.
My fathers friends house in Duffy was still standing... the fire was stopped 3 houses down the road from his.
He was so lucky.
But after those last three houses was a black field, where many houses used to stand.
I live in canberra about 50 meters away from houses that were lost. It kills me to see streets I drive on everyday ablaze. THis was by far one of the worst days of my life. My thoughts go out to the people fighting fires in NSW right now
Amazing footage - and amazing fire, ambulance and police crews
Hats off to these guys and girls. Bloody awesome effort. Love from South Australia. I had family in ash Wednesday. I wasn't in ash Wednesday but I so much appreciate the job that you guys/gals do. Keep up the fantastic effort when Australia needs you. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou
Amazing footage. Well done to all the personnel who put themselves on the frontline.
13:22 is the coolest thing ive ever seen.
They've tracked fire fronts in the past spreading at 80-100km/h. I've heard stories of people burning in their cars because the couldn't outrun it.
If the conditions are right your chances of outrunning a fire are nill, having been a member of the volunteer fire service for over twenty years, it is quite amazing the speed these fires can travel at.
They are volunteers, they dont get paid :(
In the case of a national emergency first responders get compensation money
Remember the act fire and rescue was there to help in full force
ACTFR are professional firefighters I believe.
My nan lives in Holder and I remember coming home from school to hear that my Dad had rushed down to help protect her house. A few neighbouring homes were lost but I can remember being scared for my nan thats for sure.. Rip to all the loved pets that died in Weston Creek/Woden animal hospital. I will forever miss the big pine forest we used to walk through and collect pine cones in school holidays. Thank you to all the officials that did their best.
Absolutely amazing...I been there, you guys got balls of steel. Best you could under the circumstances!
Damn they were all so calm when it looked like hell was actually opening from the sky in the background
Good to see that cameraman wasn't just being a dead weight and was helping when he could 32:26
I remember this I was 12 living in outter canberra. It was terrifying!!
Some thing we will never forget. Our Home is 3 klms from this footage. Two fires came over us, but we were ok, sadly other people lost everything, our hearts go out to them.
THANK YOU FOR VIDEO
THANK YOU SPECIAL TO AUSTRALIA BUSHFIRE PERSON THERE WORK SAVE OTHER PEOPLE FROM FIRE
From the words, "you'll see it at 30 meters here soon 8:30 -9min and that reporter asking him what will you do if the flames come across like that?
"It Will come across like that." Its obvious This guy is a Gaangster Firefighter from way back.
i agree with belligerent truth ! it does make me proud to see my fellow firefighters in another country give it 1000% while going toe to toe with the red dragon, these guys truly went to hell and back to save as many lives and property as they could ! we texas boys know a thing or two about fire storms like this ( fire season 2011 ) and a few others. if i could have been there helping out i would have been !
Mate, It was so bad that it actually made it down near the South of Canberra's Central Business district. My house faced it and the only thing that saved it was the road.
@Phoenix mate the adrenaline, stress and fear is what keeps em going, you'll mind that majority of them would have dropped near dead once they had time to stop and relax
@Phoenix we can't wear a suit that pumps fluids around our body cause the fluid will just get hot and make us even hotter
@Phoenix we drink water like you wouldn't believe. I seem to drink about a litre an hour when its going like that. We alternate with an electrolyte powdered drink that honestly tastes terable but it seems to do the trick.
You keep going on adrenaline and stubbornness till your given a break. You don't want the break. Until you actually lie down. Then it's the sleep of the dead till some officer less than politely wakes you up to go back to work
"PUMPERS FUCKED" I'll never ever forget that line. What a day.
This guy was so overwhelmed
They were doing a very good job. Makes me proud to be human. My heart goes out to you.
im so greatful for vids like this that inform us all how dangerous and quick these fires can be.. thankyou Chris ..Very proud of our aussie firerys .. my bro is now one as well .stay safe all..
Oh my god 17 years today. I wasn’t born for another 2 years and it is no good for those poor people who lost their lives and property and stuff and also the poor animals.
I didnt think this footage would affect me as much as it did. Im lost for words
23:25 Poor guy is so spooked he can't say his own name.
Congratulations to these beautiful people!
Could you imagine being within that circumstance/environment and talking on the radio like your are on the phone to a telemarketer? My house was probably about 3Km away from this footage and even at the age of 4 I remember helicopters dumping water in the near distance. At 11am the sky only glowing red, we had German family friends staying with us and as far as I could remember the were under the impression that this was our every day life.
hats off to all serving and ex fire fighters! they are true blue bloody hero's and that give me so much pride to be an Australian!! risking their lives to protect other people's property!!! hats off to the camera man as well!! he kept such a cool head under so much pressure and he was extremely helpful in situations!!
this is such high quality footage, should be some narration, perfect for a documentary
It should of won a Film Festival documentary award
The Best Bushfire Video on UA-cam!
I think you would have to be there to believe it
“Bye fellas have fun!” WOOO it’s warm out here”
As fire fighter its a afternoon that I will never forget it was 3.00pm when the first embers fell from the sky a took out the forestry camp at Duffy where the NSW Rural Fire Service had there base camp.
Thoughts go out to all firefighters in NSW right now..
It's like it's snowing fucking sparks. Fucking insane
Incredible footage. Very brave first responders.
With a fire that size, something like Black Saturday, Legit you can't even tell if its night or day, scary stuff
Yep - it was around 2pm.
5:47 I pass that house on the way home from school everyday. So strange to think that almost every other house on that street was destroyed except that one
Watching this video makes me sad, even tho this was yearssss ago it’s still terrriblw and the fact that it happened again is shocking!!!!
That Same Firestorm Just Happened on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland
do you know if you can get this on dvd?? would be a good training footage for my brigade
When I was 10 I remember this fire
Everyone did an amazing job
Balls of steel
When I applied at ANU to study at the research school for astronomy and astrophysics on Mount Stromlo, I learned about this fire from the pictures of completely destroyed (antique) telescopes. It really is a shame those got destroyed, but I wondered why no effort was made to save them. However, seeing these videos really puts things in perspective, it showcases the absolute destructive power of those fire storms! Those telescopes could never be saved.
It always has to be people protection before asset protection Lithostheory
A scientific satellite that was being constructed on site was also destroyed.
It's amazing how the Eucalyptus just explodes in gas and fire upwards. Of all the places in the world for trees with oil in their systems to grow, it would be Australia. We have Mananita that grows wild here, and it's an oil based plant. Wow man. As always, stay safe! I watched another video about how people prepare for the bush fires, and the properties that fare the best are the ones with English Deciduous trees, water retaining plants, not grass, near the house, and a LOT of guts.
this particular fire actually changed the way the federal government of australia dealt with bush fire threats. prior to that, the country had way worse fires, and nothing was ever done, just more speeches and forgotten about. when canberra was threatened they jumped up and down and had the audacity to blame the bush fire brigade for not doing their job... what wasn't mentioned was the greens, who are basically protecting "nature" had burn offs outlawed, so the bush fire brigades could not do their job. before this day and the change in policy, new south wales had the main highway cut not once, but twice, in the exact same spot due to raging fires that actually evaporated water before it got anywhere near it. i'm only stating all this as not all the story is ever told, and considering the childish behaviour in australian politics, usually forgotten if it is in days after.
in no way will i ever detract, or disrespect, any of the firefighters of those days, or any to come. the job they have regardless of country, area, region, anything... is not an easy one and is also one of the most hazardous. full respect to all the boys and girls.
+sparhawk29 thanks from me and all the firefighters at last someone that understands what we have to put up with when we are out there trying to save the life's of others it a day that I will remember for the rest of my life as one of the many rfs personal on the ground that day.
The Greens are still doing it to this day, banning burn offs..
Fake news, maybe for fact checking this www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/12/is-there-really-a-green-conspiracy-to-stop-bushfire-hazard-reduction
Looking back 15 years later I find some things so strange. Knowing there was a full fire storm coming through the forest, why did they bother watering the gums? Why didn't they just cut them down so they could control their burn at a lower level reducing ember throw? The trees could have been replaced (and inevitably needed to be anyway).
It's the small things like that which catch my thoughts about that weekend. I also wonder today, 15 years on what, in reflection, would have been lessons learned by the professionals that would carry to today and whether they share them with the newbies of their crews today.
The majority of the trees probably survived just fine - eucalypts (gum trees) have adapted to and actually promote bush fires. They generally don't drop seeds until a fire has gone through and cleared the undergrowth.
Wow! This footage is one of the scariest situations I've ever seen. Everything seemed to be ablaze; trees, cars, houses...even the lawn and the hedges alongside the roads. For miles and miles they rode and it was always that same scene, and the darkness and those waves of embers flying everywhere all added up to make it look like a post-apocalyptic scene.
+Juan Berjón It was more scary seeing it in first person. I lived only 5km from where this was filmed. Fire barely missed my house. Thank the wind.
Yeah I was in Isabella planes. It was way too close.
i agree this is got to be hell on earth...
I was evacuated from bushfire zone in 2001 south of Canberra. The scariest thing i remember about the fires is how fast they're moving. It's ridiculous
I was close to the Cessnock, Abermain bushfire wetting down the house is surreal. The fire didn’t make it to my street thankfully.
And for every volunteer there is just as many fire-fighters who do it as actual jobs too, its a collective effort
14:00 just listening to the panic and distress is scary.