Friday, February 19, 2016

Wye River blaming...........

So the fire fighters union suggests that Lisa Neville MP was responsible for pulling a fuel reduction burn at Wye River some time before the fires that destroyed the houses that were situated there. She denies it, and I wish it was true that she considered the koalas there. It doesn't make any difference, because the fire got out of control not because of the the detritus from the trees and native plants and a fuel reduction burn that wasn't done.

The fire would have burnt through the area with a lot less damage had the houses not been massive piles of fire fuel.

The reason that Wye River went up in smoke was because the fire moved from house to house and increased in speed and intensity because of the fire fuel materials they were built from and fanned by winds, including those generated by an intense fire. The rubbish and combustibles in the yards, badly maintained house surrounds and private land around the area. Those buildings were built too close together. The trees are still standing. The houses have been destroyed. That tells the story itself. A certainty that the fire fighters union is trying to find a scape goat in the Minister. The terrain should not have had houses built there without certain safeguards.

The whole fire problem is built on the idea that fires begin in the forest, and some do, but most of the fires come off grass, and they run ahead of the wind and they destroy homes. The fire might not have been as intense had there been less houses or more space between the house at Wye River. But little of this is to do with the houses or anything else. It's climate change that we have sown and now we reap.

It's a beat up by the fire fighters who want to have someone to blame. Fire fighters should know better as they have seen houses light up and burn, in many instances before the fire can be brought under control. There is no forest in play in those situations either.


The Wye River example of Christmas 2016 is going to be a benchmark of sorts.

People who want to live in the Australian forest are going to have to take their chances with the way climate change is progressing and no one doing anything about it. It is also going to be dangerous if those forest dwellers don't keep the areas round their houses tidied up.

The Australian forest has lost most of its burrowing and soil foraging animals through predation by the feral introduced companion animals and the work done by land owners. So the forest floor is now just a bed of fire fuel round houses located amongst trees. Houses burn much better than trees and though the trees survive the houses become ash.

We have to learn to live with the animals of the forest and keep the bandicoots, wombats, potoroos and other animals in a quantity that will ensure their foraging forays throw some soil onto the leaf litter. This will assist in breaking it down over time as well and keeping it moist.

We can not any longer be the only occupants of forested areas, or we can, but at our peril.

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