Fires in WA south west.

[the ferret]

Just heard on the radio that 20 houses have been lost to date around Margret River,DX grunt country.
Hope they can get it under control soon, very strong N/E winds fanning the fire in a very thickly wooded area of WA.:blowup:

[MudRunnerTD]

hey Ferret, is that 20 today?
There was about 20 yesterday or early this morning Vic time as it was on the news here this morning and may have been on last night too.

Apparently it was a prescribed and controlled burn that got out of hand!!!! Damn you'd hate to be the bloke that designed that one!

Good luck to all and hope they get it under control soon. Come on Mother Nature look after our friends over there.

[the ferret]

Yeah, all I heard was 20 houses and they are spread out so it's a big fire.
It's not Mother natures fault, I blame the powers that be for preventing people from clearing, it seems that we have to have an "envelope" around our homes to keep the tree huggers happy.
The same situation as the tragic Vic fires.
I think that people are more important than trees!!
It's not just houses and sheds, it's lifetimes and lives, heartbreak and devestation.
Nuff said from me on the subject, because if I get started, I will surely be banned.

[AB]

Don't get me started either mate!

Good luck to anyone in that area and don't be a hero....Get out to safety whilst you can.

Our local councils have just now released news that for towns effected by black saturday fires are allowed to clear shurbs up to 30m from houses.

[the ferret]

Don't get me started either mate!

Good luck to anyone in that area and don't be a hero....Get out to safety whilst you can.

Our local councils have just now released news that for towns effected by black saturday fires are allowed to clear shurbs up to 30m from houses.

In Your area Andy and many others, a hundred metres is not enough, the trouble is the fire flies through the tops of the trees, green or not, creating its own draught.
Then the ground fire follows at a very scary speed, upto 60ks/hr, faster than you could run.
The same thing happened in the Blue mountains years ago, but no one listens.
We have a thing here in the West called "Bush forever" what a joke.
I almost lost my life's achievements (4 acres of bush) with house after some fat tart with a green hat nominated it for "conservation category wetland" never had water on it in 25 years.
I owned an earthmoving company, so you can guess the rest, I win!!
Some are even prevented from doing anything on their property at the risk of heavy fines or prison.
I could go on for a year on here about the "rules" that are imposed, but My hands are tied because I love this forum.

[AB]

You just need to take matters into your own hands mate and do what you need to do to be safe.

having saying that we also can't have every man and his dog cut down every tree in their property but good management plans of clearing the shrubs and undergrowth around your house and the local council needs to ensure the bush is kept clean and regular burn offs are done. Bush needs fires for natural clearing and regrowth. Mankind has stopped this, thus many bushy areas and forests are petrol bombs just waiting to go off.

I am trying to protect my family with what I believe to be a good system consisting of the following but lack of funds will take a while for this to happen...

100,000 litre concrete water tank. Not only for water supply but a last resort to jump in if the fire is out of control, etc....Possible scuba gear set up, stay under water until it passes, etc...I also thought of some kind of giant bell or an object chained in the middle of the water tank to create an air pocket with an oxygen bottle you can just turn on, etc...

My plan is to run a large diesel pump off the tank with 3-4" pipe underground and around the perimeter of the house with 1" irrigation uprights on the walls of the house mainly on the north side with steel fountain sprays mounted side on which will spray atleast a 4m vertical radius creating a wall of water for embers to hit, etc....Photo of fountain sprays below....These are by far the best option for sprays.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/11/33.jpg

Impact sprinklers are basically useless in bushfires and I saw a few houses burn down with 4 or 5 big impact sprinklers on the roof. If there's a bad bushfire then there is obviously wind and the impact sprinklers are pretty much just watering your neighbours lawn not your house.

You could have the impact sprinklers situated 20-30m north of your house to wet that area and to also wet your house when the wind picks up...I might also put 4 or 5 of these on north side of my property.

Unfortunately there is no Australian Standard out there for bunkers but a good solid bunker would be nice if money is no option.

Having saying that...When my 100,000 concrete water tank is finished and my family is sitting in that 2m under water with 200mm thick of concrete and 100,000 litres of water around us then I would like to see any fire in the world burn through that puppy...


Thanks Rod, you got me started....LMAO

[AB]

Also, my area has 45,000 stringy bark gums. These are tall spindly trees that are opportunist tress.

My entire area before the gold mining days was beautiful massive river gums and ghost gums, etc....Average spacing of trees was around 20-30m apart with beautiful branches, etc.

During the mining era our entire area was cleared. Over the last few decades we now have thousands of spindly trees which have taken over the area. These are dangerous, fall over and have suffocated the area with a huge fire risk.

The council wants the area to be natural, etc then why not remove all of these tress and plant what trees were native to the area before white man stuffed with it....

Rant is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

[the ferret]

Ummmmm, I have ta go and make some light brackets!!............. or something.

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt164/ferret/004.jpg

[Silver]

My sympathy to anyone affected by the WA fires. AB, those ember attacks can be so intense - I am no expert, but think you might be on the right track with a constant and close stream of water droplets.

[YNOT]

My sympathies to anyone affected as well.
I don't know much about fighting fires but I do know in a water fight a garden hose beats a gerni! (I had the gerni).

Tony

[Silver]

you need to get close with the gerni - I know this because I passed one of those rotating head jets from a Karcher over my bare foot in a moment of inattention. Only the once!

[DX grunt]

It's quite a fair way away, but I was down in Albany today and you can clearly see the smoke. Huge!!

[MudRunnerTD]

Come on Mother Nature look after our friends over there.


Yeah, all I heard was 20 houses and they are spread out so it's a big fire.
It's not Mother natures fault, I blame the powers that be for preventing people from clearing,

I 100% Agree with you Ferret, disgraceful!.. My comment about mother nature was directed at looking after the people on the ground today and allow the wind to die down and everyone to be safe and well. Also obviously that ol' mate Mr Grunt might be far enough away that he stays safe.. I definately dont blame Mother Nature, just asking her now for some help mate ;)




It's quite a fair way away, but I was down in Albany today and you can clearly see the smoke. Huge!!

^^^^^^ Speak of the devil ^^^^^^ Glad your OK mate.

[the ferret]

[ QUOTE BY MUDRUNNER] " I 100% Agree with you Ferret, disgraceful!.. My comment about mother nature was directed at looking after the people on the ground today and allow the wind to die down and everyone to be safe and well. Also obviously that ol' mate Mr Grunt might be far enough away that he stays safe.. I definately dont blame Mother Nature, just asking her now for some help mate "



Absolutely no offence intended Mudrunner, infact I thought about that but I also thought it was out of her hands atm, and in the hands of idiots interfering with Mother nature.
Sometimes She needs to be coaxed, like lots of women, but in the end She will win and take care of the situation in her own way as she has done since the beginning of time.
It is MAN who is the problem here, as always, and yes, we sure do need her help at the moment.
Cheers, the ferret

[MudRunnerTD]

[ QUOTE BY MUDRUNNER] " I 100% Agree with you Ferret, disgraceful!.. My comment about mother nature was directed at looking after the people on the ground today and allow the wind to die down and everyone to be safe and well. Also obviously that ol' mate Mr Grunt might be far enough away that he stays safe.. I definately dont blame Mother Nature, just asking her now for some help mate "



Absolutely no offence intended Mudrunner, infact I thought about that but I also thought it was out of her hands atm, and in the hands of idiots interfering with Mother nature.
Sometimes She needs to be coaxed, like lots of women, but in the end She will win and take care of the situation in her own way as she has done since the beginning of time.
It is MAN who is the problem here, as always, and yes, we sure do need her help at the moment.
Cheers, the ferret

All good Rod, no offence taken mate, there are idiots over there that will be held accountable when this is over i hope. Damn! what a mess.

Glad to see you around rossco, you were a little quiet.

I hope Mother Nature brings some rain today to help the folks out.

Cheers MR