Bushfires

[den]

80 missing, 181 dead, police chase arsonists

Looters have moved in. Bastards.

Comments

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

These are pretty far from you, right? Reports here say they're in SE Oz. So you're safe?

-=Kiyoshi

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

The Victorian fires are 900km south of me. The nearest fire is 400km east.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

That's about what I was thinking. While my thoughts and prayers are with your fellow countrymen (as well as my outrage that our country has done nothing yet to send aid, that I have heard), I am relieved that you, and the foxaroo, are safe.

-=Kiyoshi

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Not nothing. (http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/newmedia.nsf/798c8b072d117a01ca256c8c0019bb01/7e35762feb8c242bca256cbd007d08fe!OpenDocument) And the skycranes you see doing water bombing belong to the National Guard.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Seems a little unbalanced: we get 150, we send 21. But if we're also sending slurry bombers (I presume that's what a sky crane is?), then that will be a major help. I wonder that it hasn't hit our news, yet.

But then, the Teflon President is taking up most of the news' time with his travels to places where he's sending pork spending federal stimulus.

-=Kiyoshi

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

You really don't like him, do you? 8)

The skycranes are massive helicopters carrying 5000gal water tanks with dump doors, and a re-fill pump and hose.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

What? No, I'm delighted that we've opened the racial barrier and finally gotten a minority president!

What I don't like are his policies, the idiots leading Congress, and the media's way of erasing anything that might make him look bad (which they've been doing for at least a year, now).

So Skycranes are helicopter versions of slurry bombers. The later can come in the form with a tank of water/fire retardant inside the fuselage, or a giant bucket at the end of a control rope, which they can replenish at local lakes.

-=Kiyoshi

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

I didn't know we'd sent people and equipment--good for those firefighters!

Sadly, our news coverage IS pretty unbalanced--I haven't heard anything on the radio about bushfires, and far too much about steroids in baseball. Thank goodness for the internet...

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

NPR has had daily coverage, but they keep it brief, only to get back to Capitol Hill with the latest in federal waste spending.

-=Kiyoshi

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

There will always be opportunistic vultures among us. Fortunately during such disasters, the best people also come forward.

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

I don't really have anything to say about this except I'm sorry and I hope they catch the buggers! *HUGS*

[ursuscal.livejournal.com]

I hate looters. I've worked more than one forest fire where looters moved in. I think they should issue "shoot on sight" orders for them. They are truly the scum of the earth (other than the arsonists.)