Bells
Staff member
In various forms. Some of the fires were accidental, others were through sheer acts of stupidity, others like some in Queensland's South East, flared back up again when conditions changed and became so favourable to fires.I think it is reasonably certain that many of the recent fires were started by humans.
For example, the new Lower Beechmont fire on the Gold Coast (I say new, because the previous one about a month ago had destroyed so many homes and lives and had been contained within containment lines and burning in rugged bushland further out West) was started when the Army did live fire training in dense bushland at their Canungra base, using live ordinances - on a day of total fire bans and severe to catastrophic fire danger for the region.. That started a fire, and given it was so hot and windy, the embers flew up in the air and started fires in a few areas in that region.
One fire in New South Wales that became a raging inferno, was started when one farmer decided to do a backburn on his property and into the adjacent national park to protect his marijuana crop.
Another fire was started by teenagers. One on North Stradbroke Island off the QLD coast was started by lightning from a nearby storm a few days ago.
The Tewantin fire near Noosa was a flare up of a fire that has been burning for weeks.
For a lot of the other fires, the causes are yet to be determined.
I know that some of the fires and smoke were so bad, they literally spawned their own weather system and caused lightning which started even more fires. Some spread from backburning efforts and sudden wind changes or gusts.
It's not just actions. But the causes are varied and in some cases, we will never know why or how they started.Certainly there are various ways a fire starts but humans are responsible for most.
The percentage from other causes is small.
There are just so many fires is the point most all being started by humans, ...we are up to 300 homes gone and at least six people dead and certainly more.
Climate change has made the fires worse. Climate change has helped change the weather pattern in these areas, leading to hotter and dryer conditions in areas that were - a few years ago - lush tropical forests to now being so dry that they are virtual tinderboxes. You say you are in Sydney?Most folk are crying climate change which ignores the real problem. Climate change does not start a fire...and in any event if we can expect conditions to get worse should we not be asking what can be done to stop humans starting fires.
I don't think you quite understand how these areas and zones have changed. And it has changed in a relatively short space of time. The ecosystem has changed drastically. Lush tropical forests that were always misty and damp are now dry and arid.
These areas are now burning.
Climate change may not start the fires, but it has ensured the fires are hotter, spread faster and easier and spread to areas where fires would normally not burn - in other words, many of the fires in QLD is burning in tropical rainforests.
Fire scientist David Bowman said he was astounded by the scale and intensity of the Queensland bushfire emergency.
But what really caused him concern are the fires further north, near Mackay, which have penetrated the region’s rainforests.
“I know of no comparable event in scientific literature,” he said. “This isn’t a fire burning into the edge of a rainforest and stopping. This is a fire that seems to be burning through rainforests. And we’re seeing fires of astonishing intensity.”
But what really caused him concern are the fires further north, near Mackay, which have penetrated the region’s rainforests.
“I know of no comparable event in scientific literature,” he said. “This isn’t a fire burning into the edge of a rainforest and stopping. This is a fire that seems to be burning through rainforests. And we’re seeing fires of astonishing intensity.”
If we fail to address the cause that makes these fires worse and more common and allows them to burn as they are currently burning and in areas that should not be burning at all, then it will only get worse and it will only ensure that fires lit by nature, deliberate actions of humans or accidentally will be all the more common, destroy even more homes and result in more loss of life.The response that we need to address climate change seems the popular answer for those on that side which ignores the immediate problem.
It is folly to shrug and say "climate change..what can you do?" And fail to address this growing problem of fires...most all started by humans...folk seem happy to shrug and forget ignition comes from humans.
If we were in a movie maybe....If there was a terrorist attack resulting in these deaths and damage we would have marshal law etc.
Any fire is a problem for us - particularly at the moment. Because even a fire started by lightning, for example, can be catastrophic because those embers can carry on the wind for up to 20km's and start fires elsewhere - which is what has happened on the East Coast to a large extent.And the general response could focus upon the human element one could think rather than coming up with ways a fire can start...and the numbers show it is not natural fires that is the problem.
I just want to address another issue..
People have died in these latest bushfires because they refused to evacuate or left it too late to evacuate.
I still find it astonishing that people still do not have their stuff sorted and ready to grab at a moment's notice in the event of an emergency. I live next door to what used to be fairly lush sub-tropical bushland. It's literally over my back fence.. I have saved all photos to the cloud and memory sticks, as well as papers, etc, and it's all stored in bags, along with changes of clothes, toiletries, spare school uniforms for my kids and medications, etc, ready to grab as we get out the door to the car... If we get a watch and act warning, those bags are in the car and all the sprinklers are turned on and the pets are gathered - my kids get their school bags and put them in the car and we leave. And my neighbours do the same. We don't wait for a 'prepare to leave'. We are all already prepared and we get out at the first hint of a fire, because we know that if the wind changes, we won't have time to get out - regardless of how the fire starts.