Victorian Bushfires

[freezingkiss]

* 84 dead after it 'rained fire' on towns

* Major bushfires still raging in Victoria

* Local coverage at the Herald Sun

* CFA: Live fire updates



AT least 84 people are dead in the bushfires ripping through Victoria, in a disaster which has eclipsed the state's Ash Wednesday devastation of two decades ago.



Authorities are continuing a grim search for more bodies as horrific eyewitness accounts emerge from devastated communities. It was estimated at least 750 homes had been lost - 550 of them in the Kinglake area.



Victoria Police have confired 84 deaths, but the final toll could rise much higher as authorities move further into the affected towns.



Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced emergency relief funding for the state, saying "Hell in all its fury had visited ... many good people lie dead".



Whole towns have been destroyed and thousands of people left homeless with record temperatures and fierce winds sparking devastating infernos.

Related Coverage



* Fire toll reaches 84, likely to riseThe Australian, 8 Feb 2009

* Fires destroy three schools, close 72NEWS.com.au, 8 Feb 2009

* Fears for TV star, toll soarsHerald Sun, 8 Feb 2009

* Support: Web reacts to bushfiresNEWS.com.au, 8 Feb 2009

* Fires kill 76 in Victoria ... and toll tipped to riseDaily Telegraph, 8 Feb 2009



The town of Marysville was reported to have been wiped out, but the Country Fire Authority (CFA) said many residents had made it to emergency shelter in a local park.



More destruction and power blackouts are possible, with up to a dozen fires still burning out of control. And it has been reported that arsonists are suspected of relighting some fires after fire crews had brought them under control.



The worst bushfire to strike Victoria was the 1983 Ash Wednesday disaster when 47 people were killed in the state.

Facing the fires? Tell us your story below.



Most of the bodies were discovered in towns northeast of Melbourne - 11 at St Andrews, 10 at Kinglake West, eight at Kinglake, five each at Humevale and Flowerdale, four each at Callignee and Wandong, three each at Taggerty, Whittlesea and Hazelwood, two at Hazeldene and one each in Arthurs Creek, Strathewan, Upper Callignee, Jeealang, Long Gully, Yea, Marysville and Bendigo.



At least six bodies were found in the one car at Kinglake, with reports that others may have been trying to escape the fire in cars.



Police have not yet given the gender or ages of the victims, but one Kinglake resident said three members of the same family, believed to include a 14-year-old girl, a nine-year-old boy and an uncle, had died in the same house.



"It rained fire," another Kinglake resident told Sky News.



Strathewen resident Mary Avola said her husband of 43 years, Peter Avola, was among those killed. "He was behind me for a while and we tried to reach the oval but the gates were locked," she told Melbourne's Herald Sun.



"He just told me to go and that's the last time I saw him."



Firefighter Richard Hoyle described the scene as "a holocaust". "The road is riddled with burnt-out cars involved in multiple collisions and debris," he said.



Raylene Kincaide, of Narbethong, said her home had been destroyed and there was little left of the town. "Everyone we know has lost everything they had," she said on ABC radio.



More than 20 people have been admitted to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital with burns and three are in a critical condition. Seven of the injured have burns to more than 30 per cent of their bodies.



Anyone concerned about family or friends in fire areas should call the CFA on 1800 727 077.



Premier John Brumby has described the disaster as "the worst day in our history". He called the bushfires "a monster that couldn't be controlled".



The CFA said the communities of Kinglake, Kinglake West, Toolangi, Glenburn, Strathewen, Chum Creek, Dixons Creek, Castella, Pheasant Creek, Doreen, Yan Yean, Woodstock, Mernda, Mittons Bridge, Hurstbridge, St Andrews, Panton Hill, Arthurs Creek, Smiths Gully, Christmas Hills, Healesville, Yarra Glen, Coldstream, Tarrawarra, Steels Creek, had been and still may be directly impacted upon by the fire.



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Luckily none of my family have been affected, but this is really bad, it's worse than the Ash Wednesday fires, which affected Victoria and South Australia, and even then the death toll was less than this.

[ostrich]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/08/...a-Wildfires.php

At least 80 people were hospitalized with burns. Dr. John Coleridge of Alfred Hospital, one of the largest in the fire zone, said injuries ranged from scorches on the feet of people who fled across burning ground to life-threatening burns. At least three would probably die, he said.

What a grim prognosis...

Wildfires are common during the Australian summer. Government research shows about half of the roughly 60,000 fires each year are deliberately lit or suspicious.

Hmmm...



~~~



The part that I found especially sad about this event is the fact that people were found charred in their cars, obviously burned to death while trying to flee the flames...



As far as the fires go, though, it's good to hear that most people got out alive, even if their houses are burned to the ground... hopefully, the firefighters will be able to contain the fires soon...

[sadude]

Wow, that's pretty bad. We had some wildfires in California last year, but I don't remember the death toll for those, just a lot of property damage.

[freezingkiss]

Death toll up to 108. Most people are seeking refuge in the Northern Suburb of Whittlesea, which is about 15 minutes away from my Mums house O_o.

[yuzuriha]

Last I heard was around 200. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />



FK, I'm glad you and your family are fine. I hope no one else out there has family or friends affected by this. It's terrible, seriously.



Mother nature is our worst enemy sometimes. :\

[freezingkiss]

Thank you Yuzu! Yeah I'm absolutely nowhere near it (2000 kms north, im closer to the massive floods in Far North Queensland then in Victoria). But when my Nanna opens the door to her house she can smell smoke O_o. Yeah, death toll is 189 now.