From slashdot....

"The historic Mt Stromlo observatory has been destroyed by fires. Unfortunately Google cache and similar archives are the only available detailed information. Looks like the web site was housed at the observatory. Telescopes housed there were 74" and 50" reflectors along with the "Oddie" 9" refractor used by the Canberra Astronomical Society. Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops. The view from the air is one of molten domes and twisted metal. These fires have already destroyed 388 houses in the suburbs of Canberra. Luckily the winds have not picked up today, but the danger is still high."

Rotten luck...You Aussies stay safe, you hear!!

/me 's heart feels heavy.

damn I hope everyone is ok. I've watched a few shows on Discovery about those fires and the damages they can do. I've only been in one fire and that was in Maine, it burned for a day and it was like hell on earth.

I have just come home, a week ago, from spending two weeks with my sister in Canberra. She lives in the suburb of Kambah. As it stands at the moment 39 homes in Kambah have been destroyed including two only 5 doors up from my sisters house. They are, thank God, ok and miraculously have suffered zero fire damage to their property although houses all around them were either destroyed or badly damaged. My brother in law, Martyn, had to help put out a fire at the neighbours house across the road. He broke his thumb in the process which is the only thing they suffered through the ordeal. Martyn described the event to me as tho a fireball had been shot from the mountain behind his home and exploded over Kambah. It was a matter of 30 seconds between "hey look, the mountains burning!" to being surrounded in a cyclone of fire.
Please remeber the people of Canberra right now they need all the goodwill the can get right now.

My thoughts/prayers go out to them...may they be safe!

Since there's a smoke haze now, here in Melbourne...a couple of hundred miles from the worst of it...we're talking an affected area the size of the UK.

Now if Howard would just stop hugging destitute owners and actually BUY a few 'Elvises' to have in Oz on permanent stand-by we'd be a lot better off.
OK, so they're expensive....but not as much as 4 dead, a few hundred casualties and 400 houses lost.
Houses alone would average out at about $100,000,000 AUS...[about US$45,000,000].
That's gotta buy an Elvis undercarriage, at least...

Elvises = Fire Trucks ?

Dunno, but seems to me that being able to at least attempt to control an put out fires would dictate having the equipment at the least.

Wow, it almost sounds like the wild fire we have out in the midwest and west here in the states every so often. But on a more regular basis...

Ande-
there has been a fire burning in bushland on Stradbroke Island for over a week which has been responsible for the haze etc. over Brisbane. Must say that the moon here at Victoria Point on Saturday night was the most amazing colour due to the fire.

Iplural,

In case you are wondering, the "Elvises" we refer to down here in Australia, are the Erricson Skycrane helicopters we "borrowed" from the USA.

They all had names, one of which was Elvis, so it seemed easier to call them all "elvises" instead of "Erricson Skycrane".

That's the way we Aussies think, and that's the way it should be... the simpler, the better!!

Hi Garry, Here on Bribie Is. its been surreal looking at times. The Island being 4/5ths National Park has had its fair share of fires this summer all deliberately lit. Strange how it always happens during school holidays. A fact well documented. I know many people in Canberra, at this juncture they seem to have missed out, thank goodness.

But I wholeheartedly agree with Jafo, in a country as susceptable to bushfires as Aust. is, and will continue to be, whats four firefighting choppers. (Elvis Type). Cost should not be a consideration when human life is at stake. Maybe somthing like this might wake them up(Politicians), but I won't hold my breath.

Ande,

I agree with you totally, but the Sydney fires from 1995, 1999 & 2001 should have been the wake up call!!

Were those election years? Probably not... Damn self-serving politicians....I bet they would react differently if their homes were threatened....

Right on Kent.

Jafo, cool

You know maybe they should look into the vintage Sikorski's from Nam? Not the Huey, but the first one, I'll have to look it up. They use them here for fire and also police rescue. Four to five long wide bladesfor heavy lift. There are also internal tanks you can install for fire retardents and such.

US Military surplus would be a place for them to look also...

One of the shows I watched about the Bush fires, was about one where a family got caught in their car and the two teenagers ended up walking through a tunnel for fire from the trees that lined the dirt road and the mother got stuck in the car. Happened a few years back I guess, but they showed the car after everything was put out and she was removed from it. It was like an oven, baked the car clean of paint, rubber and glass...

Nasty stuff, even harder with just how much outback can be OUTback...

stay safe, you and yours and everyone else

How's it going down under?

goodmorphing, it's just gone 0250 on Saturday and the temperature in Melbourne is around 35C.
Smoke haze is a trifle less than through the day but is still around.
Fires all over the East Coast and in very difficult areas.
The number of homes destroyed in the Canberra suburbs and outer areas has reached 530+ at last report, like we said, this in an area with a total population of 300,000.
The choppers are Sikorsky Skycranes, big mothers and very capable, the cargo pods are replaced by tanks or water pickup gear.
Of course, not a lot of open water around for them to pick up ..... and another pair are on the way.
We live in a (typically) well timbered outer suburb with a lake and parkland bordering our property, being 'bush' it is well set to go up in a flash.
It is accessible for the normal fire fighting services so it is not as nerve wracking as living in the alpine resort areas and waiting for the fires to come over the ridge .... but it sure keeps one on their toes.
Forecast for Saturday, 41C and dry .... and we are almost in the Southernmost tip of the country.
Fire bombing aircraft are a sore point in this country, cost aside, the control of them is a a hot topic and maintaining them is a big issue.
Civilian contractors are not an option, the temptation to cut costs can be ugly, the Herc that augured in last year in California was a classic example, airframe maintenance updates lacking and resulting in catastrophic centre section failure ....... not an unusual happening.
Old airframes subjected to stress and loadings not built into the original design are not happy aircraft!
France has their "Securite Civile" (I think that's the name) airborne fire fighting force and it is an example of the right way to tackle this problem, the Canadians are on a similar footing, both using purpose built aircraft as well as heavily modified airliners or freighters with good service histories.
Over the past few years the manufacturing and maintenance infrastructure in the Australian aviation industry has all but vanished ...... civilians couldn't operate fire bombers and of course, if the RAAF were tasked with the job it becomes very 'political'.
As always, we'll get by, but at what cost?

keep me in a fit! on my toe's HA! heck this time of year I would be constantly asking people, you smell something? ah, something burning maybe? gee-sh!

You know if the blast would be such a negative thing, I wonder if there would be a way to blast like they do to remove the O2 when caping oil well fires? Of course, that would probably end up blowing ambers everywhere which would be as bad if not worse a thing. One place in Canada they have two large flying boats for fire work, guess they work out well, but they also have the Atlantic right near them.

Stay safe and I am hoping that everyone is safe. Homes, and stuff can be rebuilt, but people....