Thank you United States and Canada - From Australia

a reply to: harold223

You are welcome...we will also be there when China comes for you...stay Team-Strong.

originally posted by: NoFearsEqualsFreeMan
a reply to: harold223

So, 2 days ago we had a story all over the news. The headline was something like this "Australia refuses help from Denmark to fight bush fires"

Denmark offered to send 50 firefigthers and some equipment to help with fires, that might not be a lot but wtf would you refuse any help at all? There is properly a good reason even though i cant thing of ANY at all.

But hope you guys are getting it under control again soon and are happy to see that you atleast took the help offered by USA and Canada.

Lol.
Australia doesn't need any help. There's more then enough people here to fight the fires.
There's 3,000 firefighters deployed in NSW, the NSW RFS has 72,000 volunteers.
Victoria has over 40,000. A couple thousand deployed there.
South Australia has just under 17,000, less then 1000 were deployed.

So you see, we dont need your 50 firefighters.
If they really were offered, it was for political reasons.

What we need is for everyone to STFU about climate change, because the concern RIGHT NOW needs to be on the fires burning, not on UN driven bull# agendas and social engineering programs.
What we need is our politicians to do whats needed for our firefighters to put these fires out.
More funding, as funding has been cut back, more equipment like fire chiefs have been asking for.
THAT is whats needed.

It's good experienced firefighters from North America could come help.

a reply to: makemap

Ox lives matter. Not Cows!

It's fake news that a cow fart is more deadly than a OX fart.

a reply to: mortex

I suppose a change in the climate (rain) would be the biggest help to fight the fires...

a reply to: Plotus

Not sure where in NC you are, but last year, January 20th was 83 in Charlotte. Been here 8 years now, you can experience all 4 seasons in a couple of days.

a reply to: harold223

Praying for Australia, and it's people. Hoping these fires can be contained and extinguished. Hang strong in there.

Too many lives already lost...[

a reply to: harold223

My heart aches every day

So many people from all over the world coming together to help our Australian friends. It's a beautiful thing.

Tragic that so many lives, including animals have been affected by these raging fires.

Always in my thoughts, my heart and prayers. Love from The USA!

The expertise of those US and Canadian firies with dealing with wild fires is invaluable to us. Hats goes off to you guys fro volunteering to travel around the world, put your lives at risk to help us out.

It's a shame that lessons from the Black Saturday fires in 08/09 weren't learned. Heaps of dry fuel on the ground, fire breaks not maintaining, clearing blocked and protested by the local nut jobs, and now we've lost lives, lost properties, millions of acres of land, untold devastation to the flora and fauna that will take decades to recover from.

After been involved in the Black Saturday fire fighting efforts I will say it's good to see communications between the different agencies involved in tacking these blazes has improved. I know those of us in the aircraft were forever pulling hair out at the stupid political decisions being made while waiting to bomb the fires.

If only the Government had listened to the experts, to those on the ground begging for the equipment and resources to prevent this stuff from happening.

originally posted by: ArMaP
a reply to: mortex

I suppose a change in the climate (rain) would be the biggest help to fight the fires...

Widespread soaking rain is what is really needed. And to be optimistic, there is a rain event on the forecast. To the north of Australia, the monsoon in starting to advance, albeit almost a month late, bringing tropical storm activity into Northern Australia. A settlement near Darwin in the Northern Territory received a record 560mm of rain over about 12 hours on Sunday. With luck, some of this moisture may reach the fire regions and even if it does not, it should help cool temperatures inland if some of the moisture feeds in. It is the inland desert furnace that is fuelling the hot winds fanning these fires.We can fight the forces of nature the best we can, but it may take nature herself to put these fires out.

originally posted by: harold223
While the thanks are flowing - I thank our own fire fighters, many of whom are volunteers for our various fire fighting associations. I want to clarify something here. Australia has paid fire fighters. The metropolitan fire services are all full time paid fire fighters. In much of rural Australia, fire fighting is conducted by volunteer organisations. What this allows for is a massive standing army of trained volunteers, ready to come into action when needed. In many communities, most able bodied men and increasingly women are volunteer fire fighters. They are not amateurs. They undergo extensive ongoing training. This summer, there are volunteers who have been away from their jobs, away from their farms, fighting these fires to save their communities. They have expended all their leave and are running without pay in many instances. They are true heroes.

Last I heard the volunteer firies can claim a federal grant for up to $6000to cover lost wages.
The state governments have assistance packages aswell although I don't know any details.
Finally got to see blue sky today as the smoke has temporarily lifted, gave alot of people a boost in spirits which is sorely needed.
Adding my thanks to all the true heroes out there, they know who they are!

originally posted by: bally001

... Got the boots off then peeled the wet smelly socks away. When the realization hit me I felt the stinging. Feet were like sunburned and blistered. ...

Beer? Beer? Sadly never had time for one for over 13 to 14 hours. Longest time I went without a smoke for ages also. Thank goodness for good pumps and hoses.

Funny how you don't feel it at the time. Trouser fire? Just pissed in me pants cobber.

Kind regards,

Bally

What an adventure !
Hoping for rain, as it is rumoured to be good for living things.

Congrats on adding a new trophy to your wet-smelly-socks collection !
Would also wish to commend you, for putting-out a trouser-fire, with pumps and hoses.

Thanks for sharing your tales.
They are very nice to read, and cheers to your homesteading spirit !!

a reply to: Nothin

Thanks. Had a little rain around my way. Further south needs it more.

Fingers crossed. Found a bull at the back door the other day. Product of no fences left in the surrounding properties. Quiet young thing. We have a notice board on FB for our locality and found the owners who walked him away with a bucket of feed. We have some grass returning around the house.



Bally

a reply to: bally001

Glad you have gotten some rain.
Will help with the fires of course, but also to nourish the surviving plants and animals.
Thanks for posting the pic of that handsome Ferdinand !

Be well good Bally !

a reply to: bally001

Most of Europe learns English beginni ng at primary school age

Absolutely horrific what ya'll went through!
We love you and are thinking of ya'll. So glad some rain and grass is coming in. That is incredible that that house weathered it so well. I love the Aussie Spirit!! I'm Texan so ya'll are like my siblings lol
Hoping for more rain and fast restoration down your way ❤️

International assistance

The New Zealand Defence Force and the Singapore Armed Forces are providing support through military assets and personnel. All Singapore Armed Forces and New Zealand Defence Force elements are now integrated into the operation.
100 light engineers from the Papua New Guinea Defence Force arrived in Australia on January 13 via C130-J Hercules. They will stage in Puckapunyal in readiness to support the ADF contribution to the Australian national bushfire response.
Defence has accepted the Republic of Fiji’s offer to provide a platoon of engineers, who will work alongside ADF personnel operating out of East Gippsland.
Defence has received additional offers from other international partners and expects these to be progressively developed as need and circumstances evolve.

Source

For people keeping track of international assistance to the Australian bushfires. The scope of Fiji and Papua New Guinea's support may deceive the reader at face value. Both contributions represent a sizeable percentage of their militaries.

Meanwhile, NZ Army engineers on Kangaroo Island have helped clear routes for emergency services and have helped complete 85 kilometres of fire breaks.

They've also had the job of removing bodies of wildlife - including kangaroos - who died in the devastating fires.

But they've also been constructing feeding stations for koalas and providing gum leaves and water to koalas who [s]urvived the blaze.

Source

The image of Australian and Kiwi soldiers assisting koalas is naturally moving and powerful. (See the above article). I am proud of the Kiwi fighters and NZDF members who are assisting our trans -Tasman brothers.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: bally001

Most of Europe learns English beginni ng at primary school age

That's good to know. Thank you for your uplifting comment.

Kind regards,

Bally

a reply to: bally001

On an emotional level, New Zealand is paying it forward. The people who lived through the events of February 22, 2011, Christchurch Earthquake, never forgot the extent of Australian and international assistance. New Zealand was caught off guard by the scale of the disaster. Upon reflection and in one instance, just knowing Australian federal and state police shared community roles with their Kiwi counterparts is deeply meaningful.