Worry

[flexibeast]

Yesterday a near-clear-sky lightning strike started a major fire within kilometres of my parents' place. Within the last 24 hours or so, it's already burnt around 7000 hectares; and it's moving through rough country, not easily accessible.

Fortunately, the fire is currently moving away from them, but ember attacks are still a major concern. Also a concern is the fact that some of their neighbours have decided not to stay and defend - and in fact are interstate at the moment - which obviously provides increased opportunities for a fire to reach my parents' property.

Police-enforced roadblocks have been set up to prevent people travelling through the area. This isn't a problem in itself, but it is a problem when even family members aren't allowed to enter the area to assist their family. This has meant that my sister, who lives nearby, cannot assist my parents in defending their place; and even more stupidly, a roughly 80-year-old couple who asked police to let their son through to help them defend their place were refused. It's ludicrous.

And i'm very worried.
 

Comments

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you, it's truly awful.

The police sound up to their usual unintelligent (at best) standard.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the police are actually following rules/regulations or some such. Of which there are now so many that my father, who has many years of fire-fighting experience - including being a regional communications officer for the CFA - is not allowed to provide advice and/or suggestions as to how to combat the fires, because he's not accredited or something. :-/

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

Well, they are being over-literal, I imagine, or else the beuaracrats and/or politicians lack sense (nothing new there, either).

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

*nod* i suspect it's the latter. :-/

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

I know that feeling... :(

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Ah no! For you personally, or your family?

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

Both, though in many ways the worst was just before moving to Melbourne this time around. I moved from Canberra (though I'm from Sydney) during the height of the 2003 fires, just after the smoke had been so thick it literally turned midday to midnight. My whole suburb was put on warning to evacuate, I was all packed waiting to leave. Every time I left the house I was expecting to not be allowed to return and to have lost everything by the time I got back. I took my hard drives with me when I went out.

But also I spent between 8 and 21 with bush just over the back fence. I've done the "prepare for fire" thing more times than I can count. Eventually my parents got a petrol powered pump and had sprinkler systems installed on the roof, so the outside of the house had water spraying all over it whenever fires came near. They had a swimming pool for the water supply.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Ah, the Canberra fires. :-( i myself used to live in Canberra, which is where i met a former partner of mine. Her parents live on the edge of the Belconnen area, and we were most worried about a fire racing up the hill from the Murrumbidgee valley. Fortunately, that never happened. And sounds like you didn't suffer any losses yourself?

Re. preparations - yes, my parents have a swimming pool themselves, and a creek (nominally) runs through their property, but there's been so little rain up there for so long that they've had to resort to buying water and carting it in (for both themselves and their stock). They've also planted many trees around the property in the past, which, whilst usually a good thing, are a pain at the moment, as they're constantly shedding material which a fire would have a great old time with. So my parents have been spending much time trying to clear this stuff up.

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

I've never lost anything to a bushfire, just had the living daylights scared out of me. I was in Kaleen at the time and the fires were coming from Yass.

Parent's who live in the middle of nowhere are a pain. Mine moved to the middle of nowhere a couple of years ago.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that you only lost some hairs on your head, rather than anything else. :-)


Heh, i used to live in Lyneham (amongst other places).

Yeah, my family moved there whilst i was still in primary school. Growing up in that area was, for me *cough* not a pleasant experience. i was glad to move out to go to uni in Canberra. (Which still feels as much as a 'home city' to me as Melbourne does.)

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

I lived in Toad Hall (ANU on campus), Curtin, and Civic as well as Kaleen in the ACT. Never living in Canberra again! I get really depressed living there, it's so DULL. Were you ANU or UCan? What did you study if I may ask? I was composition at the school of music and ACAT briefly, then video game programming years later at a sleazy private college I couldn't drop out of without getting sued :(

Canberra has such a transient population, most people there are from somewhere else.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

i started out at ANU, but ended up studying at both ANU and UCan. i also started out doing a combined BA/BSc, but dropped the BSc at the end of first year. i had originally intended to do comp.sci. as my BSc major, but when i found out that to do so, i'd basically have to repeat all the maths study i'd just completed at High School, i was none too impressed. :-P So i ended up doing two Biology subjects, Statistics - which i'd also just done at High School! - and Geography before dropping the BSc. On the Arts side, i majored in Womens' Studies, with my other main subjects being in the areas of Spanish, Linguistics and German (Spanish at UC).

The private college sounds awful - was it worth it, in the end?

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

Ah an even weirder mix than I :) The private college sucked, as most do. Might as well link to the scumbags again, they deserve it. You know an institution is dodgy when they make you sign a non-disclosure agreement as a student, though I gather they've cleaned up their act somewhat now.

And apologies for the deleted post with the stuffed link, so easy to stuff links when replying via email.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Ah an even weirder mix than I :)

Heh. :-)

You know an institution is dodgy when they make you sign a non-disclosure agreement as a student

i reckon! Who do they think they are, the Australian Institute of Technomages? :-P

And apologies for the deleted post with the stuffed link

No worries. :-)

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

You should read this (locked of course) post, as should others on my friends list http://penguinpusher.livejournal.com/9606.html

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Argh. My sympathies.

Re. the NDA, it vaguely puts me in mind of a Dilbert in which the company said it owned its employees' "DNA and all derivative works". Even if such 'agreements' are technically legal, and notions of consent through duress are put aside, i can't see them as being morally and/or ethically reasonable . . . . but then, apparently psychopathy is common business behaviour nowadays (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1825713.htm). :-P

Re. employers having difficulty finding the IT staff they seek, here are a couple of my whinges on the issue:

http://hierodule.livejournal.com/34276.html (http://hierodule.livejournal.com/34276.html)
http://hierodule.livejournal.com/37686.html (http://hierodule.livejournal.com/37686.html)

[penguinpusher.livejournal.com]

Given the nda it's better further discussion is in locked posts I'm afraid. These people are not at all nice.

Re the links, wow that's ALMOST as bad as the games industry. Although games often features incredible and unpaid crunch times too- I understand the employee record at Ion Storm was 90 days in the office without going home at all while making Deus Ex for example :(

[indigo1.livejournal.com]

ah crap. i hope your folks are ok, and your folks' place is unharmed.

at least that's one thing i don't have to worry about with my parents, as they live in a treeless desert...

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)

Yes, i've been reading about your dad's travails; having to deal with a major fire would be the last thing your parents would need right now . . . .

[stef-tm.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Sending love to you and your family.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)

[ilikerivers.livejournal.com]

Where are your folks?
My dad has been fighting the fires for the last month and is now in Bairnsdale.
It's scary. A couple of years ago I was staying in Wodonga and we got the calls to pack and be ready to leave, luckily they got the fire under control a few kms away.

I'm praying for rain...

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

They're up in north-east Victoria, on the edge of the Tatong fire.

Does your dad live in the Gippsland region?

Yes, rain would be wonderful, although it's been so dry up there for so long now . . . . :-(

[ilikerivers.livejournal.com]

I think most of the fires are under control at the moment, I just hope the weather holds and doesn't get hotter or more windy.
He lives in Wodonga where I grew up, but he's been to a few different fire bases over the last few months. He does radio and logistics for the CFA mainly.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Well, the most recent outlook for the northeast region suggested possible thunderstorms from Tuesday through to Thursday, which could be good if they bring rain, but bad if they mainly (or only) bring lightning strikes, which is how so many fires have been started in that area of late . . . .

Re. your father - ah, okay. The poor guy must be absolutely wrecked. :-(