# Australian bush fire season



## waltky (Oct 24, 2013)

Oops!...

*Military exercise sparked big Australian wildfire*
_Oct 24, `13  -- Fire officials defended Australia's defense department on Thursday after investigators revealed a military training exercise ignited the largest of the wildfires that have torn across the nation's most populous state over the past week._


> The Rural Fire Service said Wednesday that one of the more than 100 fires that have burned since last week began at a Defense Department training area as a result of "live ordnance exercises." The fire it sparked near the city of Lithgow, west of Sydney, has burned 47,000 hectares (180 square miles) and destroyed several houses, but no injuries or deaths were reported from the blaze.  In a statement, Acting Defense Minister George Brandis said the military was cooperating with investigators.
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> Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the defense department's actions were obviously an accident.  "It wasn't deliberate; it was a side effect of a routine activity, it would appear, and clearly there was no intention to see fire start up and run as a result of that activity," Fitzsimmons said. "There is no conspiracy here."
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## bianco (Oct 24, 2013)

Defence should have an explosions range where they can safely fire artillery shells or blow stuff up in other ways without starting bush[forest] fires.
Some Defence Force personnel are also Rural Fire Service volunteers.

Two 8 years olds today are the latest kids caught trying to light fires.
8 year olds should be tied to their mothers' waists, not roaming around the countryside.


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## waltky (Jan 8, 2016)

Whole town of Yarloop burned off the face of the earth...

*A Raging Wildfire in Western Australia Has Destroyed an Entire Town*
_"I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder"_


> The remote Australian town of Yarloop, population 600, is the latest casualty of a string of wildfires that have razed parts of the country in recent months.  Some 95 homes were lost in the town, located about 120 km from the Western Australian capital of Perth, after wildfires swept through it Thursday night after burning through more than 31,000 hectares earlier in the week, according to news site WAToday.com.au.
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> Hundreds of people have fled to evacuation centers to escape the fire, which was caused by a lightning strike Wednesday evening local time.  “There’s very little of Yarloop left … I look around 360 degrees and everything is burnt to a cinder. I think the post office is the only building left standing [in the main street],” one resident reportedly told local radio.
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## waltky (Jan 8, 2016)

Australia bushfire threatens more towns...

*Australia Waroona fire threatens more towns after devastating Yarloop*
_Fri, 08 Jan 2016 - A massive bushfire that devastated a small town is still burning out of control in Western Australia, threatening several more towns._


> A massive bushfire that devastated a small town is still burning out of control in Western Australia.  About 95 houses in Yarloop, south of Perth, have been destroyed and three people are reported to be missing.  Wind gusts of up to 60km/h (37mph) overnight fanned the blaze, dubbed the Waroona fire, to heights of 50m.  The fire area is now 58,000 hectares and emergency warnings remain in place for Waroona, Harvey and surrounding areas including Preston Beach.
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