Thread: Huge fire on Fraser Island

Originally Posted by bob10

Happy Valley residents win their fight. It's been a long preparation, about six months ago an officer from the Victorian RFS came to Happy Valley [ presumably to retire] . Once there he joined up with the residents, many of whom are RFS QLD members. His experience during the Black Saturday fires in Vic. allowed the locals to prepare their town for just such an event as has been happening this week. Yesterday they back burned an area which diverted the main fire away from the town. In effect their efforts in preparation and fighting the fire saved their Happy Valley. Now those residents have joined other fire fighters to save the little settlement just south of Happy Valley. A good news story in a story with no good news so far. As for why the fire was allowed to burn for so long, we will have to wait for the results of the inquiry. A mate of mine on the Island told me he thought that there was supposed to be a southerly change in the wind, which would have turned the fire back on itself. Of course that didn't happen. Fraser Island has burned before, well before the white man came,[ according to oral history] and will regenerate. How long that will take, and whether there will be any change in the vegetation, I can't say.

It will regen in no time, in Mother Nature context!

Originally Posted by Saitch

It will regen in no time, in Mother Nature context!

No doubt. Although I'm not sure Mother Nature likes us any more.

Originally Posted by bob10

No doubt. Although I'm not sure Mother Nature likes us any more.

Are you surprised when one considers how the Hooman Race has treated her? I'm not.

The Dingos will be having a smorgasboard,trotting along the fire fronts,as they always do.

There will certainly be some devastation to the native wildlife.

One of my brothers has a unit at Kngfisher Bay, luckily it hasn't been damaged.

Originally Posted by Saitch

I'm no Bush Fire expert but, I'm thinking that, with Fraser being 100% sand, a sand containment line would would be pretty effective. Right or wrong?

its an island. its already contained

what your taking is a fire break using sand or mineral earth. depending on wind conditions, usually a 30-50m fire break is standard.
if wind conditions are bad, nothing will help

When the sand miners and loggers were still there, they made and maintained a lot of firebreaks and access tracks. As usual, once they got booted out, nobody included the maintenance of the tracks in their budgets.
Time to reap what they sowed.

Originally Posted by donh54

When the sand miners and loggers were still there, they made and maintained a lot of firebreaks and access tracks. As usual, once they got booted out, nobody included the maintenance of the tracks in their budgets.
Time to reap what they sowed.

That is 100% correct,as I said earlier, many of the tracks were actually fire breaks.

Its a pity we don't have the Ariel photographs for the island that we use to use before the place was mapped.

Originally Posted by Eevo

its an island. its already contained

what your taking is a fire break using sand or mineral earth. depending on wind conditions, usually a 30-50m fire break is standard.
if wind conditions are bad, nothing will help

Eevo, these fires aren't your 'Exploding Treetops' type fire, from what I can glean from reports.