any expats in victoria...looking at it on tv tonight, looks like a flight of b52"s have been carpet bombing it...over 130 dead,fire front 280 k"s wide...politicians crying on prime time!!..

Hi quakawoot, the fires came within 1/2 km. of our home and I can tell you it was like being in a war zone. We were lucky, but for a couple of days were ready to evacuate. It is a terrible sight to see the burnt land when we go out and worse still to hear how many have lost everything and in many cases their lives and worse still to know that the fires were started by some maniac. Things in this immediate area are slowly getting back to normal. Our thanks go out to all the volunteers who helped and are still helping and to the firefighters who risked their lives to help save others and we must remember that most of these men and women are volunteers.

Surprised how quickly this has disappeared from the BBC home page.

Fires are still raging. 181 confirmed dead, lots missing and more dead found but not identified. 1,800 homes destroyed and 7000 homeless.

The sun has been an orange ball today - heavy smoke hangs over the city.

One army general said he had never seen a war zone as bad as this.

Aussies are really good at supporting each other and so far over $100,00 million has been donated (GBP 40 million)

If you really want to see what's happening:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/

or

http://www.theage.com.au/national/bushfires

and for a nice feel-good story - have you seen this story about the koala?

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25038852-661,00.html

my heart goes out to you gosling...my family are in melbourne..and my brother rang me the other night to say it was only a few kilometres from his home....he too was ready to leave in a hurry...spoke to my nephew this morning and he was due to start uni in a couple of weeks but unfortunately the fire swallowed it up...terrible isnt it...but up in the northern parts its flooding everywhere....strange weather everywhere in the world isnt it...

Worst thing is that some idiots have been the ones starting the fires.

Worst thing is that some idiots have been the ones starting the fires.

Thank goodness they have caught one of the firebugs, he should be charged with murder in my opinion, he also had child porn on his computer, lowlife b*^#+-d.

i got cut off with bush fires few years a go up on friends property in mangrove mountain nsw .. we were well prepared and a good 300 meters of space from the front, but when the pine trees stared explodeing in a nearby plantation it was like being in a war zone ,we could feel the heat from 200 meters away .they"re pionting the finger now in victoria,but lot of people there were totally surrounded i don't think there was anywhere to run to evan if they had got a warning.the speed it came at ,something like 18 k"s in 10 minutes in one area i read.

What awful news we have had from Australia - we can only sympathise with people who have lost everything, even their lives. A correspondent of mine in Victoria lost his son, daughter-in-law and their three children. I agree with skippy that the b*^#+-d they have caught, and any other weirdos who are suspected of starting fires, should be charged with murder. They should never get out of jail if found guilty - in fact being strung up by their b---s would be too good for them. At least Sam the koala is safe; a heart-warming story.

Hi hillsbro, things are returning to normal or should I say close to normal in this area. As we are in our 70s we are very grateful for the help given to us by our neighbours Peter & Lorraine. Lorraine even arrived here on Valentine's Day with a large bunch of flowers to cheer us up Sam the koala could not have been rescued by a more compassionate person than David Tree who is always ready to lend a hand to all creatures great and small, including humans. I just thought I would let you know what kind of person he is.

Hi Gosling
I live on the Mornington Peninsula and our hearts and thought go out to you and the People of Kinglake, Churchill- Jerrelang, Flowerdale, Marysville, Beechworth, Bendigo........ To the 4000 plus volunteer firemen and women we salute you as heroes without you surely the state of Victoria would be in a sadder state than what we are now.
Be sure that Vic country will bounce back better, smarter and wiser than before.
Gosling if you ever need someone to have a beer with P.M me. I work with someone who lives in your area. It’s only today that the smoke from the Gippsland fire have drifted this way.

Hi gosling - it's good to know that there are people like David Tree around. In my travels around the world I have always met good, honest, friendly people - and I've come to the conclusion that most people are basically good. But some stand out from the rest with their selflessness and compassion, and David is clearly one of these.

As I've said elsewhere, checkout the website of "Catch the Fire Ministies", a "Christian" group who believe God, the Divine Terrorist, started these fires to punish Victoria for passing abortion laws!
As a typical terrorist, He didn't attack the parliamentarians who passed the laws; he went for a bunch of people and animals who had nothing to do with them!
That is not my God!

Mine neither John, I wanted to go into ministry 20 years ago, but after seeing 3 pastors having affairs & one that should have been locked up for embezzlement, I stopped going to church.
The true Christian people in my eyes are the ones that are out there helping others in this awful situation in Victoria & the floods in F/N Queensland, people like the one you mentioned should be locked away with the firebug.

fires are still burning.

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/incidents/incident_updates.htm

I have friends who are still on ember alert and have been for a week now - in the Healsville area.

It was heartbreaking to watch - especially being so far away and unable to volunteer.
The CFA and MFB people are real heros. Bess them - and my heart goes out to al who have been affected.

Remember to donate to http://www.redcross.org.au/default.asp

Hi yes a very sad day in victorian history.I have a friend who lived in flowerdale unfortunately he lost all he had everything I have yet to speak to him and what do you say that others have said. But again unfortunately my daughter has a friend who lives in the same area and she is still missing.

I think for the future moves could perhaps be made to encourage people to construct small underground shelters for last resort short term refuge, wouldn't need to be very deep. Won't save property but would save lives.