To all you Sth Aussies, take care in the heat and the wind. It's never you who lights the fire which burns property to the ground. Just watch the Jiffy Firelighters @ 60kph. Bushfires are hellish. I'm thinking of you all. Take care and stay cool.

According to the news last night on TV.....seems theres lot of confusion about the term Catastrophic..or Code Red CATASTROPHIC FIRE DANGER RATING (Fire Danger Rating 100 and over) Some fires will spread rapidly and be uncontrollable. There is a very high likelihood that people in the path of a fire will be killed or seriously injured. Many homes are very likely to be destroyed. Even the best prepared homes will not be safe. You should not plan to defend any home when the fire danger rating exceeds 100 (CATASTROPHIC), regardless of any preparations you have made. If you live in a bushland area it is recommended that you prepare immediately to leave for a safe place, and leave if fire breaks out or is burning near you. Leave well before fire threatens your home. What I saw was......2 areas were declared.......and people just went about dayly business they were told to evacuate their town....travel hundreds of klm.....incase a fire might have started on west coast.....They wanted guidence on where to go to.....where the fire was.....if they didnt know where it was.how would they know which direction to go....one person said...they get about 10 of these days a year.........nothing happened....yet....and who was going to pay....wages.....fuel........etc.....for days like yesterday.......when nothing happened..I guess its be like .......crying wolf.....do it enough times and ppl wont listen then it would be too late.......and lives would be lost.... No one wants another BLACK SATURDAY Dave

Well at least somebody is thinking of us Smokey. :) What else can the authorities do. Some folk just won't use common sense. I think my evacuation plan is very good. I have used it whenever I have looked like being in trouble and that is not limited to bushfires. It says simply........"Get the F&%K OUT!!!" Works for me. :) Thanks for your thoughts and concerns Granny and Sir Terro. I think our garden shade and bird bath are going to be well used today.!!

My thoughts are with you.

Take great care of yourselves.

May I add my thoughts about your safety and that of all your friends and neighbours.We all care and pray that you will be safe.Cheers.Ibbo.

Same from me guys stay safe. If you have to get out, get out early. 

Me too guys. Please stay safe. Cheers, xina.

No dead heros please, stay calm and scarper at the first inkling that you may be threatened. Remember to take the things you cant replace, photo albums, pets and the like leave the rest...

good god we're not dead yet, we have had many days of extreme fire danger including many days of in excess of 40 degrees, the media have just got onto this and brought it to everyones attention, until they find something else to latch onto this will be front page news, tonight it will be the asylum seekers getting a short cut to australian soil! we refire the header as soon as I get back around 9 ish tonight unless I am needed to cart water for the firies down in the yorke peninsula, poor buggers they are doing it tough, still out of control I hear

dave06 wrote:

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good god we're not dead yet, we have had many days of extreme fire danger including many days of in excess of 40 degrees, the media have just got onto this and brought it to everyones attention, until they find something else to latch onto this will be front page news, tonight it will be the asylum seekers getting a short cut to australian soil!

we refire the header as soon as I get back around 9 ish tonight unless I am needed to cart water for the firies down in the yorke peninsula, poor buggers they are doing it tough, still out of control I hear

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Good luck Dave...

Hi folks apears we have a fire North of here at Curramulka hot Nth wind 43Deg apears 5 fieries injured in a crash.

Gee thats not good mate. Hope they are ok.

43', thats goddam hot.

So DeBe, I take it the fire is heading southward. All that dry stubble. It'll burn fast. I know Sth Australians know how to deal with bushfire. They've taught a lot of the rest of Oz how to do it. Keep up the good work, and stay safe. To all you firies, keep up the good work in the team.

I've been called in early, the wind change is swinging in threatining to drag the fire in to the town so I'm here at the airport about to go down there, sent the dragon on another flight as soon as I get there I'll be on the tanker carting water, so lets hope they can hang on just that little bit longer

Just heard on the news, fires have broken out on the Eyre penninsular.
Take care everyone.

SA Fire list http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/news_media/current_incidents.jsp Our boys and girls have been busy today Dave

LATEST NEWS Lightn'ing strikes hitting west of CURRAMULKA Yorke Pen Dave

Latest this very moment wind strenghtened & swung around to the west very dry with lightning not good. Fires not injured to badly thats a relief.

Dave you're supposed to be paid off, retired and sent to the knackery you've already proven yourself let someone else be the hero this time stay safe and leave it to the younger one's dont be a bloody hero I know you too well just cant help yourself can you call goes out and you gotta go

According to the weather map radar there's a storm heading into the Lower EP from the NW, with rain in it. It should head across the bottom of the YP. Hopefully it will dampen things down a bit, and take the pressure off. While everyone knows you live with bushfires, foolish heroes never get out alive. Take care and stay safe.

Granny........I'm south of Adelaide........around 8pm last night we had about 1mm rain.......but also lightn'n strikes everywhere...by 9pm the ground was bone dry again.....they still fighting fires ..... http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/news_media/current_incidents.jsp Dave

Thing s have calmed down here 10 km wind 19deg RAIN &bit more coming. Hairy last night half way to Edithburgh 2 lightning strike fires but CFS & farmers got them out quick. Just aswell 2Hrs later wind gusts were 102kmh. Couple of other fires under control on YP , at least weather has calmed down.

yes it is a bit calmer now, but last night was a nightmare, we averaged 5 lightning strikes per second with every second one starting a spot, we had hundreds of spots the boys and girls would fight the front and then would have to peel off swat teams to contain breakouts, we were running around like chooks with its head cut off eyre peninsula copped it as well with 8 fires burning and spotting everywhere, this is only november and already the cfs resources are stetched beyond breaking strain we pay all sorts of emergency services levys and taxes but the councils can not get the funding to clean up the roadside, we cant get through when the fire is each side and 12 feet high, our trucks are aging and our technology is behind, the flash units must come from major citys where they are based where is all that money coming from, I feel for our fireys, I grab a 45 when I can but I'm not supposed to, I only run the tanker to try to ease the load for our fellows thanks to the cwa once again, cant do it without them, never mind its about 15 degs cooler now and a little drizzle so back to normality

Yep Davo.....whats the old saying.........."Out of sight.out of mind"....My Brigade truck is 20 years old....still does its job...I guess thats the main thing.....11:33am here and light showers started....Strike Teams ..from Hills here gone south to Millicent...I heard last night Dave

yep ours were the same, I'm on standby for three regions here at the moment so it's a waiting game, I'm reaping but with an ear open for the phone call, at least it's a bit cooler for the boys and girls, we suffered early last night, someone said it was still 35 at midnight

The media can be your best friend in these instances, keeping the community informed of their local conditions. I was a media liaison officer for emergency services in a few places I have lived and served. It's vital in cyclone prone and bushfire areas because both are very unpredictable. The lack of roadside clearing has always been a problem. All the dry old vegetation, dead trees and dry logs lying around to keep the fires going. The greenies crack the sh.ts if anyone tries to clear it, as they believe it's the habitat of something wild. Fire transfer over tree tops is also a big issue. It was very apparent in the Vic fires. WA has cut all vegetation off at road edge level to stop logs falling on the roads, and to form a fire break at tree top level. It looks a bit odd, but it's very effective. Experience can be the best teacher, if people choose to learn from it. Everyone is learning about these things all the time. Every incident is a new incident, and another lesson in controlling nature and bushire. Take care everyone, wherever you are.

I heard NSW copping the fires now.....80 going....close to Sydney too Dave

By the lightening showing on the Weather Zone Radar and Storms site it's heading SE from the centre, then across to the east of Vic. There's been rain all the way down from Kununurra to Adelaide. I hope everyone is safe and the fires are under control. Stay safe everyone.

Now...they getting flooding ..in areas where the fires were in north SA.......Melrose 88 mm.....Mt Bryan...where I was other weekend.113mm.....more coming Thursday Dave