"Australia's Not Ready To See It"

A spokesperson spoke of Maryville, Victoria. The town was blocked off from locals and press, because "Australia's not ready to see it". Bodies of victims trying to out-run fires lined the streets, burnt out cars that had been in accidents in their deseperate attempt to escape still on the roads.

It's been a time that no Australian will ever forget. 181 people dead and more are found each day. They are expecting that at least 300 people will be found in the remains.

One CFS volunteer spoke with tears in his eyes, "They call us to help, and there was nothing we could do. Nothing we could do."

Australia is no stranger to bush fires, we face them every year, each summer. But this was not a normal bush fire, it was an inferno. And the most horrifying thought of all was that some of these fires were deliberately lit. Someone set out to destroy homes and whether or not they knew (or cared) stole family members. Children, men, women, elderly people who were fighting to save their homes, gone.

I can't tell you all the stories we've seen in the papers. A mother who lost her two young children and her brother. The sisters who tried to save their horse and died. Parents and their disabled son killed when flames ingulfed their car while trying to escape. A family of three found burnt to death in their bath tab. They say they might have thought the water in the tub would save them, but instead boil in the intense heat. A firefighter whos family were killed in their home while he was out trying to stop it. Simply retelling these stories is hard enough. Imagine being there. Losing your family, your home, in some cases your whole town completely wiped off the map. One town had a bridge connecting it, the bridge burnt and the town was trapped.

I can't ask you to give money or donate, but I can ask you to keep these people in your prayers and thoughts. Australia is in mourning and we need your support more than ever.

There is a tribute website were you can leave consoldences for the victims:
http://tributes.heraldsun.com.au/gb2/HeraldSun-AU/default.aspx?personid=123916684

A video tribute of some photos of the fire (I encourage you to watch this, its brings home the reality of how bad these fires are):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49354907542#/video/video.php?v=1100659433638&oid=49354907542

It wouldn't be right if I didn't mention the horrible floods that Queensland are going through. Its a terrible twist of fate, one state is burning while another floods. A five year old boy was taking by a 5 metre croc while his 7 year old brother watched in terror. His father jumped in after him but they didn't find the boys body.

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REMEMBERING THE FIRE
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I was 15 when my family and I were trapped in a fire down the South Coast of Sydney. The bush fire jumped the highway and trapped us in the town. The panic in town was rampant. Everyone flocked to the supermarkets because no one knew when their next supply drop would be. We were cut off from food, water and fuel was cut off. Electricity went shortly after. We were in our holiday park when the fire came so close we could see the flames over the hill behind the park. The air was thick with smoke. Trees were exploded (eucalyptus trees are highly flammable and explode in fires), it was windy and people were running everywhere looking for their families. We knew we were in trouble when police came through the park and told us to evacuate or be arrested. Trouble was, the evacuation site was across the canel, the joining road, on fire. God was with us, people who were perfect strangers to us offered us a spot in their boat, the only place we could be safe.

We sat in boats in the river watching the fire come up over the hill. Crop dusters were flying over top dropping water on the flames. The sky was blood red with black smoke making it hard to see. We were choking on the smoke, it was burning our eyes and we sat on the river, waiting to see our second home go up in flames. Within two hours, the wind had changed and we came back to shore. The net day we drove home and saw the devastation.

And that was nothing compared to whats happening in Victoria.