According to various news agencies, so far, on 2009 Black Saturday, 210 human lives were lost (the full total may never be known, as the fires were so hot and fast that they served as mobile crematoriums). Several Victorian towns were obliterated: Kinglake, Marysville, Narbethong, Strathewen, and Flowerdale...no schools, homes, police and fire brigade, grocery stores, shopping centers, clinics or pharmacies survived.
In addition to the 210 dead, 500 people Victoria-wide were injured, including 100 with burns, 20 in critical condition in ICU, and more than 30 people missing. More than 2,030 homes were destroyed, state officials reported, with 3,500 buildings showing structure/fire damage, and thousands more "others" damaged. About 7,500 people are homeless, and more than one million wildlife/domestic animals injured/dead, according to state reports.
Taking off my reporter hat, I can say as a resident here that the carnage is absolutely devastating. It seems surreal.
So what happened?
I think, along with several other Australian journalists, that several factors came into play, much like the true story told in the movie The Perfect Storm starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg released by Warner Bros. in 2000. (Look it up so I don't have to digress here.) In fact, this very scenario was brought up several times on radio news by hosts as well as call-in guests after the recent firestorm.
Australia has been in a two-decade drought with just enough rain at the right times to keep extreme fire at bay. On Feb, 6, warnings were sent out to all citizens regarding the extreme fire danger from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) for Feb. 7.
Record-breaking temperatures reached into the 110s (Fahrenheit) on Feb. 7 and hotter in some areas with scorching winds from the northern desert interior at nearly 90 mph. Some of the fires were deliberately set by arsonists (a few have been caught and are awaiting trial), and some were from high winds knocking power lines loose in dry bush areas with highly explosive eucalyptus (gum) trees. Other causes were lightning, cigarette butts tossed from cars, sparks from power tools, and the heatwave.
This perfect [fire]storm was a combination of dangerously tinder-dry grass and trees, seemingly hotter than Hades temperatures, and furnace-like, nearly hurricane winds that literally took the breath out of people and made them feel like their lungs and esophagus were scorched (I was one of those.)
Most of the devastation and deaths occurred in areas of dense gum forests where the fire literally roared from treetop to treetop, down trunks and into the tinder undergrowth. Faster than fast, fire fled before wind.
Survivors tell of hearing the warnings on television or radio the day before and not being sure whether to stay and defend their homes or flee. Most homes are saved in bushfires by those who stay and defend, according to CFA officials. If one can defend their home against the main front which lasts a few minutes, then come out from a safe place and extinguish embers under the house and in the eaves and such, the home could be saved, officials say.
According to CFA officials, most Australian bush fires can be conquered and homes saved by those who stay and defend if they are ready with escape plans, sprinkler and hose systems, and a way to stay safe that is practiced regularly and approved by the CFA.
I have discovered that most people who live in bush areas are aware of all this and have plans in place that they have practiced. But amazingly, some don't. They think it's silly and overkill. Neighbors like that make me nervous.
But on Feb. 7 2009 immediately after hearing the expected media warning, residents saw gum tree smoke, then the roaring flames of fire out of control before they even had time to think, according to local media. This was not a "usual bush fire," they said. Some people dove into cattle ponds, nearby shallow creeks, or even gutters along their house, covering themselves in wet, wool blankets. Others, (most of whom died) tried to escape in vehicles. Survivors tell of driving blind through smoke and flames. Media pictures tell of those who crashed blindly into fallen trees, stalled cars, and walls of fire. All the occupants died.
Local firefighters went into the worst hit area, Kinglake, the day after. Crews were on duty to put out spot fires and for body recovery. They went to homes where several cars remained in carports or driveways and suspected there may be people inside, but the fire was so hot it obliterated everything.
Later, they heard that places they searched did have bodies...found by specialists who recognized human bones and other fragments.
A worker came upon a vehicle caught in fire and recognized what he thought was the form of a child under a blanket in the backseat, and a "squiggly line" on the front seat. It was later determined that the vehicle held the bodies of two adults and four children, not just two people. Another roadside scene was discovered of someone in a driver's seat...all that remained was a skull, spine, and hip bones.
Most of the 210 confirmed people who died perished while trying to escape, or stayed in their home caught unaware by the sudden firestorm and died from radiant heat, CFA sources said. Several people made calls from their mobile phones to tell family members they loved them, according to news reports. Some family members heard screams while loved ones perished.
The fire was so hot, fast, and intense, that people who didn't leave the day before when the original warning was posted didn't survive, reports said.
Here are pics from the day after.
Staging area for several CFA units at Kinglake, one of the most devastated by fire.
More of the staging area.
Daylight arriving near charred trees at Ground Zero.
The outline of a heavy gum tree branch reduced to ash.
Intense heat melted cars from the inside out.
A memory from someone's home.
Surviving dairy relics from a barn.
Putting out hot spots. The tin roofing in the background is all that's left of someone's home.
The hose in the foreground is intact, yet the rest of it (gray sqiggles) is melted into the background on the rest of someone's yard.
Stark color in a bleak setting.
Grey and black. Almost like a moonscape.
Trampoline survived when nothing else did on this property. The colors of CFA members and firetrucks stand out.
Although six weeks or so have passed, the aftermath continues. Australians (and me) had a recent fright with weather forecasts expected to be worse than Black Saturday.
But I believe God had mercy...the day was rainy and cool, totally opposite the forecast. And we have had cool days since then, with rainfall in areas that seem to need it most.
As a journalist, I have reported on wildfires in Washington state and some of the worst in California a few years ago, interviewing the fire chief from my neck of the woods in Battle Ground, Washington, hearing his stories and viewing his photos.
I was concerned at one point in the last five years or so that I lived in Washington about another 1909 Yacolt Burn revisiting the area I lived in near Battle Ground and Yacolt. But never have I seen devastation like this, and been so worried about saving my life in the event of a bush fire, not even thinking about grabbing photos and memorabilia.
Never was I so moved to weep nearly every day over several weeks about other's losses. Black Saturday was an epiphany in so many ways.
And to think...I was concerned about earthquakes and floods when I lived in America.
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