It has been very hard and trying for folks around Victoria over the past few days. As adrenaline slows, we all are coming to grip with the loss: 1,800 homes, over 1 million animals with the death toll expected to top 300.
Heather and the kids doing much better now that the fires around Bendigo have been contained. We all thank you for the calls and emails of support. All the remaining fires (12) are now more centrally located north and to the east of Melbourne (we are north and to the west). Still a lot of smoke in the air from inversions, but those are really help mitigate fire behavior and allowing the firefighters to make a lot of ground. One individual has been arrested and brought up on arsonist charges for a fire that killed 22.
I was out in the areas of Whittlesea and then Kinglake where nearly 40 people lost their lives. The magnitude of the devastation is only realized from the air (over 1 million acres); truly a human tragedy beyond compare with respect to bushfires.
For those in the US, I've worked with the Wildland Firefighter Foundation to help set up an Australian arm of their needed assistance. They can now accept donations to be provided to the firefighters and families impacted by this terrible event: www.wffoundation.org
Also, we have filled the order for 60 US Personnel from all across the states. The contingent will be arriving Sunday morning here in Melbourne (Saturday afternoon US) and the group consists of 15 Incident Management personnel, 2 Burned Area Emergency Response teams, and one Hotshot Crew. These are some of our very best we have to offer and are highly anticipated. I will stay in Melbourne a while longer to faciltate the training and transfer to the fire line.
Bodie
1 comment:
Hello Shaw Family,
That is so extremely sad, all the devistation for animals and humans. We have been keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. What a sad situation, especially since it was man-made, sounds like. We are sending you love. Take good care of yourselves.
The Tippetts
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