February 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment
As this is written, reports from Victoria, Australia suggest that one hundred or more people have been killed by a series of fast moving brushfires. Reports are that about 400 fires driven by wind have ripped through rural areas north of Melbourne.
It is a rarity in the modern United States for a wildfire to destroy entire communities. The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 was an exception.
In the past, however, communities were leveled by fire. One of the greatest fires and accompanying loss of lives is often overlooked because of another, smaller fire that happened that same day.
October 8, 1871 was a warm and windy day. It had been a very dry Summer and a dry Fall. The next 24 hours would see an outbreak of fires across the Midwest that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogging, Commentary, Disasters, Firefighting, Original writing, Politics
On Y!CN
Australia’s Brushfire Horror
February 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment
As this is written, reports from Victoria, Australia suggest that one hundred or more people have been killed by a series of fast moving brushfires. Reports are that about 400 fires driven by wind have ripped through rural areas north of Melbourne. It is a rarity in the modern United States for a wildfire to destroy entire communities. The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 was an exception. In the past, however, communities were leveled by fire. One of the greatest fires and accompanying loss of lives is often overlooked because of another, smaller fire that happened that same day. October 8, 1871 was a warm and windy day. It had been a very dry Summer and a dry Fall. The next 24 hours would see an outbreak of fires across the Midwest that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogging, Commentary, Disasters, Firefighting, Original writing, Politics