Heatwave in SE Australia

[DucksNuts]

we are covered in smoke and kinda concerned if they don't get the fires under control before the wind change this evening.

we don't want another ash wednesday, I would link to those fires, but im posting on my mobile phone.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by DucksNuts

we are covered in smoke and kinda concerned if they don't get the fires under control before the wind change this evening.

we don't want another ash wednesday, I would link to those fires, but im posting on my mobile phone.

Ducks...are you getting out of the area? Don't stay if you're in danger...not with the kids to think of. It's just not worth it, but you know that.

I hope you're all ok. Check in and let us know how you're going huh?

[ZenGum]

Minor news first. In Adelaide the heatwave is over for now, the southerly change is in, it feels bloody great and the nasty bushfire north of the city is under control. It will reach Melbourne soon.
I was just thinking with relief that we had had a lucky escape from a major fire disaster.


Wrong.

Fourteen people are dead and at least 100 homes have been destroyed as fires burn over tens of thousands of hectares in Victoria and New South Wales.

Six have been killed at Kinglake, four at Wandong, three at Strathewen and one at Clonbinane. Police fear up to 40 people may have died.

Much more detail here including:

A fire burning from Kilmore to Yarra Glen, north of Melbourne has turned into a massive blaze of around 10,000 hectares that officials say is almost impossible to control.

Fires are becoming so big that they are creating their own weather.

Senior weather forecaster, Terry Ryan, says thunderstorms are forming over fire-affected parts of west Gippsland.

"We call it pyrocumulus, where all the ash coming out of the fire causes lifting and convection, and can cause a thunderstorm-looking top," he said.

"You can get thunderstorms and lightning coming out of the top of the fire basically, and that can add to the fire's effect, a bit of a nasty feedback effect that can occasionally happen."

DucksNuts, Kingswood, Alphajerk, please report in.




ETA:

Six people are known to have died at Kinglake, north of Melbourne, when fire swept through the entire town.

Local resident Peter Mitchell told ABC Local Radio that buildings all around him were on fire as he sheltered at the fire station.

"The whole of Kinglake is ablaze, I live a couple of [kilometres] out of town, I heard explosions, by the time I got to the road there were fires everywhere," he said.

"[There is] flame everywhere, trees exploding, gas tanks exploding, buildings on fire, it's very, very, very serious.

"I can't quite see down into the main stretch of town, but there's a lot of flame coming up from there, so I presume most of the town is going up.