Skip to main content

AUSSIES WORST FIRE SINCE ‘83

By
Adelaide, South Australia finally overcomes the biggest fire since the bushfires of Ash Wednesday in 1983.
The fire known as the ‘Sampson Flat’ fire started at around 10am on Friday the 2nd January 2015, welcoming the New Year with terror for all of Adelaide’s citizens. The fire quickly spread burning approximately 30,888 acres of the Adelaide Hills.

Over 700 South Australian Country Fire Service volunteers fought the blaze, alongside with members from fire crews across the nearby areas and a record breaking 31 aircraft. The fire was finally put out completely on the 9th of January, after eight days, thanks to the sudden appearance of the heaviest rainfall in Adelaide and South Australia in 30 years.

Ian Tanner from the South Australian County Fire Service, during the fire, said: “There is not a fire service anywhere in the world that could put out this fire at the moment.”

The fire ate through 32 homes and 125 outbuildings, tearing through people’s homes and destroying livestock. There were 134 injuries but amazingly there were no fatalities. Throughout the week long blaze campaigns were launched to save the wildlife which had been run from their homes because of the blaze, ‘How to feed a Koala’ and ‘How to save a baby Kangaroo’ were some of the main campaigns. The destruction has left most of the local wildlife without a home, and the continuing campaigns help them and the people who lost their homes.

Tanya Edwards, 48, who lives in Adelaide, South Australia, had to leave her home at one point because her “house is filling with smoke”, she was on the edge of the fire throughout the past week.
The fire, which was contained on Wednesday was finally put out by the rain on Friday, bringing relief to the entire community, and allowing the fire crews to return home.

Tanya Edwards, said: “As of Wednesday night the fires were contained and are now out.
“We have been blessed with some serious rain which has helped put an end to the fire.

“But the more amazing facts are the fact that no one died in the fire and the amazing community spirit that this disaster brought out.

“People went out of their way to help each other and pitch in to help. It was heart-warming to see the Aussie spirit shine so bright.”

During the disastrous fire which devastated most of the Adelaide area, fire crews were fighting the flames 24/7, and throughout that time many of Adelaide’s citizens were displaced, depending on the fire-fighters to protect their homes.

Tanya Edwards said: “The CFS [Country Fire Service] are volunteer fire fighters, they are unpaid. Some of them lost their own homes while they were out fighting for others. Volunteers came from NSW [New South Wales] and VIC [Victoria] to help fight our fires.


“I couldn’t sleep. Even though I was in my own bed, I couldn’t stop thinking of those that weren’t. Whether it was because they had lost their homes, were displaced or out their fighting the fires for us. A truly terrible and terrifying time for South Australia.”  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brexit Threat To Disability Rights

By
The UK Government's pursuit of a hard Brexit would widen the inequality gap faced by disabled people, Social Security Minister, Jane Freeman has said. Ms Freeman raised her concerns on a visit to Strasbourg today, where she discussed Scotland's leading approach to promoting the rights of disabled people with the Council of Europe and Members of the European Parliament. Brexit poses a significant threat to the right that disabled people currently have under international conventions, rights, Ms Freeman said must be protected. Ms Freeman, said; "While the Scottish Government continues working hard to improve the lives of disabled people in Scotland, we know a hard Brexit puts jobs at risk and will create a further attack on their rights, eroding the protections and obligations we have come to expect. "Through my dialogue with the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, I stressed what we are already doing to uphold these principles. "The best w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Roads Opening On M8, M73 and M74

By
Keith Brown has announced the opening of the M8, M73 and M74 as part of the £500 million M8, M73 and M74 Motorway Improvements Project. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair work said all daytime lane restrictions on the M8, M73 and M74 will be removed progressively over the coming days, freeing up capacity on the key part of Central Scotland's motorway network. This will allow road users to experience the benefit of the widened motorways and help deliver the full journey time savings of the new M8 motorway opened in April and the M74 Raith Underpass opened in February. As part of the Motorway Improvements Project, a range of improvements have been built over the last three years, including a new M8 motorway, significant improvements to Raith and Shawhead junctions as well as widening of the M8 M73 and M74, with new lanes providing an increase in motorway capacity. Mr Brown, said; £We are just a few days away from seeing the last of the lane restrictions bein...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Slow Climb To Living Wage

By
Gorgie City Farm has become the 800th Scottish-based living wage accredited employer, with employees benefiting from fair work principles which the Scottish Government would like become a national standard. The Scottish Government has set a target of reaching 1,000 Scottish-based living wage accredited employers by this autumn. Cabinet Secretary of Fair Work, Keith Brown, said: "This is a significant step in our drive to promote fairer working environments for Scottish employees and ensures people's basic wage continues to meet the reel cost of living. "Paying the Real Living Wage makes sense for businesses. It's an investment in people and all the evdience shows it leads to increased productivity and reduced staff absence, while sending a strong signal to customers about fairness. "We will continue to work with the 'Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative' to encourage more businesses to recognise the benefits of paying the real living ...
Post a Comment
Read more