AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRES

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your thoughts Jens.

These fires are the worst I've ever seen, maybe the worst since white settlement. They are savage, and they are very extensive. But for those who understand these things, the causes are very, very obvious, and because I am a cautious person I will not comment on those causes here.

Bush fires are a fact of life in Australia. I've lived with them all my life, and a small, insignificant bush fire can destroy your property and kill you just easily as a big one. You do tend to get used to the idea that summer means fires.

All bush fires are fought by volunteers. When the fires become too much for local volunteers, fire fighters from other countries such as New Zealand, Canada, USA and other Pacific Countries have offered assistance.

But the maintenance of Australian bushland requires a year round effort, we should not need to wait for Nature to step in and do the job for us.

Indigenous people farmed Australia with fire for more than 40,000 years before European settlers arrived and tried to farm Australia using European philosophies and methods. Only now are we seeing what a failure this has been. The current fires are just one piece of evidence of the unfolding disaster, the rest is yet to be revealed.

Rick, yes, some might have been started of purpose, if that does prove to be the case, the guilty persons need to feel the full weight of the law, which I believe is 25 years to life.

However, most bushfires start because of natural causes, such as dry lightning strikes. Others start by accident, such as dragging chain on a motor vehicle