Brumby to query bushfire
policy as Victorian toll reaches 108

Staff reporters with AAP

February 09, 2009 06:00am

UPDATE 10:38amPREMIER John Brumby says Victoria may need to review the "stay and defend or leave early" policy in light of 108 deaths.

Dozens of towns remain under threat this morningas fires continue to burn out of control across the state.

A fire burning near Beechworth, in the state's northeast, is of major concern to the CFA with dangerous wind conditions hampering the fire fight. The fire is about 20km southeast of Beechworth.

Mr Brumby said the State Government would this week initiate a full investigation into the fires and the lead-up to them.

He said the Government and authorities' long-standing advice had, in many cases, not saved people at the weekend.

Special report: Victoria in flames

"I think when the time comes to examine in-depth all of the issues that occurred on Saturday, obviously fire policy will be one of those areas,'' Mr Brumby told Fairfax Radio Network.

"People will want to review that, examine that, it may be right, it may not be.

"It's served us well for 20 years or more - that is, if you decide to leave, leave early and if you decide to stay make sure you've got a fire plan.

"But there is no question that there were people there who did everything right, put in place their fire plan and it wouldn't matter, their house was just incinerated.''

To read more of Premier Brumby's comments click here

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said fires that may have been deliberately lit in recent days amount to mass murder.

A clearly shaken Mr Rudd said the nation should brace itself for the full impact of the bushfires.

"What do you say about anyone like that - there are no words to describe it other than mass murder," Mr Rudd said.

"The nation should brace itself for a very challenging time ahead."

He said Australia had become used to disasters affecting Australians overseas, such as the Bali bombings, but now tragedy had struck on a large scale at home.

"This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated," he said.

"The practical challenge is to provide the hand and heart of human friendship."

Authorities have warned the number of fatalities is likely to rise even further.

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Firefighters have worked through the night to battle 31 fires across scorched Victoria.

At least 750 homes have been destroyed and more than 330,000ha burnt out, while authorities said some fires could take weeks to contain.

A Country Fire Authority spokesman said the five fires at Beechworth, Churchill, Murrindindi, the Kinglake complex and Bunyip are causing the most concern.

According to police figures, another 11 people were found dead at Kinglake West, north of Melbourne, taking that community's toll to 20 while another four bodies were found at Marysville taking that town's toll to eight.

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Only one building was left standing at Marysvilleafter the inferno swept through on Saturday.

The Queen and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have expressed shockat the devastating bushfires and their terrible toll.

"I was shocked and saddened to learn of the terrible toll being exacted by the fires this weekend,'' the Queen said in a statement.

It has been confirmed Brian Naylor and his wife, Moiree, were killed when Victoria's single deadliest bushfire, the Kinglake Complex, razed their property on Saturday.

In a statement, Naylor's lawyer John Beckwith, of Beckwith Cleverdon Rees, confirmed the news late last night.

The death toll was updated from the previous figure of 93 released by police at 2am today.

Galleries: Killer bushfires| Reader pictures

Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) spokesman Geoff Russell said conditions this morning had improved from the weekend with a cooler change coming through with moist air.

A southerly wind was pushing fires in a north to northeasterly direction.

"Our biggest concern at the moment is around Beechworth,'' Mr Russell said.

The fire had skirted Beechworth in the state's northeast and is heading towards Yackandandah.

"There are seven or eight small settlements in the path of this fire and those residents have been urged to get their fire plans underway,'' Mr Russell said.

The Beechworth blaze has burnt 30,000ha and continues to threaten the communities of Stanley, Bruarong, Dederang, Gundowring, Gundowring Upper, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Coral Bank, Glenn Creek and Running Creek.

Interactive map: Bushfires across the state

The fire front has crossed the Yackandandah-Dederang Rd into the Mt Big Ben area, a joint DSE and CFA statement said.

All fire-devastated areas will be treated as crime scenes to determine if arson was involved, Police Commissioner Christine Nixon said today.

Ms Nixon said forensic investigators had begun work in the Churchill region, where police suspect arson was involved.

"At this stage we have a team at the fire at Churchill in the Gippsland Valley, which is certainly one that we believe was deliberately lit,'' Ms Nixon told the Seven Network.

"Our fire experts and our own investigators have suggested that the way that it happened, how fast that it happened, that there is good evidence to believe that it was lit.''

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Forensic investigators have also begun work in the Kinglake area.

"They're where the most deaths are, but wherever a death has occurred we investigate that as a crime,'' Ms Nixon told ABC Radio.

The latest death toll surpasses the toll from the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, in which 75 people died in Victoria and South Australia, and the Black Friday bushfires of 1939, which killed 71.

The Murrindindi Mill fire has so far burned up to 93,000ha and is still burning in a northeasterly direction.

Firefighters were working hard to construct and consolidate containment lines around the west side of Black Range back to the original fire source, the statement said.

Strike teams were also working between Buxton, Marysville and Narbethong to clear access along roadsides into properties.

Hell on earth: Disaster beyond belief

Community meetings are expected to be held in Yea and Broadford today.

The DSE and CFA said the spread of fire in the Bunyip Ridge area has been halted, but authorities warned that there might still be increased amounts of smoke in the area and local road use could be hazardous.

The Princes Highway has reopened with reduced speed limits.

Fires have also broken out near Noojee, Erica and in Wilsons Promontory National Park and Little Desert National Park but neither fire is threatening communities at this stage, the DSE and CFA said.

Ninety-two firefighters from Tasmania will arrive to help the firefighting effort this morning, in addition to the 150 NSW firefighters currently helping fight the Beechworth fires.

Nearly 40 schools in West Gippsland, central and South Gippsland are closed due to fire.

Anyone concerned about family or friends in fire areas should call 1800 727 077

International callers seeking information about family and friends should call 0011 61 3 5332 5015 or 0011 61 3 8327 7814

Have you survived the bushfires? Tell us about your escape below or contact 9292 2963

Send your photos to pics@heraldsun.com.au

Dozens of towns still under threat from Victoria's bushfires

Sarah Wotherspoon

February 09, 2009 10:05am

UPDATE 10:50amDOZENS of towns remain under threat this morning as fires continue to burn out of control across Victoria.

At least 108 people are dead and more than 650 houses have been destroyed after the worst fire storms ever to hit Victoria swept across the state during the weekend and continue to burn.

Special report:Victoria in flames

A fire burning near Beechworth, in the state's northeast, is of major concern to the CFA with dangerous wind conditions hampering the fire fight.

The fire is threatening communities in Stanley, Bruarong, Dederang, Gundowring, Gundowring Upper, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Coral Bank, Glen Creek and Running Creek.

Residents have been warned to activate their fire plans and be prepared for thick smoke and ember attack.

More than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze which has so far burnt out 40,000ha and destroyed 12 houses.

CFA spokesman David Wolf said conditions overnight had not helped firefighters.

"We are deploying extra resources to the fire, interstate strike teams from Canberra and NSW are heading that way," he said.

The fire is also threatening interstate powerlines, an aircraft tower and a CFA communications tower.

The fire has crossed the Yackandandah Dederang Road into the Mt Big Ben area.

The Kinglake Complex fire, which has burnt more than 225,000ha and destroyed more than 570 houses, two primary schools and two police stations, is burning in a north east direction.

The communities of Taggerty, Crystal Creek, Cathedral Lane, Rubicon and Connellys Creek on the Murrindindi edge of the fire are on high alert and the CFA has warned them to be aware of increased fire activity in the area.

The Kilmore East section of the fire is burning south of the Goulburn River near the towns of Broadford and Flowerdale.

The CFA has warned communities in Yea, Homewood, Kerrisdale, Trawool and Tallarook that fire activity could increase today and to be on alert.

In Churchill firefighters are working to build containment lines around the fire which has destroyed 77 structures, thousands of stock and burnt through 33,000ha.

The fire is not threatening towns at this stage but the community has been told to remain alert to fire activity in the area.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews have been deployed to the Loy Yang power station to protect it from any fire threat.

The DSE has warned communities between Pakenham and Warragul to be aware of thick smoke in the area from the Bunyip Ridge fire as crews conduct back burning operations to strengthen containment lines. Motorists have been warned to take care on local roads and observe speed restrictions.

The Bunyip Ridge fire has destroyed at least eight houses, one factory and a number of sheds and out buildings.

At the Redesdale fire, near Bendigo, firefighters are taking advantage of calmer weather conditions to build containment lines around the fire which has burnt almost 10,000ha.

Firefighters are also fighting a number of smaller fires around Healesville, Warburton and Noojee.

A small fire was detected in the Wilsons Prom area at about 7am with all access closed to the area around 10.30am until further notice.

Anyone concerned about family or friends in fire areas should call 1800 727 077

108 people dead, 750 homes destroyed in worst bushfires in Australia's history

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd said arsonists in Victoria had committed mass murder as the death toll in Australia's worst ever bushfiresrose to 108 this morning.

The final toll was expected to rise further and fires were still burning out of control and putting towns at risk in the Beechworth and Yackandandah regions in the state's northeast.

Amid speculation some of the fires were deliberately lit - and with reports yesterday that people were returning to relight blazes after fire crews had left an area - Mr Rudd said: "There are no words to describe it other than mass murder."

At least 750 homes have been destroyed and 3733 people have registered with the Red Cross after evacuating their properties. The number left homeless is expected to be far higher, the Red Cross said.

It was confirmed that at least four children have died, but that figure would also be expected to rise as full details emerged.

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C.F.A To all of you who risked you life's risked your homes and risked your family you have done a terrific job we could not imagine how the town would have survived if you ...

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Leanna

A two-year-old girl was among 13 in intensive care in hospital. Twenty-two people with shocking burns were admitted to the Alfred hospital, the state's main trauma centre, where staff ran out of morphinetrying to ease patients' pain.

Most of the damage was done by two massive fires - one that virtually wiped out towns northeast of Melbourne including Kinglake and Marysville with a 100km front - and a second inferno that raced across Gippsland.

TV veteran Brian Naylor and his wife Moiree were among the dead. The pair died when the fire at Kinglake swept through their property.

Horrific deaths

Six victims were in one car trying to outrun the inferno which swept through Kinglake in minutes. A resident said the town was littered with burnt-out cars and he believed many contained bodies.

"It's going to look like Hiroshima, I tell you, it's going to look like a nuclear bomb," he told Melbourne's Herald Sun.

His daughter told of another resident who "went to put his kids in the car, put them in, turned around to go grab something from the house, then his car was on fire with his kids in it, and they burnt".

Weather conditions have eased since Saturday's firestorm, but firefighters were still battling 31 active blazes across the state as of 11.00am (AEDT), authorities said. The communities of Stanley, Bruarong, Dederang, Gundowring, Gundowring Upper, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Coral Bank, Glenn Creek and Running Creek remained under threat, they said.

Residents of Taggerty, Acheron, Snobs Creek and Eildon were also on alert. Some fires would take weeks to contain, authorities said, and it could also take weeks to formally identify some of those killed.

Other teams were working to clear debris from towns gutted over the weekend to allow those lucky enough to escape a chance to return to their properties.

Among the survivors, families sat in dazed disbelief, surrounded by mattresses, dogs and whatever meagre possessions they managed to gather as they fled the fires.

Some talked of friends who had lost children, brothers and sisters, kids who have lost best friends and of a woman who has not seen her husband since Saturday. They said they had no warning before daylight turned to night and their communities were enveloped in a wall of fire and smoke.

"We looked over and there was a wall of flames looking at us and everything went pitch black. There was no warning," Joanne Fisher of Kinglake said. "I've never seen anything like it in my life ... You see this on TV, it doesn't happen to you."

Arson rumours

It was believed the fire in Bendigo was caused by a cigarette, but Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said she was sickened by the fact some other fires might have been deliberately lit.

"It makes me very angry ... we all knew we faced the most enormous risks in our community.

"To then have someone who may have lit these fires. Fires are so devastating. The injuries we are seeing. We are talking about a massive death toll."

A survivor told news.com.au that arsonists should hope the police caught them first. "Watch your back, that's all I want to say to them. Watch your back, 24/7."

Teams of disaster victim identification experts were flying in from all over Australia. Extra fire crews were being sent from interstate.

Mr Kevin Rudd offered army troops to help firefighters control the fires. He and state Premier John Brumby also opened up $10 million in emergency funding yesterday.

"This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated," he said this morning.

- With the Herald Sun and wires

Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/

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