Australia's Worst-Ever Wildfires Kill 130

Whole Towns Declared Crime Scenes As Arson Suspected, PM Calls It "Mass Murder"

(CBS/AP)  The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire towns, officials discovered Sunday as they reached farther into the fire zone. The death toll rose to 130 by Monday.

Blazes have been burning for weeks in the southeastern state of Victoria but turned deadly Saturday when searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the region. A long-running drought in the south - the worst in a century - had left forests extra dry and Saturday's fire conditions were said to be the worst ever in Australia.

The fast moving fire fronts actually outran or cut off people trying to flee in their cars, reported CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.

"Sad stories of flames going over cars, maybe one person surviving and being brought here and others not surviving, and I suspect today they will find lots of cars where people have not survived," said Dr. John Coleridge.

To make matters worse, it seems not all of this was an accident, reported Phillips.

Police declared crime scenes Monday in the towns destroyed by wildfires; officials suspect some of the more than 400 fires were set on purpose.

Speaking Monday morning, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was visibly upset by the catastrophe, said of the suspected arsonist or arsonists, "What do you say about a person like that. I don't know. There are no words to describe it, other than it's mass-murder."

Police sealed off at least two towns - Marysville and Kinglake - where dozens of deaths occurred - setting up roadside checkpoints and controlling access to the area.

Victoria Police Commissioner Christine Nixon said specialist fire investigators were on the ground at one fire site, in Churchill, east of Melbourne, and would go to others.

Kinglake is "where the most deaths are, but wherever a death has occurred we investigate that as a crime," Nixon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Anyone found guilty of lighting a wildfire that causes death faces 25 years in prison in Victoria.

From the air, the landscape was blackened as far as the eye could see. Entire forests were reduced to leafless, charred trunks, farmland to ashes. The Victoria Country Fire Service said some 850 square miles were burned out.

(Left: One wall stands above the rubble of a destroyed church at Kinglake, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009.)

Only five houses were left standing out of about 40 in one neighborhood of the hard-hit Kinglake district that an Associated Press news crew flew over. Street after street was lined by smoldering wrecks of homes, roofs collapsed inward, iron roof sheets twisted from the heat. The burned-out hulks of cars dotted roads. A church was smoldering, only one wall with a giant cross etched in it remained standing.

All the deaths occurred in Victoria state, where at least 750 homes were destroyed.

On Sunday, temperatures in the area dropped to about 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) but along with cooler conditions came wind changes that officials said could push fires in unpredictable directions.

Thousands of exhausted volunteer firefighters were battling about a dozen uncontrolled fires Monday in Victoria, officials said. But it would be days before they were brought under control, even if temperatures stayed down.

Residents were repeatedly advised on radio and television announcements to initiate their so-called "fire plan" - whether it be staying in their homes to battle the flames or to evacuate before the roads became too dangerous. But some of the deaths were people who were apparently caught by the fire as they fled in their cars or killed when charred tree limbs fell on their vehicles.

"It does appear that people have been taken by surprise by how fast this fire has come," Victoria police Sgt. Creina O'Grady told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Police and fire officials reached on Sunday the town of Marysville and several hamlets in the Kinglake district, both about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Melbourne. They found the area utterly devastated.

At Marysville, a picturesque hilly district that attracts hikers and tourists and is home to about 800 people, up to 90 percent of buildings were in ruins, witnesses said. Police said two people died there.

"Marysville is no more," Senior Constable Brian Cross told The Associated Press as he manned a checkpoint on a road leading into the town at Healesville.

At least 29 of the deaths were from the Kinglake area. Many residents in hard hit areas said the fires were moving so fast that they hit without warning, something that could have contributed to the unusually high death toll.

But so far officials said they were at a loss to explain why so many people have died. The sheer intensity of the firestorm Saturday may have caused panic among even veterans of wildfires.

Mandy Darkin said she was working at a restaurant in Kinglake "like nothing was going on" until they were suddenly told to go home.

"I looked outside the window and said: 'Whoa, we are out of here. This is going to be bad,"' Darkin said. "I could see it coming. I just remember the blackness and you could hear it, it sounded like a train."

Some fire crews in the same area filled their trucks from ponds and sprayed down spot fires. There were no other signs of life.

On Sunday the prime minister, on a tour of the fire zone, paused to comfort a man who wept on his shoulder, telling him, "You're still here, mate."

When conditions were at their worst on Saturday, the skies rained ash and trees exploded in the inferno as temperatures of up 117 F (47 Celsius) combined with blasting winds to create furnace-like conditions, witnesses said.

Police said they were hampered from reaching burned-out areas to confirm details of deaths and property loss.

Victoria police spokesman Wayne Wilson said on Monday afternoon the latest death toll was 130.

At least 80 people were hospitalized with burns.

"Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria," Prime Minister Rudd said. "It's an appalling tragedy for the nation."

Rudd announced immediate emergency aid of 10 million Australian dollars ($7 million), and government officials said the army would be deployed to help fight the fires and clean up the debris.

Australia's worst fires before these were in 1983, when blazes killed 75 people and razed more than 3,000 homes in Victoria and South Australia state.

Wildfires are common during the Australian summer. Government research shows about half of the roughly 60,000 fires each year are deliberately lit or suspicious. Lightning and people using machinery near dry brush are other causes.

Dozens of fires were also burning in New South Wales state, where temperatures remained high for the third consecutive day. But there was no immediate threat to property.

[traceyjess]

It is times like these the Australian public stick together and show what Aussies are made of. I believe the Anzac spirit has prevailed here, just pure mateship. I have been watching the Today Show this morning in Brisbane, I have never seen such devastation in this country, we all thought Ash Wednesday was one of the worst tragedies in this country, from what I have read, the death toll from these fires is higher than Ash Wednesday. To see the Australian public rally behind those affected and to donate millions of dollars is totally unbelievable, Australians should be proud of themselves, JUST THINK, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU, some have lost their entire families and everything they own. Could you imagine how you would cope if that were you? Just stop and think what you would do if you had no family left, houses can be replaced, people cannot. I hope the arsonists are pleased with themselves, they should be charged with multiple counts of murder, name and shame them, throw them in prison, im sure the inmates would give them a welcome, particularly those who have lost family members in this.

[traceyjess]

It is times like these the Australian public stick together and show what Aussies are made of. I believe the Anzac spirit has prevailed here, just pure mateship. I have been watching the Today Show this morning in Brisbane, I have never seen such devastation in this country, we all thought Ash Wednesday was one of the worst tragedies in this country, from what I have read, the death toll from these fires is higher than Ash Wednesday. To see the Australian public rally behind those affected and to donate millions of dollars is totally unbelievable, Australians should be proud of themselves, JUST THINK, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU, some have lost their entire families and everything they own. Could you imagine how you would cope if that were you? Just stop and think what you would do if you had no family left, houses can be replaced, people cannot. I hope the arsonists are pleased with themselves, they should be charged with multiple counts of murder, name and shame them, throw them in prison, im sure the inmates would give them a welcome, particularly those who have lost family members in this.

[ballarat_guy]

I just can''t sleep. Our volunteer brigades have gone to help. Our patch of Victoria has been spared. Everybody knows somebody affected in our network of friends and family. My good friend''s doctor was burnt to death yesterday. This news reopened the trauma of a loss in my wife family when her uncle and his firefighter mates were incinerated in the "Ash Wednesday" fire in the 80''s. All they found was their brass buttons in and around their burnt-out tanker. The CFA firefighters are all volunteers. These are just ordinary heroes,mostly farmers and townsfolk. To be fair they are extremely well trained and take their roles very seriously. Spare a thought for our volunteers putting their lives on the lines.

[ballarat_guy]

I just can''t sleep. Our volunteer brigades have gone to help. Our patch of Victoria has been spared. Everybody knows somebody affected in our network of friends and family. My good friend''s doctor was burnt to death yesterday. This news reopened the trauma of a loss in my wife family when her uncle and his firefighter mates were incinerated in the "Ash Wednesday" fire in the 80''s. All they found was their brass buttons in and around their burnt-out tanker. The CFA firefighters are all volunteers. These are just ordinary heroes,mostly farmers and townsfolk. To be fair they are extremely well trained and take their roles very seriously. Spare a thought for our volunteers putting their lives on the lines.

[lloydbest1]

According to www.abc.net.au the death toll now stands at 156 (as of 1:00 AM 2/10 Sydney time) and no one who is in a position to know believes it will stop there. There are still several thousand acres in flames and though rural for the most part, none of this acreage is unsettled. We still have no feel for how many were trapped and how many of those have perished. Having sat in on a few situations like this myself, I know only too well how it can be that the not knowing is even worse than the bad news. My heart goes out to those who have recieved that bad news as well as those who are still in the dark and others, though undamaged themselves, know or love someone who has been adversely affected.
There have been lightning strikes in Victoria''s far northeast and now it appears that parts of New South Wales will soon see some of the devastation that has smacked down Victoria so hard. Though cool on the coast, inland areas in Victoria and NSW are still struggling with temperatures ranging well above summertime norms. The winds have not yet died away, either and continue to be a factor in the spread of these blazes. Some of these fires could, in fact, burn for weeks.
I consider myself fairly adept with the written word but there are no words that can express the contempt I have for the trolls who wallow in schadenfreude and post their poison in these threads. But rheola at 10:51 PM and 11:12 PM : Feb 08, 2009 advises we ignore that trash. I think that is a good idea.

[reasoned1955]

It will take time to complete the investigations, but posters are 100% correct. The possiblity that this was a terrorist act should not be discounted. Of note:

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/15/forest-fire-jihad-being-threatened-on-terrorist-websites/

[usclimey]

To all those in Oz; sympathies for the lost, kudos to the fire fighters, prayers for better weather.

[traceyjess]

Hey b thomas coope,
Those aussies whose lives have been destroyed were average people who had nothing to do with the war in Iraq, many of them, if you were to ask them, would be opposed to any action in Iraq. You cannot blame the average Aussie, blame the government if you must. Most Aussies are too busy working and paying off mortgages, they haven''t got time for the international disputes that go on around the world. If you have to play the blame game, then I am equally sure you will find EVERY country guilty for some reason or another, you only have to look back to history. Human beings are their own worst enemies, there is always someone trying to rule supreme, it will never happen, it is not in the human nature to surrender to another persons demands.

[traceyjess]

Hey b thomas coope,
Those aussies whose lives have been destroyed were average people who had nothing to do with the war in Iraq, many of them, if you were to ask them, would be opposed to any action in Iraq. You cannot blame the average Aussie, blame the government if you must. Most Aussies are too busy working and paying off mortgages, they haven''t got time for the international disputes that go on around the world. If you have to play the blame game, then I am equally sure you will find EVERY country guilty for some reason or another, you only have to look back to history. Human beings are their own worst enemies, there is always someone trying to rule supreme, it will never happen, it is not in the human nature to surrender to another persons demands.

[traceyjess]

Baghdad is going on about a previous posting i made, except mine was positive and he just twisted the words around to amuse his sick sense of humour. He tried to copy the jist of my posting by saying the opposite to what I said,thats why he sounds like he has been drinking. He then posted this rant approx 20 times hoping for a response (which he didnt get in the end) I am an Aussie and my best wishes go out to those suffering at the moment.

[traceyjess]

Baghdad is going on about a previous posting i made, except mine was positive and he just twisted the words around to amuse his sick sense of humour. He tried to copy the jist of my posting by saying the opposite to what I said,thats why he sounds like he has been drinking. He then posted this rant approx 20 times hoping for a response (which he didnt get in the end) I am an Aussie and my best wishes go out to those suffering at the moment.

[gaye5]

rheola said...Appears we have another sick American posting, pretending to be an Australian,

rheola, I would say that this person is acturally a Muslim, no normal person speaks like that.. and yes
aussie_smoo could not possibly be an Australian, no one talks like that at a time like this not even in joking..

[gaye5]

Does anyone understand what baghdadhere9 is trying to say??? it sounds so jumbled to me.. perhaps he has been drinking....

[gaye5]

No ballpen1, communications are going fine, and the media is there both in the air and on land..
Thanks for your thoughts though, and what you said about Ozies..
It has been nice to see the support, as when ever there is a disaster in the world we are always there with money and person to help just as America is, sometimes giving more than most other countries, and it is nice to be getting some of this back for a change. Our country is often under water or fighting fires and as I said already, if the greenies would let burn off''s happen we would only have had a portion of this problem, so the government is as much to blame for allowing the greenies to have this control..

[gaye5]

Thank you to those who feel for us here in Australia, you are wonderful to care about our plight.
I live in Brisbane also, where we are living in wonderful weather, it seems strange that far down south that fires are raging and then far up north that water is flooding out towns and will do for a long time yet as the waters come through from the hills inland..

What we have to realise is that MOST of this could have been avoided if the stupid greenies had of let the people do what is called burn off''s so as the undergrowth was burnt to avoid this in hot weather.. but now because of their stupidity and because of people deliberately fighting fires we have over 130 dead.
These people including the greenies have caused mass murder...
Here in Australia any normal person knows that the undergrowth MUST be burnt off during the controllable season so as to avoid fires when the temperatures get massively high in summer..

[usanative1]

WOW! What a terrible tragedy. I have had the honor of meeting some of thier countrys''soldiers while t.dy. and they were croos training with United States army.A great group of people,humorous,humble,very very good at thier profession and well I wouldn''t want thier mountain commandos chasing me! I wish them a quick recovery and this will be a unwanted but a oppurtunit to view the aussie people and how they are very capable people and love thier nieghbors.

[whitewolf60]

Apparently baghdadhere9 doesn''t know how to keep his finger off the "publish" button! ENOUGH ALREADY! YA DON''T HAVE TO POST THE SAME THING 16 TIMES!

[jack745-2009]

more headlines at http://www.headlinesglobe.com

[deboz2]

Dear Fellow Australians & Geniunely concerned Americans,
Please do not enter into the juvenile banter as shown by some of the contributors of this blog. This comparison of tragedies and ''who did what when'' is not important. What past is past and this is now. Continuing to be dragged into the mindless rhetoric of these W****rs only gives them power.
The ANZAC spirit will prevail in this dark time.

[ballpen1]

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. I just hope this fire burns itself out fast, there seems not a lot for mankind to do about it. And the number of dead people is staggering, compared to the density of population over there.

It may have to do with the australian psyche that the number of casualties is so high. The Aussies are a fiercly independend folk with a "can do" attitude. They fear no man and no thing in the world. And they are the most relaxed, laidback, stable people i know. So they might be ill equipped to handle something of this scale, deviousness and speed.

Also communication may be a problem. While everybody has a satellite dish there is no such thing as a "local" TV station in most cases. So what you hear on the news is stuff happening somewhere, but not in your backyard, and the people on the TV are not as bothered as our local U.S. anchorman would be if HIS house is about to be engulfed in flames.

Just some random thoughts...