Bushfire (and idiot) season in Canberra

Yesterday, some houses in Yarralumla were destroyed by a grass/bush fire. This has brought back to the forefront of people’s thoughts the terrible fires of January 2003 that killed 4 people and destroyed about 500 houses.

Witnesses reported flames reaching 20 to 30 metres into the air. All but two of the ACT’s fire trucks were called in, along with some from NSW, and had the blaze under control within about an hour with the help of water-bombing helicopters.

There are strong suspicions that these latest fires were deliberately lit, and the area where they were has been declared a crime scene by the police. Just what we need, idiots lighting fires - they should be given the Joan of Arc treatment and tied to trees in the path of a fire. At the moment its stinking hot here, and after months of fairly consistent rain all the vegetation has grown like wildfire and now dried off in the recent hot weather. Plenty of fuel around if a fire gets going.

Regarding the 2003 fires, here’s some good information and pictures about what happened. Its now approaching 3 years since it happened and still the inquiry into the bush fires has not been completed. There’s been plenty of legal manouvering by the government and public servants heavily involved in covering their own arses. I suspect there’s a fair bit of “if we drag it out long enough, people’s memories will dim and what blame there is to be thrown around will be less harsh as a result”.