Bushfires near Tolmie

[AlexS]

Hope all goes well Rob & Meg, and all others in the area.

[dadpad]

See the attatched pic for an update. The black arrow indicates the town of Mansfield the red arrow was wind direction yesterday (5/12). The wind is now in the S.E so almost a reverse of the direction indicated but quite light.
Tolmie is in the area of the red arrow head (sort of).
To the south (bottom of pic) of Mansfield is the Jamesion complex of fires. (Mt Terrible/flourbag). To the east (right of pic) is Mt buller, several fires there are expected eventually to join with the Tolmie fires.

These fires will all burn until we get rain, so most of this summer will be spent waiting for something to break out of its control lines.

Ian I know where Tolmie is just not the specific area or road of the members mentioned.

[Grunt]

They live on the Whitfield-Mansfield Road, just out of Tolmie.

It's the place that looks like a Lie-Neilsen plane.

[Carry Pine]

They had the Victorian politicians on the 7:30 report tonight and they looked genuinely worried. (A real contrast to Amanda V who spent the whole interview denying responsibility for her department.) I think they have come to accept that the fires will just go on until there is a drastic change in the weather. Not really much we can do.

CP

[Gumby]

Got everything crossed for them and the other people and homes in the area.

Hope you are OK.

[Wood Borer]

Some of you may have heard on the media that Tolmie has been evacuated, some houses have been burnt, our roads have been closed etc.

These rumours are false at this stage. You can’t blame the media because they are getting false reports from people who are uninformed or after attention. The media are doing their best to provide information however the sensationalists generally sound confident.

The spokespeople for the CFA and the DSE are also giving a little bit of inaccurate information but their resources are quite thin with all the fires.

Meg and I are both safe along with my tools. We have prepared our house for the threat of embers or a direct hit. We will be staying in the event of a fire and defending the house and ourselves. The fires are approximately 6 Km to 7 Km East of us.

We have a fire pump and knapsacks, buckets etc and are ready if it kicks off. I have been in the middle of few large bush fires in the past prior to becoming a city slicker. Meg has not experienced bushfires previously and she is facing the threat very well.

The CFA, DSE local Shire Council and Police have been invaluable keeping the community up here informed of the current status of the fires, road closures and what equipment and activities are required to defend and stay alive. We have one or two of these meetings per day at the local hall.

Family, friends (including Bulletin Board members), neighbours and total strangers have been very supportive offering assistance to prepare for the fire, offering accommodation in case we evacuate or if we are left with smouldering buildings. We appreciate these kind offers and genuine support.

We do not regret our move up here whatsoever and I will be back into the woodwork when things settle down.

Yes, I have used my tools a bit since moving up here including cutting one or two dovetails by hand.

Tonight I am staying up until 4:30 AM to keep an eye out for embers, then Meg will take over.

Thanks again for your concerns, we will be fine.

My cousin is coming up today from Melbourne to stay for a little while and help us if required.

The BBQ is still on for the New Year Ozwinner.

Dadpad, we will have to catch up one day, hope you like hand tools and in March (after I build a new shed) some very nice electron burners from that Felder chap.

[craigb]

Thanks for the heads up Rob.

Hang in there.

[Cliff Rogers]

Onya Rob, just don't start that BBQ too early OK.

[Gumby]

Hope you don't have to do anything Rob. With a bit of luck, it will bypass you.

I'm preparing for Saturday (37 degrees) when some idiot is likely to light the Dandenongs again.

The 1997 fires were stopped by the CFA only about 200M from our home, and lots of others. Damn thing was deliberately lit and they never found the scum.:mad:

[Andy Mac]

Good luck Wood Borer. The news this morning looked pretty frightening, but you seem well prepared. If there is an upside, at least the bush will be cleared of undergrowth now, and will allow a respite for a few years!
We've had smoke around for a couple of days, looks like a smallish fire down in Murphies Ck area (just down the escarpment), but so far I haven't been called out by the RFS. We haven't had the same heat and wind as Victoria is getting at present, maybe you're too close to Canberra!!

To WB and Mrs Borer, and others down there, take care.

[Iain]

Damn thing was deliberately lit and they never found the scum.:mad:

Unfortunately, they rarely do

[Felder]

Unfortunately, they rarely do

And if they do, they give them a rap on the knuckles. :mad:

[martrix]

Fingers crossed for you W.B. and anyone else facing these extreme conditions.

Sounds like you are well prepared.

I do realise the gravity of the situation (and the coming weekend), but I think the media are a little overly zealous in scaring the c^#p out of the general public..

[Gra]

I'm preparing for Saturday (37 degrees) when some idiot is likely to light the Dandenongs again.

You and me both gumby.....

Good luck WB and Meg. If you need anything (Even if it is just a laugh), all you need to do is post here and I am sure the offers will come flooding in.

All my families thoughs are with the two of you and any others in the same predicament

[dadpad]

woodborer catch up for sure. I'm on crutches for 6 weeks (PM me when you get some spare time)