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  #1  
Old 13-02-09, 10:12
aj.lec's Avatar
aj.lec aj.lec is offline
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A welcome change today
25c most of the day with showers in between registering 27mm
good to see a bit of rain
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  #2  
Old 13-02-09, 15:29
Alex Blair (RIP) Alex Blair (RIP) is offline
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Location: Ottawa ,Canada
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Default Burn this Mother fuc*er at the stake..

Suspect charged in deadly Australian fire


By TANALEE SMITH, Associated Press Writer Tanalee Smith, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 26 mins ago
Burnt-out vehicles on a property in the town of Chum Creek, near Healesville, AP – Burnt-out vehicles on a property in the town of Chum Creek, near Healesville, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. …

* Wildfires rage in Australia Slideshow:Wildfires rage in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia – Authorities charged a man Friday with lighting one of the wildfires that killed a total of more than 180 people in Australia, and whisked him into protective custody to guard him from public fury.

Police said the suspect was charged with one count of arson causing death and intentionally lighting a wildfire near the town of Churchill that killed at least 21 people. It was one of hundreds of fires that raged through southeastern Victoria state Feb. 7, leaving 7,000 people homeless and razing entire towns.

The suspect also was charged with possessing child pornography.

The disaster's official death toll is 181, but efforts to find and identify victims were continuing and officials expected the final tally to exceed 200. More than 1,800 homes and 1,500 square miles (3,900 square kilometers) of forests and farms were burned.

The suspect's identity was being kept secret for his own safety, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Dannye Moloney told a news conference. He was brought to the state capital of Melbourne from Morwell, 75 miles (120 kilometers) to the east and near the the town of Churchill.

"He has been moved from that area and moved to the Melbourne metropolitan area for security reasons," Moloney said.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported from Morwell that the suspect was formally charged in the town's magistrate's court, but that he did not appear. He was ordered to be held in custody and to undergo psychiatric evaluation, the broadcaster said.

Police said in a statement that Magistrate Clive Allsop banned publication of any details or photographs of the man that could identify him. Another court hearing was scheduled for Monday.

If found guilty, the man faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison for the deadly arson charge, and a maximum of 15 years on the second arson charge.

Police have said they believe foul play was the cause of at least two of the deadly blazes, including the Churchill fire. Those suspicions disgusted the country and prompted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to describe the fires as possible mass murder.

Ruth Halyburton, whose home in the town of Marysville was burned to the ground, said Friday she could not comprehend why anyone would want to light wildfires.

"Words can't describe how I feel about them," Halyburton told The Associated Press at a relief center in nearby Alexandra. "I'm a Christian, but I don't think to kindly of people if they go light a match and destroy people's property and lives. They don't have a brain in their head."

Marysville, a town of some 500 people, was almost completely destroyed Saturday by one of the fires — but not the Churchill blaze.

Firefighters still struggled to contain about a dozen blazes and one of them flared up Friday and menaced the town of Healesville, coming within less than a mile (1 kilometer) and sending embers dropping like rain over houses.

The threat was downgraded after a few hours, but it served as a reminder that the disaster may not be over yet.

"You can't see anything. All you can see is smoke, and you can't even see where the fire is actually coming from," plant nursery owner John Stanhope told ABC radio from Healesville during the flare-up. "It's just thick smoke everywhere and everyone is just very much on edge."

Firefighters raced to take advantage of cooler weather, rain and lighter winds and lit controlled burns Friday in efforts to prevent further breakouts.

The catastrophe's scale became clearer Friday. Officials raised the tally of destroyed homes by 762 to 1,831, and the number of people left homeless or who fled their homes and have not returned was raised by 2,000 to 7,000.

Officials said the nation had pledged more than 75 million Australian dollars ($50 million) in donations to various charities for survivors. Rudd ordered military bases to be opened to house some of the homeless.

The disaster increased the urgency for a nationwide fire warning system, which has been snarled for years in bickering between state and federal officials.

"I am determined to see this thing implemented across the nation," Rudd said late Thursday. "If it means cracking heads to ensure it happens we'll do that."

Officials partly blamed the dramatic death toll on the number of people who appeared to have waited until they saw the fast-moving blazes coming before trying to flee. Many bodies were found in burned-out cars.
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Last edited by Alex Blair (RIP); 13-02-09 at 15:30. Reason: Editing out extra junk.
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  #3  
Old 13-02-09, 20:01
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Keith Webb Keith Webb is offline
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Default Arsonists

Yes sadly there are people who would do things like that, and the law does not seem to provide sever enough punishment to be a sufficient deterrent.

Have a look at this 360 view of Strathewen, near Kinglake. It's a QuickTime VR which allows you to use your mouse to move around the image.

source
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  #4  
Old 13-02-09, 22:10
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aj.lec aj.lec is offline
Andrew
 
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Unfortunately there are no words to describe just how screwed in the head some of these mongrels are
The only fitting punishment i can think of is tying them to a eucalypt tree in front of the oncoming fire to receive a very small portion of the pain and suffering they have caused
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  #5  
Old 13-02-09, 22:16
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Graeme Jamieson
 
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Location: Williamstown Vic Australia
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Default Resiliance

I thought the classic Auzzie statement out of all this devastation was from a woman standing in the ashes of her Kinglake home. When asked how she felt by deputy prime minister Julia Gillard she said "well it could have been worse. I may have had the ironing up to date"
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  #6  
Old 26-11-09, 21:00
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aj.lec aj.lec is offline
Andrew
 
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Well it looks like Australia is back to summer again .
Last weekend the mercury crept up to 43c on saturday and 44c on sunday on the back verandah
We got a bit of relief on monday with a front coming through and dropping to around 35-36c for the rest of the week and we even got a shower yesterday evening dropping 10mm
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  #7  
Old 26-11-09, 22:24
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cliff cliff is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aj.lec View Post
Well it looks like Australia is back to summer again .
Last weekend the mercury crept up to 43c on saturday and 44c on sunday on the back verandah
We got a bit of relief on monday with a front coming through and dropping to around 35-36c for the rest of the week and we even got a shower yesterday evening dropping 10mm
well typical cool Gympie weather is 35-36C and for the past month almost every day has been well above that with one day being 42C. My top orchid houses have recorded above 44C on 10 occassions and the best was 48C the other day. For the first time ever I have heat burn on some of the orchids. Almost no rain has been recorded by us in this period either with a total of about 5mm. So hot most rain is evapourating before it reaches the ground.
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  #8  
Old 26-12-09, 00:30
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aj.lec aj.lec is offline
Andrew
 
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It has been a good week -water wise at least
we had 24mm one day 20mm the next and 55mm yesterday up to 10am this morning
More rain than we have seen for a long time
Just need it to keep it up for a week or so then regularly throughout the year
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