I’ve already had great news this New Year.

I do so hope that those of you with families in Australia find they are safe and still have their homes. I have been worried about a dear friend who has her parents visiting after not seeing them for 2 years. She has had a terrible time since emigrating mostly due to her ex who has since abandoned her and has just started to get her life back on track with a lovely new partner and is at last happy. I am praying that she is not going to be one of the unlucky ones though I know she is on the edge of the danger areas. Like many others among you I dread hearing the news about the fires.

Hope all of your loved ones and their homes continue to stay safe. The situation is horrible for people and wildlife alike. We just finished with another awful fire season here in my beautiful California just in time for Australia's to start. It has become the new "norm" over the past several years. Makes me sad year-round these days...

PamelaJ1 You mentioned your family were up a No Exit road - how would they get out if they wanted to?

Do they have any communication with the outside world at all?
If not, you could alert the authorities to their plight and ask if they can be airlifted/trucked/tractored out if you were seriously concerned.

Well, there we have it:
It has been reported on the news today that the 3 year old ban on back burning has exacerbated this and caused the fires to spread uncontrollably.

This is something that Aboriginal and rural people have known and advocated but have been overruled by those who do not know best.

Perhaps the government may start to listen to the voices of reason and experience.

It is beyond a disaster.

The PM and government need to listen to the Aboriginal peoples; many rural folk tried to follow the same practices but the Government disagrees with those methods.
The PM is not at all respected.

The fires are simply terrifying to watch. I can't imagine what it's like to be living in the affected areas.
Getting them under control doesn't sound remotely possible.
The Australian PM looks to be heading for another job.

The only positive I can take is that global warming is increasingly difficult to deny.

I have tried to change the title. It may work.

Apparently the indigenous peoples used to build creating firebrand as they understood about heat,fire and wind. Concentration of populations has lost these habits. No consolation for all those affected by the current disaster. Just awful. Do hope those Gnets' families are all safe.

Some have lost their livelihood as well as their homes.

Thousands of animals have been unable to escape but I have seen a YouTube video of a woman who is running a hospital for koalas; although there are many volunteers she cannot treat more than 50 at a time but other wildlife sanctuaries are taking those she cannot cope with.

My heart goes out to the Aussies who are affected by the horrific fires, I can’t imagine what it must be like.
I am in New Zealand and yes we have hazy days and red sunsets some of the time, it is quite dramatic. The fires are for the most part caused by natural phenomenon, often lightning.
I hope all of you hear good news from your relations.

I lived in South Australia in the 60s and we had bad bush fires in the summers but not almost all over the country at once. I always had a suitcase filled with all the important things ready to be grabbed if told to get out.
Here is Portugal we hundreds of thousands hectares of forest lost every year due to fires and what is so awful is that many fires are deliberately set as they have been in Australia. That's something I will understand. I am glad that posters are getting some mainly positive news from their families there.

BiL in Wangaratta, Victoria and has been told to pack his car, get fuel and be ready to go. We’re very worried.

We have heard from all our friends in Oz now and thank god all safe though one group has been evacuated twice. Awful. Just awful. But they are a resilient lot and will get through.

My son,wife and two darling granddaughters live in NSW..thankfully nearer to Byron bay..but they can smell the smoke...its a horrendous, terrifying situation and my heart goes out to everyone affected...praying for rain...so sad....

It's comforting to hear from other worried families. My DS and his family are in the Sydney suburbs and air quality has been bad for weeks. They cannot let their sons play outside for too long and schools and nurseries have been restricting outdoor activities. They went further south down the coast for a Summer holiday but had to cut it short because of fire threats. It is concerning what the long term health implications will be and as for the people who have lost homes, pets and loved ones, my heart goes out to them.

Last year California and now Australia. Such human devestation, I can not imagine what it must be like to loose everything.
Once the fires are over what then? Houses and belongings gone and the area ruined.

I wrote to a woman who lost her house in Paradise California and she was a broken woman. She knew she should be grateful for being alive but she was traumatised and found it so hard to recover.

The rains can not come soon enough. Heartfelt sympathy to all involved.

My brother-in-law lives in a Canberra suburb. He says it is hideously hot and smoky, but they are safe so far. They also have a holiday house (built of wood!) in Lawson in the Blue Mountains, but although the Blue Mountains have been mentioned in fire reports he doesn’t seem overly worried yet.

I remember seeing bush fires in the Sydney area, in the distance, flaring up and dying down.. They seemed to take it for granted that there would be some. Not like the current ones, though.

Yes Pamela I came on looking for good news and found you are all worried sick.
I am very glad your family has escaped the worst but it's relentless and with intense heat and no proper rain forecast.
We were in Melbourne a few years ago during a heatwave. I wasn't expecting such heat there. We went to St Kilda to cool ourselves in the sea.

It is great news for you but perhaps GNHQ would change the heading if you wish.

It was a relief for us but it's early days so far.

Do you think that my heading for this thread was a little misleading?
It doesn’t mention the fires at all and seems a bit ‘light’ do you think that there are many more on GN who may be affected and would join in with information if it was a bit more obvious what we are discussing?
I was just sooo relieved when I heard from Aus that I didn’t give much thought to the title.

I am visiting family in Perth at the moment. There have been a few fires over here, too, but nothing serious. We had a little smoke and ash one day from a small fire further south, which was soon put out. My daughter’s house was threatened by a fire, some years ago. It reached the edge of her suburb, but was put out by the amazingly brave firefighters - most of whom are unpaid volunteers.
On Monday I am flying over to Sydney for ten days, to visit my son and DIL. They don’t have any fires near, but some days the air quality hasn’t been too good.
I am looking forward to seeing them, after two years, but am a bit nervous that there may be problems caused by the fires. However, seeing the appalling situation that others are in puts it into perspective. So many people and animals have been killed or injured, and homes destroyed. I hope that some rain falls soon, and that those of you with family in the area find that they are all safe.

sarahmob have you looked on any Facebook pages?
I was on one or two before K managed to contact me.
Which area is she in ? Someone on here may have news from relatives in the same area.

Ape girl and ican such sad stories.

Unfortunately it is the drier season down south.

Even where some of my family live, where this is normally the wet season, SIL says he can't remember the rains coming so late. They've had one deluge, that's all.

My cousin was evacuated from her house because the neighbour's was on fire. After a terrible time in the last few years with her health and having lost the most beautiful home she had built through divorce, we were very worried about her. She posted video footage of the helicopter dousing her house with water to keep it from catching fire and luckily her house has emerged relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, her poor neighbour's house was completely destroyed.

A friend and his partner live in NSW and have said how scary it is. He is helping voluntarily sourcing generators, etc and supporting fire fighters with food and drink,etc. They were without electricity for 36 hours, 2 friends have died, others have lost their homes, and they are quite frightened. Makes our moans about constant rain very selfish.