Fire in Australia

[Lesley Cox]

Another family with youngsters survived by crawling into a concrete culvert with water in the bottom. The fire came in so they rolled around in the water - and survived.

[JohnnyD]

While we all see the news and express horror at what is happening in Australia it takes the fraternity of the forum to make it so much more personal.
I will watch the news with a very different perspective as a result.
My hopes for the very best outcome to all who are affected.
JohnnyD.

[gote]

I can only agree with what has been already said  - better than I could
Göte

[David Shaw]

When I watch newsclips of the fire I now do it with the sound off. It is heartrendering to hear the distress of the survivors. I send my sympathy and love to all who have been involved in these fires.

[Miriam]

It is just horrible!
I hope it all will be over soon and best wishes to all from Israel.

[fermi de Sousa]

I'm resurrecting this topic just as we enter the "fire season" here in Southern Australia to show the Forum some pics of the area I drive through each day to get to work.

Tomorrow is the nine month mark from that tragic day in February and much of the burned out area is only slowly returning to life.

It was very disappointing to see the amount of weed growth in the early spring but now native plants are making a comeback.
In the last week we'd noticed a haze of mauve/purple

on the roadside in the burned out areas and realised it was the native "Nodding Chocolate Lily" (Arthropodium  fimbriatum)

growing along with "Milkmaids" (Burchardia  umbellata)

and rice-flower , possibly Pimelea glauca

The eucalypt forests have evolved to cope with fire and this can be seen in the way they regenerate from epicormic buds under the bark.

It's also good to see the acacias regenerating as none were visible after the fire and there were no flowers this spring

cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

It is incredible what can survive the heat and devastation we saw back in February. Some of these will be regenerated root systems no doubt and other will be from seed which survived the fires. One can only marvel at how persistent nature is and determined to live through the worst tragedies. A great pity the affected families could not also regenerate.

[Paul T]

Great pics, Fermi.

[Ragged Robin]

A ray of sunshine to see these plants sprouting and flowering after the fire devastation Fermi, thanks for sharing your optimism after the tragic events las Spring in your area

All the stories of how people adapted to the emergency situations are incredible too - the human spirit is tenacious, like plants, and adaptable to the forces of Nature in our desire to live - maybe we are not so different as we think 

[angie]

I always wandered how long it would take for the ground to green up and plants to take a hold again. When you see these fires on the television it scares me so much. I have a forrest two feet behind my house, I sometimes see lots of kids going through and when I see them smoking it does worry me. I cant imagine what it must be like watching your home and all your belongs being lost forever.
Its nice that you took these photos to let us over here see what happens after those horrific fires.
Angie

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for showing this Fermi !
Amazing to see how nature regains it's rights !!!
And so quickly !
Would love to see some more pictures in two years time or so.. 

[Anthony Darby]

It's amazing how life regenerates, but the Australian flora has evolved to cope. I remember reading the instructions on a packet of acacia seeds: " loosely wrap in newspaper and set alight; remove the seeds from the ashes and sow in gritty compost". Not just Australian flora. Lodge pole pine cones from North America don't open until fire rips through the forest. The resulting seedlings grow very quickly. Here in Scotland fire is used to regenerate heather moors on a controlled basis.

[Paul T]

Anthony,

I saw the heather moors on a program recently.... the grousse shooting keeps the moors alive because the grouse can't survive without the moors so money from grousse shooting goes to the moors upkeep.  So the moors wouldn't survive without the grousse now, as the grousse can't survive without the moors.  Sort of poetic (although a little sad).  They were showing the patchwork effects they used with fire there so that there was old, new and regrown patches, each of which served a purpose for the wildlife inhabitants.  Fascinating stuff, but somewhat off the Aussie topic.  Sorry for my digression.

[Anthony Darby]

No problem Paul. Management of the grouse moors alas prevents regeneration of the Caledonian forest which used to cover Scotland. It has also created the problem of a huge increase in the red deer population and no top predator. There is very little 'natural' Scotland left. Even the large oak woods on the eastern side of Loch Lomond were planted, for charcoal, and never used because one A. Darby had pioneered the use of coke in the making of steel (1709). You could say that Mr Darby (not a relative) started the Industrial Revolution?

[cohan]

great to see the regeneration, fermi, thanks for sharing...
are the eucalypts alone in regenerating (if i am reading that right) standing trees? are most tree species there killed outright by such fires?