they have it on the italian newspaper as well.
i wanted to share the gallery mainly for the last photo:
http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/esteri/australia-caos/25.html
as a child, i wanted to be a firefighter, but women are not allowed
to do that in italy. when i moved to the US i still could not do it
because i was not a resident/green card holder (nope, not even as
volunteer).
let's hope those fires are put out soon.
On Feb 8, 2009, at 12:32 AM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
In the forested hills to the East of Melbourne. Fortunately (for me
and mine) the big fires were well to the north and south of us this
time - unlike 1983 which was the last time it was this bad. A couple
of my favourite small towns have simply disappeared this time around.
We had a couple of small ones and the main road and rail line into my
town were cut for a while.
This was the basis of my earlier comments on professional skill
versus bravery. That pilot did his job extraordinarily well thank
goodness but, in the end, it was his job and he was saving himself as
well. At the moment, there are almost four hundred firetrucks out in
the Victorian bushland. Each is a standard 10 tonner from a rural
fire station and has a crew of 6-8 volunteers, members of a
community, although they travel to where the fires are burning in a
crisis like this. Some have come over the border from New South Wales
as well. My local station is a few hoses down the road - they have a
truck and a pursuit vehicle. The captain is a real estate agent and
his assistant the owner of the local store. They're out there
somewhere although the local area is covered by a neighboring station.
There's a couple of pix of these volunteers in their yellow overalls
with the trucks, in the set. They are ordinary but well trained
people with nothing to gain personally and they're going up against
terrifying, uncontrollable fires miles wide and as high as a tidal
wave. A couple of the big fires have burned out over 100,000 hectares
by now. Some come back to find their own homes lost. Occasionally,
some don't come back - whole crews have perished with their truck
before now. That's bravery for me - they have a choice not to go but
do it because it has to be done and someone has to do it.
Some more pix have been added - it's worth a look for the colour of
the light alone - scary as hell.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/photos/2009/02/04/2482299.htm
Death toll is 65 and rising.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 08/02/2009, at 6:18 PM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Those are great photos, but of worrying times, Andrew.
>
> Whereabouts in the country are you?
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