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morning

Gulfalan67 said:
Morning all

Woke up grumpy today and choked by smoke. The Boy and I made a quick predawn patrol through woods to the other side of the range (8km return) to have a look over the other side. Filled with smoke.

Yesterday the Fish River block which is a lovely 1800 square km property across the river from us was lit up around the homestead district. A southerly wind engulfed us in smoke.Then about an hour later Ban Ban Springs which is cattle station about thirty kilometres to the east went up in flames, just as the wind swung around and smoke again poured onto us. All night our eastern horizon was a flickering glow, reminding us of our own disastrous fires hereabouts two weeks ago ( also deliberately started). I called the people at Ban Ban, they’re mates, and offered help. In that stoic bush spirit they said they had it in hand...

So who in their right mind is traipsing around the bush deliberately lighting fires on people’s properties at the very driest time of year and only days away from the onset of serious rains? Thousands of acres will burn before the rains come. How many animals will die and how many habitats wrecked? What’s the mentality of these people?

Climate change is hitting us hard enough and we’ve been struggling to adapt, but people illegalling entering properties and lighting fires is outside our control. Honestly fellas, it strikes me like a passenger in a lifeboat deliberately drilling a hole in the bottom. Don’t they realise they need to live on this planet too? The more forest and woodland we burn again and again, the gasses we emit, the more the climate changes and the harder it gets to prevent more fires... meanwhile, admidst the climate chaos, these people are wandering around lighting yet more fires. Why?

Rant over.

Everybody have a great day

Cheers

Alan
Click to expand...

I cant believe that people would do that ( well I suppose I can , some humans are strange animals ), do the authorities ever catch anyone ? who are they ? Political zealots ? Pyromaniacs ? who do the populous think could be doing it as it certainly doesn't sound accidental or even negligence .........

We have moorland fires here in the summer ( nothing on your scale ) but they are generally caused by idiots having a disposable BBQ or throwing fag ends without thinking of the consequences ..... It takes a special kind of person to go out and deliberately light a fire of that consequence .
 
Hi Rob

Thanks for these contributions. I read both articles and highly respect the bbc so I learned lots.

However, I should point out that those articles refer to totally different ecological systems than exist in the north.

Have read that the temperate forests down south would naturally burn every 12-17 years and when they burnt its cataclysmic.

Up hereabouts fire is much more frequent and part of the natural cycle of tropical savanna country. Naturally it would burn every 5-7 years but currently in our region it's burning every year (sometimes multiple times each year!) My own property has now been protected four years without a fire. Maybe we'll do a cool burn next year?

As to who's lighting fires? Most fires ignited around here are 'arson'. There are ancient traditions of indigenous fire management through which aboriginal people would wander across the landscape lighting small patchy fires early in the year to stimulate regrowth and promote tropical forest nutrient cycles. It was great and sustained the ecological balance for literally thousands of years. Our neighbours ancestors were probably doing this before the Stonehenge was raised...

However, these days that knowledge has been corrupted and some local people think they just need to burn all the country all the time. The other problem is that in the past local people used to wander around on foot but now they drive in cars. That means fires mainly get lit along roads, the same places, again and again. Not blaming this on aboriginal people though. There are enough irresponsible narcissist white pig hunters and fishermen driving around who will light a fire to drive game or access waterholes...

Just making the point that the tradition of indigenous fire management doesn't happen down south.

Two more things. At this time of year some fires are the result of lightning strikes. So nobody to blame.

They have caught a couple of people lighting fires in the north. One was a volunteer fire fighter himself who wanted some action and time off work! 😲

Alan
 
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Gulfalan67 said:
Hi Rob

Thanks for these contributions. I read both articles and highly respect the bbc so I learned lots.

However, I should point out that those articles refer to totally different ecological systems than exist in the north.

Have read that the temperate forests down south would naturally burn every 12-17 years and when they burnt its cataclysmic.

Up hereabouts fire is much more frequent and part of the natural cycle of tropical savanna country. Naturally it would burn every 5-7 years but currently in our region it's burning every year (sometimes multiple times each year!) My own property has now been protected four years without a fire. Maybe we'll do a cool burn next year?

As to who's lighting fires? Most fires ignited around here are 'arson'. There are ancient traditions of indigenous fire management through which aboriginal people would wander across the landscape lighting small patchy fires early in the year to stimulate regrowth and promote tropical forest nutrient cycles. It was great and sustained the ecological balance for literally thousands of years. Our neighbours ancestors were probably doing this before the Stonehenge was raised...

However, these days that knowledge has been corrupted and some local people think they just need to burn all the country all the time. The other problem is that in the past local people used to wander around on foot but now they drive in cars. That means fires mainly get lit along roads, the same places, again and again. Not blaming this on aboriginal people though. There are enough irresponsible narcissist white pig hunters and fishermen driving around who will light a fire to drive game or access waterholes...

Just making the point that the tradition of indigenous fire management doesn't happen down south.

Two more things. At this time of year some fires are the result of lightning strikes. So nobody to blame.

They have caught a couple of people lighting fires in the north. One was a volunteer fire fighter himself who wanted some action and time off work! 😲

Alan
Click to expand...
Thanks Alan

Interesting to note the geographic differences , a sad situation, no doubt 😢
I read about the fire fighter 🥺
 
Madriverrob said:
Thanks Alan

Interesting to note the geographic differences , a sad situation, no doubt 😢
I read about the fire fighter 🥺
Click to expand...
Sorry about the rant Rob.

I love this country and work really hard to protect it.. So do many others... but its much, much easier to start a fire in the dry season than to put one out...So we really struggle to respond to the waves of wildfire sweeping the landscape with increasing frequency and intensity each year. This year lots of land was burnt around us...

But just one note of levity to end on. There was another bloke caught lighting fires last year in the semi-rural area close to Darwin. That mongrel was on parole for other unrelated offences and happened to be wearing a GPS tracker on his ankle courtesy of Her Majesty. They caught him suspiciously at the site of a new ignition then checked his tracker data... which placed him at the ignition site of multiple fires just as they started. With this data they got a rare conviction.

Fellas, how stupid can somebody be? 🤣

Mornin' all

Alan
 
Hi Alan......morning.

.............." and happened to be wearing a GPS tracker on his ankle courtesy of Her Majesty."

As much as we moan about technology at times.....this is one instance that gives rise to celebrate it.......what a complete Numpty that idiot is...... on so many levels :D
The news of his capture and subsequent prosecution must have raised a few smiles.....and glasses :)
 
Morning all :)

Fairly strong winds here in the SW this morning.....but still mild......had some rain overnight.
Going to get "Eddie" out for a walk before we set off later on......looking at around 10.00 am.
 
Gulfalan67 said:
Sorry about the rant Rob.

I love this country and work really hard to protect it.. So do many others... but its much, much easier to start a fire in the dry season than to put one out...So we really struggle to respond to the waves of wildfire sweeping the landscape with increasing frequency and intensity each year. This year lots of land was burnt around us...

But just one note of levity to end on. There was another bloke caught lighting fires last year in the semi-rural area close to Darwin. That mongrel was on parole for other unrelated offences and happened to be wearing a GPS tracker on his ankle courtesy of Her Majesty. They caught him suspiciously at the site of a new ignition then checked his tracker data... which placed him at the ignition site of multiple fires just as they started. With this data they got a rare conviction.

Fellas, how stupid can somebody be? 🤣

Mornin' all

Alan
Click to expand...
Believe me, re stupidity.......that's barely scratching it........................
 
Mornin' all

Settling down after a few early chores and a shower. 8.30am and its already too hot to be outside!

Hey folks -I could be British citizen! I was typing in this site name on my computer and got taken to a site called 'Life in the UK'.

Its the UKs citizenship test. I decided to have a stab at it.

I passed with 20/24. Not bad eh? I struggled on the questions about Irish history. I noticed there's a lot in the test about Wales, Scotland and Ireland, like somebodys struggling really hard to hold the union together...🤣

But overall thought it was a better test than the Aussie version that I once saw.

That was full of sports questions and even had one which read 'which of these horses is Phar Lap?' (Phar Lap was a champion race horse of the 1920s). The question was multi-choice and you had to select between four pictures of horses' faces...🤣

I can imagine new Vietnamese immigrants being stumped both culturally and intellectually by that question...I myself had no clue!

Have a good day all

Alan
 
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Morning Folks, Grey and spitting with rain here.

:D Alan, I once spoke to an American man who was puzzled by not being able to find Wales and Scotland on his small Atlas.
He had read of..'the British Isles' and managed to find two, one clearly marked England, the other marked Ireland. He said that he didn't realise that Wales and Scotland were...joined on. He had been looking for four separate islands. :lol:
 
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