cactus flower wrote:

The lesson of disasters like this and like Hurricane Katrina is that Governments often view us as disposable. These types of extreme climate-related event are likely to become more and more frequent with clmate change. Social solidarity, mutual assistaince and good use of technology combined, would give people the best possible chance of survival. Waiting for Government to come and dig us out may mean waiting a very long time.

Everything these days is cheaper. Its cheaper to build a house and furnish it than every before. As a consequence its probably cheaper for governments to not be as pro-active in defending against natural disaster and compensate for any loss of property when they do occur than to actually work out expensive preventative measures. Thinking more of the recent flooding in clonmel than the fires in Melbourne really. Planners know how to defeat the flooding but its too expensive - the flood plain to the south east of the town was built on in the 1960's and reversing this would be horrendously expensive. Its cheaper to let the Suir flood every few years than fix the problem.

Not sure if my theory fits with the bushfires. You mention Ceder used in house construction, well Ireland and the UK are unusual in using concrete for housing as much as it does. most homes in Australia and north america and I'm guessing in mainland europe are timber frame. Ceder is a strong material, and the timber frame houses can be built very quickly and for a lot less. Those concrete built is better built adds on irish radio a few years ago were aimed at discouraging the adoption of timber frame housing in Ireland (by concrete and cement manufacturers). to be honest though, I think the heat in many cases was so intense and the fires so widespread many people would have been killed anyway.

Stay and defend is a legitmate tactic which is used to save lives every year. This time the heat and dry and the high winds (the wind was very very strong on sat, horrible hot wind, like a giant hairdryer - I kid you not) - not to mention the bastards starting the fires for their own sick thrills all combined to creat a sort of perfect storm. While I'm sure more could have been done, the fact is that a a fire like that was exceptional and blaming the government alone is simplistic.

If you are interested in the australian media perspective Cactus, the local paper for Melbourne is

www.theage.com.au.

The opinion section will give you an idea of the general attitude around the state.