Member - Jimbo (VIC) replied:

Bloody Dick Smith has a lot to answer for LOL

Mad Dog (Australia) replied:

Message issued at 12.22PM.
02/04/2005

CFA is assisting DSE and Parks Victoria at a large grass and scrub fire burning on Wilson's Promontory.

The fire is approximately 700 hecatres in size and is burning south east across the Promontory, but no private property is currently at risk.

Tidal River Camping Ground has been evacuated by Victoria Police assisted by SES, and over 544 people have been moved to the beach at Norman Bay for their safety.

15 CFA tankers have been involved in asset protection in Tidal River, and in assisting DSE and Parks Victoria to construct control lines to try to bring the fire under control.

6 aircraft are also en route to assist with the fire.

The park is currently closed to the public, and the public are asked to remain clear of the area. People wanting to camp or bushwalk are advised to seek further information from the Parks Victoria call centre on 13 19 63.

Glenn (VIC) replied:

When is Thwaites going to get the arse....every bloody year his department cause issues like this...what a d&*khead

Truckster (Vic) replied:

Why dont the press run with this like a DEADLY 4wd STORY....

????

Mad Dog (Australia) replied:

Looks like Tassie has its problems as well

--------------------------------------------------
A series of fires in southern Tasmania yesterday has reignited the debate over Forestry Tasmania's use of regeneration fires.

A fire off Arve Road, near Geeveston yesterday, burnt at least 25 hectares but is now under control.

Three other fires were reported at Esperance, in the Weld Valley, and the Picton Valley.

The Wilderness Society's Geoff Law says escaped burn-offs put an enormous strain on firefighting resources.

"It's really playing Russian roulette with our natural environment and it also poses a threat to tourism assets and private property, because you often have a case where a cluster of these fires is on the loose all at once," he said.

"It puts enormous strain on firefighting capacity around the state."

sean replied:

WHY would any sane person think that the best time to burn is at the END of summer.

Sean

Eric from Cape York Connections replied:

Shaker DSE also stands for dick smith electronics .
So what does the other DSE stand for.

All the best
Eric

GOB & denny vic member replied:

the worst part is all the DSE bloke are earning a fortune while the cfa fix there stuff ups for nothing

steve

by the way they now to be known as UNCONTROLLED BURNS

geocacher (djcache) replied:

How quickly people criticise. It was only this time two years ago that many here and elsewhere were criticising DSE for a lack of fuel reduction burning which they believed contributed to the 250,000 hectare alpine fires.

Now I have no involvement in DSE though I was fortunate enough as a kid to live on The Prom. I also campaigned actively to stop the Kennet Government from turning it to Australia's southernmost mainland 5 star resort.

I know of no-one at The Prom who would wish that what has happened ever occur, nor any one who has ever visited there.

The information I have is that the reduction burn that started this all was not as has been suggested here started in appalling conditions in the last few days but was started around Thursday a week and a half ago in far more benign conditions.

Anyone who has ever been involved in fires knows that it is nearly impossible to completely blackout a burn - either wildfire or controlled burn. Any deterioration to the right conditions can set it off again.

Now if any who have so far posted here have the ability to forecast weather accurately 8-12 days in advance I suggest they contact the Bureau of Met post haste, and they will be filthy stinking rotten rich. So far 5 super computers have failed to score that well much past four days and fare fairly poorly at times 7 days out.

If any of the posters here know The Prom well then they would already be well aware that on average there is only 1 thirty degree day in March every two years on The Prom, and none in April. The conditions of the last few days are therefore fairly out of the ordinary.

If none of the posters here have ever made an error of judgement, or has never realised an error with the benefit of hindsight then flame away (pardon the pun) but for those of us without a crystal ball next weeks Tatts numbers will remain elusive.

Do you seriously think that DSE staff who struggle to improve our parks with ever dwindling budgets set out to make the magnitude of work for themselves that this sort of event incurs? Or set out to reduce the parks budget by imposing refunding the fees of hundreds of visitors?

Get off the grass.

Dave