EO members caught in fires??

Hi Jo,

The devestation is widespread down here and I think it would be reasonable to assume that some of our EO friends will have been affected directly. Cetainly a lot more will be affected indirectly as the true extent of the devestation becomes apparent in the coming days and weeks. With so many homes and the supporting infrastructure gone, particularly phone, power and communications, it may well be some time before we know the full extent of the losses and it is certainly hard for any one affected to articulate that to others when they may well have lost everything.

I'm sure as more is known, the information will filter to us here and we will have the opportunity to rally support.

Mick.

Hi Jo, I got caught up in the Kilmore E. fire, this is the one that ran through the Mt Disappointment Nat Park and on to Kinglake.
Had the car packed ready to move out if it started to threaten home, but when the wind changed in the arvo the CFA advised everyone that hadn't left to stay home as the exit roads were all on fire, so had to sit it out until Sunday morning.
No houses lost in Waterford Park, but the surrounding areas of Clonbinane & Wandong took a terrible beating.
I was a hell of lot luckier than people in other areas.

Cheers, John
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Hi All
I have been working at the fires around at Labertouche / Bunyip, back home now, for a while. Fire got within about 10 k of home, where the fire crossed the Princes hwy. One of the tankers in our strike team got "toasted" (no injuries). A few photo's below:-
Neil

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Hi Jo

The fire threat eased last night at our property (Yea-murrindindi fire complex).

Some of our friends not so lucky , still unable to contact 1 staff member from mountain lodge in Marysville which is real concern.

At friends last night, he feared his holiday house at Buxton was gone as they had only evacuated when flames got to next ridge.
Went back yesterday and fronted police lines south of Alex yesterday.
They said he couldn't go down (possible crime scene) to check on his place but said they would not physically stop him.
When he got there it was totally stuffed , years of work down the drain.

Still could have been worse.

I was thinking on when we left sunday one of the cars staked a tyre (lots of downed tree branches), and come to think of it the others we winched out.

We were prepared and plugged it quickly.
A simple hold up like that could easily get you caught.

All the 4wd stuff has been really worth it.

While some houses we saw burnt still had structual integrity others looked as though they were hit by slow moving explosion and any delay could be fatal.

If you want to help, the Pajero Club and the Land Rover Club Vic are doing work to help out.

Baz.

Good thought Jo.

At a friends place last night, and a few of us wondering what we could do. Obviously we can give to the charities for now, since the local support systems will hopefully kick in, and they will be able to help as they see fit.
Sending anything (goods) from Brisbane is really out of the question for now, as where to put it and how to transport it. It would just get in the way.

We were wondering about getting some families together at the local school, and seeing if we can get school support to support a school in Victoria that has had damage, or families that will need school stuff in a few weeks time once they start getting back to normal life again.

We had a fire at our local school a couple of years ago, and it is amazing the resources that are lost and insurance and the government will not replace.

If any Victiorians have any spare time at the moment, or can point us in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

Diamond Jim and Tab out at Eaglehawk in Bendigo area were evacuated on the weekend but all ended up good. Although he needs new undies and back fence.

Few blokes on outers lost everything they owned. Some still dont know.

Apparently there were several members of the zook group past and present in Victoria that didnt make it out.


And with reports of Looters out there.. bring on the army. No mercy.

Hi Jo - yes this has been my question to! Good to hear from those of you that are able to get online to hear you are ok. Fingers crossed for those we haven't heard from yet. Obviously for privacy reasons I cannot comment on who lives where. To be honest - most of these town names I have never heard of. I have been using Places etc however to view the areas on our maps... we all discussed today how Google earth will account for the new errors their system will present!
Michelle (MM)