Sensational-Adelaide.com

Hoping all fellow Sensational-Adelaide members living in the Adelaide Hills and the eastern fringe suburbs are keeping safe today.

I ended up listening to 5AA until 5am this morning after discovering the outskirts of Golden Grove and Greenwith were at risk.

Huge bushfire destroys homes in Adelaide Hills as CFS warns of catastrophic fire danger

AT least five houses have been lost as a raging fire continues to sweep through the northeastern Adelaide Hills near Kersbrook.

It is expected to threaten multiple communities today in what the CFS says are the worst fire conditions since Ash Wednesday.

Police Commissioner Gary Burns has declared the bushfire a major emergency. The declaration — which will remain in force for 14 days — enables authorised officers to utilise a range of powers not normally available to them.

One person who was believed to have been missing after seeking refuge in a dam on Mt Gawler Rd near the Mt Gawler Forest has been found safe and alive.

The CFS urges anyone within the Houghton, Inglewood, Paracombe, Gumeracha, Birdwood, Upper and Lower Hermitage, Kersbrook, Lobethal, Lenswood, Castambul, Cherryville, Forest Range, Charleston, Norton Summit, Montacute, Oakbank, Balhannah, Uraidla, Piccadilly and Williamstown areas to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan.

Whilst its sad to hear that there is a bushfire and there is a risk to communities, I really wish the media would stop sensationalising the event. It is not the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday... fortunately only 5 homes have been destroyed (that we know of)... no lives lost... no forced evacuations... the winds and weather are not anywhere near as bad as they were "supposedly" going to be... let's look at the bigger picture here. Its no Black Saturday like what happened in Victoria a few years ago when entire towns were burnt to the ground and 176 lives were lost.

The media really needs to calm its farm.

[Shuz] wrote:Whilst its sad to hear that there is a bushfire and there is a risk to communities, I really wish the media would stop sensationalising the event. It is not the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday... fortunately only 5 homes have been destroyed (that we know of)... no lives lost... no forced evacuations... the winds and weather are not anywhere near as bad as they were "supposedly" going to be... let's look at the bigger picture here. Its no Black Saturday like what happened in Victoria a few years ago when entire towns were burnt to the ground and 176 lives were lost.

The media really needs to calm its farm.

Actually it's the CFS reporting it as the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday . It seems though the Hills were fortunate in the weather today.

Today has definitely shown the power of social media with 24/7 continuous updates from authorities, local residents and anyone willing to offer assistance to people affected from the fires. It's been amazing to see photos of complete strangers using their own horse floats to transport animals to safer ground.

Even still the fire is still extremely bad but what is more concerning is it's only early January

To put things in perspective... this is making the rounds on Facebook

[Shuz] wrote:Whilst its sad to hear that there is a bushfire and there is a risk to communities, I really wish the media would stop sensationalising the event. It is not the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday... fortunately only 5 homes have been destroyed (that we know of)... no lives lost... no forced evacuations... the winds and weather are not anywhere near as bad as they were "supposedly" going to be... let's look at the bigger picture here. Its no Black Saturday like what happened in Victoria a few years ago when entire towns were burnt to the ground and 176 lives were lost.

The media really needs to calm its farm.

One can always argue that it is due to the "sensationalist" reporting that no lives have been lost; it made people alert and alarmed. Imagine, the alternative - imagine if the CFS and the media took a blasé attitude to today's events.....

Will wrote:

[Shuz] wrote:Whilst its sad to hear that there is a bushfire and there is a risk to communities, I really wish the media would stop sensationalising the event. It is not the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday... fortunately only 5 homes have been destroyed (that we know of)... no lives lost... no forced evacuations... the winds and weather are not anywhere near as bad as they were "supposedly" going to be... let's look at the bigger picture here. Its no Black Saturday like what happened in Victoria a few years ago when entire towns were burnt to the ground and 176 lives were lost.

The media really needs to calm its farm.

One can always argue that it is due to the "sensationalist" reporting that no lives have been lost; it made people alert and alarmed. Imagine, the alternative - imagine if the CFS and the media took a blasé attitude to today's events.....

While the damage so far, thankfully, is nowhere near Ash Wednesday, the weather conditions were possibly worse than what they were on Ash Wednesday, hence the CFS comments, which the media reported on.

It's the lessons learnt from Ash Wednesday, Black Saturday etc that have probably saved hundreds of lives the past couple of days (such as the warnings to evacuate now if you can, and not leave it to the last minute).

Also, I know we have a few happy snappers on these pages, which 99 times out of 100 are fantastic, but I hope they're smart enough to stay well away from the fire, and are not part of the 'spectators' hindering efforts.

Such a powerful image of a young CFS volunteer rescuing a dog after giving it CPR. Sadly though many cats and dogs weren't so lucky and perished after the boarding kennel and cattery was destroyed in the fires.



Absolutely gut wrenching to think of the poor animals in this.

[Shuz] wrote:Whilst its sad to hear that there is a bushfire and there is a risk to communities, I really wish the media would stop sensationalising the event. It is not the worst conditions since Ash Wednesday... fortunately only 5 homes have been destroyed (that we know of)... no lives lost... no forced evacuations... the winds and weather are not anywhere near as bad as they were "supposedly" going to be... let's look at the bigger picture here. Its no Black Saturday like what happened in Victoria a few years ago when entire towns were burnt to the ground and 176 lives were lost.

The media really needs to calm its farm.

I think it was more the potential that this fire had. It honestly had the strength to devastate thousands of homes in the Adelaide Hills and Tea Tree Gully Area. I live in the Tea Tree Gully area and it got scarily close to the point that we got the text message, it was raining ash on my car, there was an eerie orange glow in the sky and glowing red lines in the hills on the weekend. A lot of my friends had to evacuate and unfortunately somebody at my church lost their home and that really shook people up. The fact that the CFS didn't play it down and acted so quickly was amazing. The fact that the community was prepared to donate their time and resources is also amazing. It's not over yet though. There are people I know from my church who are still fighting it on their properties and there are people who are still donating time to fight it on it's northern and eastern flank.

It's the lessons learnt from Ash Wednesday, Black Saturday etc that have probably saved hundreds of lives the past couple of days (such as the warnings to evacuate now if you can, and not leave it to the last minute).

Totally agree. It makes me proud to be a South Australian living in the Tea Tree Gully Community.

What are you doing mother nature?. Last Friday was faced 44 degrees with dangerous fire conditions, and tomorrow it's going to be 22 degrees with rain. Not to mention much of the state is expected to receive it's heaviest rainfall in 30 years over the next coming days.



Not that I'm complaining about the rain...

What's so bizarre about it?
Hot weather followed by a thunder storm in summer is not unusual for Adelaide.

What's bizarre is the intensity of it.

Going from 'apparently' the worst bushfires in SA since Ash Wednesday and having the maximum temperature exceed up to 4 degrees beyond what was forecasted to having 'apparently' the heaviest rainfalls in 30 years spread out over the next four days.

We'll wait until we see what actually happens though.

A downpour after a bushfire is not bizarre. We just haven't had a big bushfire near Adelaide in a long time for anyone to actually remember what it's like.
It rained after Ash Wednesday btw.

Walking to work this morning there were piles of leaves on the footpath, the weather was cool, drizzling and overcast.
Seemed like autumn, especially with all the dead leaves about.

(I'm guessing the hot spell stressed the trees to drop their leaves?)

According to the Genesis song 'The Land of Confusion',

"Did you read the news today? They say the danger has gone away.
Well, I can see the fires still alight. They're burning into the night."

The odd rainfall in summer is something we are lucky to experience in Adelaide. Let's appreciate it.

I'm telling you, the rainfall we had after the bushfire was great.
My lawns went from dead brown dust bowls, to lush green miniature forests.