birding-aus

bushfires near Darwin

To: birding-aus <>
Subject: bushfires near Darwin
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 17:09:49 +0000
Good morning all.

I’ve previously written on the danger of bush/grass fires in the Top End.  This 
year gamba grass-fuelled fires haven’t been the only problem.  Temperatures 
have been up to nearly five degrees above the long term maximum and forest 
without this weed are going up in flames.

Gamba-fuelled fires move fast.  There was a grassfire one property south of us 
three weeks ago.  It started while we were out with friends having lunch at 
Berry Springs. There was no sign of a fire when we left home. An hour later 
there was a large  plume of black smoke . Our firefighters were already on the 
job as we returned home.  This was only an hour or so after  we left.  All 
that’s left are trees scorched up to the canopy.

This fire was deliberately lit, and according to the firies the arsonist tried 
to light this blaze previously and in the middle of the night. I hate to think 
what would have happened had it taken. The south of our property, including our 
second dwelling with our two sleeping friends, Pete Colston and Mike Blair, 
might well have gone up in flames.

Just before this fire there was another on our road, also lit by an arsonist.   
Both of the properties that burnt had loads of gamba grass present.  I suspect 
such land is targeted because these fires burn so quickly and spectacularly.  
So again I repeat my warning to birders.  Stay away from areas of gamba grass.


Denise Lawungkurr  Goodfellow
PO Box 71
Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
043 8650 835
















<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR> 
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • bushfires near Darwin, Denise Goodfellow <=
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU