fires....

So, 181 passed away from the fires, over 20 fires in the area, some believed to have been started deliberately, over 80 people still unaccounted for and $44 million dollars in damaged. My friend informed me that they are comparing this to 9-11. I know, it seems un-comparable for us north americans, but for them, it's a lot dead just from a bush fire.
One of the things I noticed when I got here and went out of the 'tourist' zone, was billboards advertising if 'you where ready for a fire?'. Kind of like us preparing for snow storms and other ready for hurricanes. It is a very real thing here, and because the draught, fire can get out of control easier then you can imagine. There has been fire bans in states across the country to try and prevent this from happening. In Kangaroo Island, a year ago 8 lightening bolts struck in Flinders national park, igniting 12 bush fires in 1 hour, burned out of control for over a week, utilizing over 270 fire fighter volunteers brought in from all over Australia. Only one person died in this fire...he was driving along the road and got caught in smoke, tried turning around with a trailer attached and got stuck, very unfortunate. A majority of Flinders park was destroyed from this fire, and it is figured that the risk of fire is only going to get worse as the yeas go on. We saw much of the destruction from the fires during our tour if kangaroo island.