Post by Mieric Andre on Jan 10, 2020 4:27:32 GMT -8
The Australian Bushfire
Information on Australia's Crisis
When you wake up and you can smell smoke in your Bedroom, that's alarming.
When you find out that it's not your house on fire and that there's smoke surrounding the entire city, that's concerning.
When you find out that the smoke that has engulfed your city has travelled more than 918.2 km (570 miles) and is not local, well...
This is not just one fire that's burning. There are fires burning in most states of Australia at different levels of intensity, many of them uncontrollable. So far, roughly 26,400,000 acres of land has burnt. We are still near the start of the fire season. Below are a few maps to give you some perspective as to how big an area that is.
Red = Already burnt.
Information on Australia's Crisis
When you wake up and you can smell smoke in your Bedroom, that's alarming.
When you find out that it's not your house on fire and that there's smoke surrounding the entire city, that's concerning.
When you find out that the smoke that has engulfed your city has travelled more than 918.2 km (570 miles) and is not local, well...
This is not just one fire that's burning. There are fires burning in most states of Australia at different levels of intensity, many of them uncontrollable. So far, roughly 26,400,000 acres of land has burnt. We are still near the start of the fire season. Below are a few maps to give you some perspective as to how big an area that is.
Red = Already burnt.
Real Time Map of the Fires in Australia
Check the boxes labelled "Burnt Areas This Year" and "Last Year" for an understanding of the areas burnt in the current fire season
Check the boxes labelled "Burnt Areas This Year" and "Last Year" for an understanding of the areas burnt in the current fire season
Over 1 billion animals have died.
28 People have died.
5,900+ buildings have been destroyed, 2200+ of them homes.
Rumour | The Truth |
The fires were intentionally lit by various groups including but not limited to political extremists, terrorists, groups trying to gain commercial benefits | False. Although there have been arsonists deliberately lighting fires in the regions (Most of whom have been caught and charged for their offences), the fires have been started due to natural influences such as Drought, Climate Change and Lightning Strikes. |
Firefighters are volunteers and are not being paid. | Truth. Sadly the volunteers who are working are NOT being paid for their service due to lack of funding from the Government. Citizens of Australia are raising funds for the volunteers via donations. So far an estimated $100 million has been raised by businesses, citizens and celebrities as well as international Governments. |
Emergency services will not respond to requests for help. | A bit of both. Emergency services are doing their best to aid those who need it the most.However it has been rumoured that if you ring 000 (Australia's 911) in certain areas, you will not get a response. This is due to phone lines being damaged from the fire. In some cases when people have been able to get through, they have been told "Get out now, nobody can get to you". |
More information as it comes.