It is a trifle tropical this morning, but at least the smoke haze seems to dissipated ,although Moreton Island to the north of my island still has fires.As Ron observed yesterday, attention is drawn to South 'Stralia where inland areas are forecast to reach 48* Now that is hot! We expect around 33*m much more manageable.
As Buff mention in his post , ordinarily the Rural Fire Services would conduct back burns during the winter months. Due to the caffe latte sipping brigade, this practice has not , in many areas been undertaken for several years, the conservationists claiming that this endangered the natural environment. In the meantime, we experienced a very dry winter. This factor , plus the build up of debris on the forests floors has created the ingredients for the perfect fire storm that devastated parts of the east coast and now threatens other States too,