In about 1989/90 another fellow and I were pulling scrub with a pair of cat d8ks in the Toompine area. We had no cabs no aircon. Working 6 days a week Sunday off. One Saturday it was so bloody hot we knocked off at lunchtime. Back at camp we had an old Mercury thermometer. It read 51 degrees. I have told this story many times but no one but true western QLD people believe me. Have any of you greenie clowns experienced heat like that? But I will tell you something for free. We had 2 Engel fridges keeping our tucker cold. They never missed a beat !! Just my 20 cents worth. What is global warming or climate change ? Its just friggen hot out bush.
We had a mild 47°C but the humidity was so low that it didn't feel that bad. It's felt much worse where we live literally at the waters edge in Sydney at 23°C due to the humidity.
Late 70's we were re-roofing a shearing shed on a property between Barcaldine and Longreach.
It was hot...
We decided to try a thermometer hanging just under the roof where we hadn't got to yet.
Came down at lunch time only to find it had burst???
After that day we went into Longreach and hired some flood lights and worked at night.
But have you ever tried to sleep through the day in 50deg plus heat in a shearing quarters???
I don't reckon it's getting much hotter, but we are a lot softer these days.
All these fires though... Greens haven't got a clue, bushfire won't burn without fuel.
That's why the aboriginals used to burn off in the winter, to get rid of all the undergrowth.
Reckon we could still learn a thing or two from them.
Pre the 1990's I would push up all deadfall during summer months into massive piles and ignite them around May/June, also burn off wattle scrub and cut down any trees that grew where I didn't want them, Council allowed this at the time. They then wanted permits for every individual fire which turned into a prohibition to clear and burn. Fuel loads quickly developed into extremely combustible bark, branch and leaf carpet up to 300 mm thick in forested areas (which is expanding exponentially) to a point where not when, a fire next occurs the entire property and everything on it will be ash. Che sara sara.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
From another Social Media platform just recently, and not a greenie in site...
OUR RFS & CFA MUST BE GIVEN MORE FREEDOM TO UNDERTAKE HAZARD REDUCTION BURNS
Interesting the very same people that; locked up the national Parks, closed down the forestry industry, made it a criminal offence to take a twig from the bush, and used red & green tape to thwart reduction burns - are now the same people screaming climate change did it.
Fires lit by Aboriginal men and women created the landscape of Australia. They used fire to create and fertilise fresh new grass for the grazing animals they hunted, to trap and roast grass-dwelling reptiles and rodents, to fight enemies, to send smoke signals, to fell dead trees for campfires, to ward off frosts and biting insects, and for religious and cultural ceremonies.
Their fires created and maintained grasslands and open forests and extinguished all flora and fauna unable to cope with frequent burn-offs.
Early white explorers and settlers recorded the smoke and the blackened tree trunks. They admired the extensive grasslands, either treeless or with well-spaced trees, and no tangled undergrowth of dead grass, brambles, branches and weeds.
Making fire without tinderboxes or matches is laborious. So most Aboriginals tried to keep their fires alive at all times. When on the move, selected members of the tribe were charged with carrying a fire stick and keeping it alight. In really cold weather several members may have each carried a fire stick for warmth. When the stick was in danger of going out, the carrier would usually light a tussock of dry grass or leaves and use that flame to rejuvenate the fire stick (or light a new one). As they moved on, they left a line of small fires spreading behind them.
They were observed by early white explorers and settlers trying to control the movement of fires but never tried to extinguish them.
Despite modern folklore tales about Aboriginal fire management skills, anyone reading diaries from early explorers such as Abel Tasman (1642) and Captain Cook (1770) soon learned that Aboriginals lit fires at any time, for many reasons, and never tried to put them out.
If threatened by fires lit by enemies, the most frequent response was to light their own protective fires (now called backburning). Firelighting was deliberate, and sometimes governed by rules, but there was no central plan. There were no firefighters, no 4WD tankers, no water bombers, no dozers. But Aboriginal fire management worked brilliantly.
Because of the high frequency of small fires, fire intensity was low and fires could be lit safely even in summer. Any fire lit would soon run into country burnt one or two years earlier and then would run out of fuel and self-extinguish.
Early squatters quickly learned to manage fire to protect their assets, grasslands and grazing animals.
Graziers need to protect herds and flocks, homesteads, haystacks, yards, fences and neighbours, as well as maintain grasslands by killing woody weeds and encouraging new grass. So their fire management was refined. They soon learned to pick the right season, day, time of day, place, wind and weather before lighting a fire.
Today we have replaced decentralised fire management with government-nurtured firestorms. First governments created fire hazards called national parks, where fire sticks, matches, graziers and foresters were locked out and access roads were abandoned or padlocked. And green-loving urbanites built houses beside them and planted trees in their yards.
The open forests and grasslands were invaded by eucalypt regrowth, woody weeds, tangled undergrowth, dry grass, logs, dead leaves, twigs, bark and litter all perfect fuel for a wildfire holocaust.
These tinderboxes of forest fuel became magnets for arsonists, or were lit by windblown embers or lightning. With high winds, high temperatures and heavy fuel loads some fires will race through the treetops of oil-rich eucalypt forests.
Into this maelstrom they send the brave volunteers. With insufficient tracks, insufficient nearby water, uncleared tracks, insufficient fuel reduction burning and bush right up to towns and houses, disasters are guaranteed.
Central management and control of burn-off policy has failed. Too often the people in charge did not understand bushfire history and science and were too influenced by green ideology.
Authorities should provide information but not control, which should be returned to landowners, homeowners, foresters and experienced local fire officers.
Locals with fire knowledge, experience and skin in the game could make a huge difference. Residents should be able to demand fuel load reduction near their properties and towns, and carry it out on public land if authorities refuse to do it. It can be burnt, slashed, raked, composted, heaped or buried as long as it is no longer capable of feeding runaway bushfires. Insurance companies should reflect fire risk in premiums.
No Aboriginals and few early settlers used water to fight fires. There were no water bombers, no fire trucks, often not even hand-spray backpacks.
Graziers used backburning from station tracks. Their wives defended the homestead with garden hoses or tried to beat the flames to death with wet hessian bags and green branches. Aboriginals let the fire burn and tried to keep out of its path.
Water is undoubtedly useful to protect homes and towns, to extinguish burning buildings, to stop grass fires and to stop the backburn from escaping in the wrong direction. But trying to extinguish raging bushfires and forest wildfires with water alone is usually a waste of time, energy and water.
We must relearn two ancient skills remove the fuel load everywhere and use fire to fight fire. Big fires need a lot of fuel. If you own the fuel, you own the fire. If you havent managed the fuel, you will not be able to manage the fire. And if your fire escapes and causes damage, you are responsible.
AND FROM THE COMMENTS SECTIONS :
Oh Lordy, commonsense at last. After the 1993 fires, my Brigade on the Mid North Coast of NSW was told by The Warrimi Elders, either you burn this country, or it will burn you. So simplistic, so matter of fact, so true.
We listened, but the powers to be, knew better, that is, until a month or so ago, when Warrimi Country, seriously went up, and now of course is involved in a series of buck passing, denial, and the usual platitudes. And all they ever had to do, was listen to an Elder, instead they listened to minority groups, mainly Green ones, and the raw result, cannot be ignored. But they are working on it.
We had a mild 47°C but the humidity was so low that it didn't feel that bad. It's felt much worse where we live literally at the waters edge in Sydney at 23°C due to the humidity.
Haha you want to compare 51 (or 47) to a waters edge 23 day in sydney. Thats what I call dreaming.
When is was 47°C we were in Mildura a couple of years ago & we went to the public swimming pool. We were shivering when we got out of the water because it was so dry we had to jump in the water to warm up.
10 metres from our home when we jump in the sea water we are hot after we get out & have to cool off getting back into the sea.
Not dreaming, reality due to humidity!
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.