Victoria's Bush Fire

Barely two months back in Feb '09, Victoria was gripped by Australia's worst bush fires in history. I followed the events closely as it raged on for days that ended with 200 deaths. Dubbed as the Black Saturday, this tragic event touched me in particular as I am familiar with many of the affected townships. Worst to hear it was started by arsonists. How could such senseless acts happened over and over again?

An illustration of the spread across Victoria.















Satellite image of smoke dispersion into atmosphere above - the 'arc' stretched over 1000kM gauging from the distance between Melbourne & Sydney!





















Image collection of the fiery firestorms..













What a scary inferno!
















Much beyond these fire trucks can handle.




























With flames leap so high into the air!































Fire fighters watch helplessly...
















A dramatic picture of helicopter dropping 'water bomb', with the sky appeared burning too!
















Fire about to engulf this house in its path!















Smokes reflected color of fires below..














I visited Kinglake just north of Melbourne to see the scale of devastation first hand; won't take long to see trees on both side of roads were scarred black.
















All the way to the hill top as far as the eye can see.
















Under growths were completely burnt out!
















This road sign pointing to a National Park was not spared either.
















An appreciation note to the fire fighters pinned on a burnt trunk.





















Remnants of houses that were once in tranquil country setting.
































Metal roof crumpled and curled like tin foils on the ground.
















Car bodies exposed to rusts after its coat of paint were stripped off.











Many unfortunate deaths were trapped in cars, a last ditch attempt to escape! I would have done the same. How did it happened? Did the engine stalled by the fire or escape route blocked by fallen trees?

















At the town center, support and relief services were set up to help residents cope with the aftermaths.
































Many trees survived miraculously the wrath of the fires.





















A consolation is to see signs of recovery as nature begin to repairs itself.