[LINK] No cash for phone alert system

[Jan Whitaker]

At 10:02 AM 17/02/2009, Ivan Trundle wrote:
>As for finding a suitable evacuation path: this is again city-slicker
>nonsense: I have lived in numerous places where there is simply no
>choice in evacuation paths - unlike a suburban environment (which,
>incidentally, was no help for many in the Canberra bushfires: too many
>paths were blocked without warning). The recent fires demonstrate
>clearly that jumping into a car to escape a fire is not without its
>risks.

uh, I don't get this. Are you saying that it's not a viable piece of 
information ever to say go this way not that way? Yes, some roads 
could be blocked if the fire has reached a point, but isn't it better 
to advise the public who are evacuating which direction to go if it's 
open? I can't see that as nonsense in any circumstance.

I'm not a city-slicker as you say [which is a snide remark that 
assumes people who now live in the city can't think or have no 
knowledge of the circumstances elsewhere]. I grew up in the country 
although I somewhat sensibly now live in suburbia because there are 
more services available, like water running through the pipes, and 
never seeing myself able to 'stay and defend' as it's put. I am one 
who would want to leave sensibly, even in a suburban environment, and 
certainly in a country environment if a higher percentage of escape 
is available because the firefighters have protected it to enable 
that evacuation PRIOR to the approach of the fire so that it is inaccessible.

The ABC radio reports include none of that information. It does say 
roads and road intersections that ARE fire endangered, but not where 
one can go that is safe to travel. Maybe the quantity of 'safe' 
routes are too multiple to name?? Is it an 'anywhere but there' situation?

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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