[LINK] Bush Fire Speeds (was Re: home emergencies)

[Lea de Groot]

On 20/02/2009, at 10:00 AM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> I think that has been disproven by this recent fire, but we won't
> know until the analysis comes out. I heard on radio reports speeds of
> something like 50km/h during the biggest firestorms. Again, that was
> conjecture of on the ground reports, not science.

The recent fires in Victoria were extraordinary.
I saw one firie quoted as 'we normally measure fires as 1 - 100. These  
were a 350' (paraphrased)
So the conditions for these fires are not something that should be  
considered as matching the previous norms.
However - the real question is, with the change in the global climate  
that seems to be happening, can we expect these extreme conditions to  
repeat? and if so, how do we have to change the way we handle, well,  
everything to account for it?

Previously in bushfires we lost a few people and a few houses, most of  
the time.
Will this lower percentage of damage return, or should we expect that  
these new conditions to be the norn?

Lea
-- 
Lea de Groot
Brisbane, .au