This Is A Sad Loss

[Bert51]

Please don't hold you breath wait for it to show in your account, don't you know it hard to work from Hawaii, that's probably where here will go when we get the virus full on here.

Around here if you want a fire break you have to do it yourself, at your expense, that is if you can get permission from the local shire, the forestry dept and the greenies, good luck with that.

Our council changes the way it read it's rules from day to day, it depends on who you ask. I still have a sore head from belting it against the brick wall last time I spoke to them.

Bert.

[toxo]

5 hours ago, Handstitched said:

 

There are no fire breaks in residential areas, although not a bad idea, say on vacant land etc.  but they are compulsory in regional areas for those that have acreage like us. They are supposed to  be a minimum 1.5 mtrs wide( that varies from council to council) , but I make ours 2-3 times that . In the town centre,  or 5 acres and under, its compulsory to slash weeds, tall grasses etc. Pity the local councils don't follow their own rules. 

HS

A firebreak is supposed to stop a fire from spreading. 1.5mtrs is a joke. I'm not talking around individual houses, I'm talking around a complete town. How big does a break have to be before a flying ember in a wind goes out? How long is a piece of string right! But it sure ain't 1.5mtrs. It can cross a highway in a heartbeat. With this amount of financial loss it's crazy to not have decent firebreaks in areas where this is a common occurence. I'm guessing a lot of these "at risk" properties are uninsurable else the insurance companies would insist on it.

[Handstitched]

8 hours ago, Bert51 said:

Around here if you want a fire break you have to do it yourself, at your expense, that is if you can get permission from the local shire, the forestry dept and the greenies, good luck with that.

If we don't do firebreaks, we can get fined $ 250- . I have an old Fordson  that does ours   But between our town and the next on the ( shire)  verges, the grass is 10 foot tall and theres dead/ fallen trees all the way along.  One  ciggy butt in 45+ deg heat and we're f****d , go figure? 

2 hours ago, toxo said:

A firebreak is supposed to stop a fire from spreading. 1.5mtrs is a joke.

As far as the shire council is concerned, a ' firebreak' is merely a formality , thats why I make ours so much wider. I'd be happy to plough the entire paddock next time , and  I think I will. .  I also slash, even though its not required for our property , but  thats for our own peace of mind .  But you're right, 1.5 mtrs will do nothing. 

HS 

[Bert51]

I had a farm for a few years and where I would mowed the road verge to my fence line, as I had an irrigation channel on my side of the fence and did not want to upset that.

After a few years a bloke pulled up in the drive and asked why I mowed the verge, so I told him was using it as my fire break and he ask if I would walk down one half of my fence line, next thing he's pointing out these weeds and telling me I can't mow them as they are some native plants.

I asked him nicely to get back in his car and drive away, next time it needed mowing I let the cows out and they mowed it for me. I received a letter in the post asking me not to do that again, wish I kept that bloody letter, as I through it in the fire.

Ended up selling a year or two year later, not my problem.

Bert.

[fredk]

I don't think the Forestry Commission in N.I. really understands what a fire-break is. In our forests the break varies from a ditch 2ft across and 1 ft deep to 10 foot across by 1.5 feet deep. Both may be found full of undergrowth, living and dead, and the forest trees grow right to the edges, interlacing their branches.

[toxo]

It's madness. Just look at the cost in property. assets and lives lost. Cut a swathe between the forests and the residents and maintain it every year with a spray from an aircraft. I'm actually flabbergasted that it isn't mandatory.

[mikesc]

Where we lived before.. near St Tropez ( Var ).. fire breaks are mandatory..big wide ones in the forests and hills..govt or dept ( equivalent to state or shire or county ) takes care of them..IIRC 25 metres wide in the hills..some smaller at 10 metres..Brush is cleared regularly..Fires still break out ( you'll have seen them on TV ) and run  for 10s of Kilometers because people throw away cig ends, light fires deliberately..and fire can jump a 25 metre break..

Private property ( we had 3 hectares ) fire break was mandatory 10 metres clear from boundary..if you don't do it..the local council takes care of it and sends you the bill..Mate of mine had the subcontracting gig for that..used to charge ( 20 years ago ) €1.00 per linear sq metre  .Makes a nasty bill..so people take it seriously..Don't pay your bill? The council can send in the bailiffs..and they do ..

I used to do our fire breaks..then we got a Shetland pony and some goats ..Major fires still break out every year, because "eejits" and "crims"..and the Canadairs fly all summer long..similar problems in California and OZ, similar trees..( eucalyptus and pines ) lots of wind, tinder dry summers .."eejits" and "crims"..the year that we left that area to move to here..fire broke out about 10 kms west of where we use to be, and ran for around 40 kms ( fire front about 10kms wide ) before it stopped jumping over the roads and the breaks, and they got it under control. Lot of my mates got burned out..

* It was able to run because a lot of the ( mainly Parisians with secondary homes ) secondary homeowners in the hills had not kept their fire breaks clean and clear.

 

Keeping it clear with sprays from aircraft kills everything..I got contaminated with some of that stuff ( by a neighbour trying to "dispose" of his 200 litres or so, without paying the cost for safe disposal ) while we were living there..I have a lot of "interesting" health problems as a result..and will live at least 10 years less than I might have done otherwise..in considerable daily ( and nightly ) pain..You clear firebreaks and scrub with equipment, or animals ,  not chemicals.

Edited March 11, 2020 by mikesc

[Bert51]

You are right, whether 1.5 feet or 25 meters, the recent fire here in Australia, the spot fires where jumping kilometers ahead of the fires.

They need to keep the fuel load per square meter or mile as low as possible, lesson the aboriginals learnt thousands of year ago and still practice today.

Bert.

[mikesc]

A local example of eejits..Despite this being probably the wettest part of France. For years it has been illegal to burn garden rubbish..mainly because it is very windy here..and fires can spread fast..

So.. week before last ..I walk outside..smell smoke ( burning plant type smoke, I knew it was Mimosa from the smell, lot of Mimosas here )..I see dense cloud of smoke, and falling ash, burning leaves and cinders, some glowing..So..I go to explore..I find the fire about 100 meters from us in an enclosed garden..landscaping company from the next town over has cut down a Mimosa, and has arranged the cut off branches and leaves into 3 loose piles..in a straight line in the garden..The wind is blowing in a straight line down the line of the piles, each pile is about as big as a large panel truck..the piles are 3 meters or so from each other. The cut logs are laid to one side..as are the cut sections of trunk..There is a 10 litre clear plastic jerry can of two stroke mix next to the last pile of branches and leaves..The house , which has wooden cladding on the wall two stories high is empty, owners live in Paris, the clad wall is at 3 metres or so from the pile where the two stroke mix was left..The first pile is burning away..giving of a lot of smoke and flying burning "bits"..the second pile hasn't caught yet ( but it will as it is direct line ) and the 3rd pile is where the fuel is waiting..

And the tree cutters, fire lighters..have ***ked off to the bar for lunch, leaving their truck, their chainsaws, the gate unlocked..and a fire burning and distributing smoke and embers all over the houses and gardens downwind ( like ours ) ..

So..I phone the local town hall ( which is about 800 metres away ) to tell them to send the local municipal policeman and to notify the fire service..

The young clown who answers the phone at the town hall tells me "don't worry, the company must know what they are doing, it doesn't' matter that they have no authorisation to be burning"..and " that no-one has ever heard of fires getting out of hand or houses catching fire in February".

I told him that the fire service would be pleased to hear that, nay they'd be amazed, as two years ago a house around 150 metres away burned down within 30 minutes in the month of February..and that he was an eejit and that he was talking s**te..The young lad  was quite offended..

When the local policeman did show up..an hour or so later, it was his lunch time, although he was there when I phoned ( after the "workers " had returned from whichever bar they were having their lunch in ) , he made them scrape up the fire with their "bobcat" ( a kind of small JCBish type machine ) and they loaded it ( the piles of leaves and branches on fire ) into a small skip..and then drove away, spreading burning embers in their wake..presumably all the way back to their depot..which is about 5 kms away down country roads with high banks and plenty of combustible hedges etc.

The next day they returned , this time with a machine to shred the branches and leaves into chips ..

Obviously they should have had that machine on site the first day..But they didn't..so they lit a fire..despite the risks, despite the winds, despite knowing it was illegal..and then  they left it alone , burning unsupervised, for over an hour..Why?

 Because it they had taken the branches etc to the local council depot ( as they are supposed to ) they would have to pay €6.00 per cubic metre..so rather than pay €150.00 ..for unsquashed vegetation, or squash it and pay maybe €30.00 total..or shred it ( might have cost them €5.00 for the petrol for the shredder ) and be able to resell it as "mulch".

So..to save a pittance..( cutting the tree down and clearing the patch would net them around €1500.00..I know this because I have mates who own the largest tree surgery business in the area ) ..they did it the cheap, easy, risky way..and anyone in the area who had washing out gets to wash it again..and all the cars etc were covered in ash..nothing caught fire elsewhere..luckily..

Or maybe it is because "fires don't start in February".

Inconsequential is waaaaaay too small a word for it compared to what has happened in OZ..but it shows..all it takes is a few ****wits..and there are very very many of them. :((

it would be nice to think that the various levels of govt ( national and local ) in Oz will sort this out and see that people get compensation..but I think they'll use Covid 19 as a kind of "look squirrel" and leave everyone to fend for themselves, or bury them in paperwork until they give up.

Edited March 12, 2020 by mikesc

[Handstitched]

23 hours ago, Handstitched said:

but will I get any help from ' Mr  Bulls**t'  bag himself? Not in a pigs ear !!!  I'm not in his electorate

Just seen the " stimulus package"  on the news. I was right, people like me,  1000's of self employed & sole traders don't get a brass razoo .  I don't have employees , I don't have any assets to right off , nor do I earn up to $50 mil per year . 

I know a few chords on my guitar, perhaps I can go busking ,  and with a face and a gut  like mine, modeling is out of the question  

HS

 

[fredk]

32 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

I know a few chords on my guitar, perhaps I can go busking ,  and with a face and a gut  like mine, modeling is out of the question  

Don't write yourself off too soon. Read this - and be inspired

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-51573285

[Handstitched]

@fredk Theres hope for me yet . I've heard of hand models,  so I wonder if theres ' beer gut models ' ?   

' What does he wear under his kilt?'  Nothing, its all in perfect working order. '

This is going off topic now . 

HS

[Bert51]

All I can say is he has done it again, but this time he stayed home and stuffed it up again, just like I thought he would.

But he looking after his mates by giving big business free apprentices.........................

Bert.