this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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So, could something similar happen in major Australian cities – and how prepared are we? The answers are: yes, and not very.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Did everyone forget how Australia was entirely on fire a few years back?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

The fires mostly missed the major cities. Although dealing with hazardous levels of smoke for much of that period is not nothing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Canberra doesn’t count because there are only Politicians there.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Half of it burned in 2003 anyways. And unfortunatly parliamentary triangle doesnt have any water restrictions during droughts so its not dry.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

On one of the commercial news channels the other morning, some yank talking head they had on for whatever reason said "I'm not sure how familiar you are in Australia with wild fires" as part of the introduction...

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

we have pledged net zero fire by 2050, nothing to worry about.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

I don't hold a hose, mate.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago (4 children)

We use the outer suburbs as a fire break. No trees left to burn there. Just roof and road.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

You think modern houses — more glue and plastic than solid timber — aren't going to explode into flames? Modern suburbs are tinderboxes.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

It the people of officer could read they'd be very VERY upset right now.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I can see this being picked up by the right as an argument against walkable urbanism (“all that density is a deathtrap!”) and in favour of the car-dependent quarter-acre-block sprawl that is Our Sacred Way Of Life.

In reality, the thin boundary between forested country and built-up areas is the problem. A solution would be to have farmland as a buffer around the cities, as pastures and fields of crops don’t burn as well as either.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Sad but true.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago

Just tow the fire out of the environment.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

If a suburb has older housing stock with older gardens, for instance, it’s absolutely ripe for a fire to spread quickly. If you have more modern housing stock (which is usually better at defending against ember attack), and the houses are more spaced apart and the gardens are clearer, then you might be OK.

ok but what if we have "more modern housing stock" clad in flammable material and clustered together up each others arses cheek to jowl and excuse me, 1666 London is calling....

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Same way we cope every year our country burns...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Every city makes a fire break around the whole city.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Build more moats!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Well yeah, it happened in 2019. Pretty sure the bushfires started in August

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Just move away from the fire zones? It’s like building sand castles among the reefs at low tide.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Poorly. Very poorly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago