VICTORIAN ALPS COULD "BURN FOR MONTHS"

The Victoran Alps could "burn for months" according to the Victorian Premier, Mr Steve Bracks. This is reported in "The Age", 4 December 2006.

This is a very early start to the bushfire season in Victoria. It matched what I have been saying for months about the unseasonal heat we have been having. I first commented on this on 12 October this year.

The Victorian Alps are notorious for their severe fires, as they are covered with dense Eucalypt forests, which frankly, can burn with a terrifying ferocity. Lets hope this prophecy is not lived out in reality. Here is a link to historical photographs of the infamous 1939 bushfires in the Victorian Alps.

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Fortunately, the fires in the New South Wales Blue Mountains, which I mentioned last week, now appear to be under control. But that is not the same thing as saying they are out.

With that difficult terrain of deep gorges, which are utterly inaccessible by road, fires can burn uncontrolled for weeks on end down there.

But the weather has been mild for the last few days, thank goodness.

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UPDATE:
Go to "The Age" for another stunning photo of mountains slowly burning, out of control , in the Victoran Alps.
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And now for some light relief.

I love the names that early explorers gave to place names. Usually it is Sailors names I notice, like Cape Tribulation, and other cheerful names. But this group of names, all reported in the one story today about bushfires in the Victorian Alps take on an especially bleak tone today:
Mt. Terrible, Black Range, Mt Despair and Mt Buggery.

But, if it were not for the fire story, you would have to have a chuckle, wouldn't you?

I also add in Mt Despair, which is mentioned in the linked photo gallery of someone's bushwalk to Mt Buggery.

Seriously, I am not kidding you - these are real place names.