It Was So Hot Here Last Week..........................

[scotty]

Sending you all my best wishes.stay safe.

[ajish4]

Sorry to hear the news everyone.

I can't imagine how bad that heat must be!

After hurricanes hit us in 2004, we hit 104 and I though I was going to die....It must be a living hell.

Kudos to Darren & all those helping out others.

Situations like this can bring out the worst in people, but it can restore your faith in humanity when someone that gives all he has to help others.

You folks down under will be in our prayers....

[wmthor]

... Situations like this can bring out the worst in people, but it can restore your faith in humanity when someone that gives all he has to help others ....

It's been my experience that more often that not, situations like this brings out the best in people.

[melibreits]

Our prayers and best wishes go out for our Aussie friends.... Please stay safe, everyone!

[rick_ovic]

As I anticipated, it's controlled mayhem in the office today, but we're coping well.

We've got a dedicated team assembled to help coordinate incoming insurance claims of all sizes.

I'm meeting with the goverment minister tomorrow morning and I'm heading out directly to the disaster zone tomorrow afternoon to surprise one of our customers with some good news. Complete and total approval of their claim, which exceeds half a million dollars. That ought to help a bit, eh?

[winston]

Trotty you are a good man. Thank God for people like you and the company you work for.

[jps]

Trotty you are a good man. Thank God for people like you and the company you work for.

+1

[collin]

Man, my best wishes go out to all of our RRF Aussie friends. I know we have plenty of Australian members, mostly concentrated in Victoria (it seems..), and I hope everyone is alright, and everyone they know is alright.

That is a horrific fire of incredible proportions. Here in southern California- huge firefires seem to be happening every year, and even though they are enormous and destroy thousands of homes and acres of land- they are infrequently as disastrous as this fire.

Please keep us updated guys!


Cheers,
-Collin

[gregga41]

The news here just keeps getting a little worse. There are now officially 131 souls lost, with the expectation of over 200, and over 750 homes destroyed. 5000 people are now homeless as other rural towns now await their turn at confronting the fire.
As Aitch mentioned earlier, the majority of forum members here live in the Melbourne suburbs, more than safely enough away from the fires. We consider ourselves fortunate, and i'm sure all our hearts go out to the victims of what is now being called Australia's worst natural disaster.
Thanks everyone for your concern and wishes, i'll leave you with a quote form one of the news services here tonight.

" The only good thing to come from this disaster is the triumph of the human spirit!"

[dr_bob]

My heart and prayers go out to all of you. Stay safe.

[walker]

Best of luck to all the Australian folks having to deal with this disaster - on the end of loss, and the firefighting and recouping side. It's just baffling to comprehend that this disaster was started by acts of arson - from MORE than one person! All I can add to the sentiments already posted regarding the arsonists - if you want a bad person to suffer, give him a conscience. Probably bit of a stretch for the spirits of those who are sick-in-the-head enough to commit such acts to begin with, but I like the theory - that as we grow and age, we reflect upon our past actions, and an epiphany of sorts will bring the whole magnitude of one's personal crimes to the forefront of consciousness where they will be comprehended as the truly terrible acts they are. They say a coward dies a thousand deaths, where a hero dies but once. I hope the individuals who are responsible for the destruction and deaths caused by their actions are engulfed in a perpetual cancerous guilt which will consume them for the rest of their lives.

I know this is not the time to dwell on spiritual vengeance, so I wish the best to those who are dealing with these same feelings of anger, and hope that you can move on with the strength of your positive resolve intact. Be well, and please keep us updated on this event as it progresses.

[8mileshigher]

Our prayers and best wishes go out for our Aussie friends.... Please stay safe, everyone!

+1 on that

[paologregorio]

Trotty you are a good man. Thank God for people like you and the company you work for.

+1

x10!

[longboard_ric]

The news keeps getting worse.

Now 173 people are confirmed dead, the number increasing as police and fire sevice personnel search through destroyed houses. It appears it will take some time for all the searches to be completed, so unfortunately this number may well increase.

For many years, police were ordered to evacuate threatened areas: some people however, defied the orders to defend their property. Given the success of many in their defence, fire service personnel with police and government assistance, developed fire management plans for those who wished to stay and defend. With adequate preparation and the proper resources, it was a successful system with many people saving their propery from fires. The basic orders were, if you were not going to stay and defend then get out early.

It would appear that many who stayed behind to defend, were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the fires and died in their homes, and others, realising defence was futile, tried to escape by car were trapped by flames,fallen trees etc. There were also several multiple car collisions likely due to poor visibility.

The government has initiated an inquiry into the fires and the results will help define future strategies.

As always there are some who seek to turn the debate political for there own perverted reasons, and point the finger of blame without waiting for all the facts to be revealed. This disaster goes well beyond that.

Southern California, along with South Eastern Australia are the most fire prone areas in the world and we see these events far too often. We hope that lessons learned from this will help prevent more deaths in the future.

[8mileshigh]

Better late than never............what a tragedy.........my thoughts are with you guys.