ANGELA BALDWIN | staff writer
On Feb. 7, 400 fires ravaged parts of Southern Victoria State, Australia. This was the worst fire the area has seen in over 150 years. It damaged farmland, homes and wildlife. The death count is currently at 209 but continues to rise as victims are discovered under the ashes.
Feb. 22 marked a national day of mourning for what is now known as “Black Saturday.”
“We rise together in hope from the ashes of despair,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told survivors in a live TV broadcast from Melbourne, the site of the official mourning ceremony. All of Australia’s television networks interrupted their normal programming to broadcast the live ceremony.
According to police, at least two of the fires are suspected to have been set deliberately. Brendan Sokaluk, 39, has been charged with arson causing death and lighting a wildfire and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years on the first charge and 15 years on the second.
Electricity supplier SP AusNet has been sued for alleged defective power lines that caused losses and damage in connection with one of the fires.
Local and international donors have been sending funding and aid to the areas torn by the fire. According to officials, it is too early to estimate the cost of damage, but media estimates for insurance losses and damages to crops and livestock range from 500 million Australian dollars ($329 million) to AU$2 billion ($1.3 billion).
Michael Phillips, a fourth year student at Melbourne University, described the scene as he traveled through the parts of Australia that had been consumed by the fire.
“You can see how lucky some houses were, with the flames stopping just short of the house, but then there are also burnt-out houses as well,” Phillips said.
Communities have lost victims and property, initiating a response by the government, global community and Australian locals.
“Everybody is strangely united. Heaps of money have been given—someone said that it is like we are at war—we are all uniting together because it has just been so bad to so many communities,” Phillips said.
Southern California is very familiar with wildfires. Last year, 206,515 acres were burned by wildfires in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. APU students have lost property and seen first-hand what it looks like to be affected by an uncontrollable fire.
“I feel much more sympathy than someone who hasn’t ever been affected by brush fires because my family and my home were directly affected in Yorba Linda,” junior business major Brittany Elgin said.
Elgin is currently studying abroad in Australia.
“Before I experienced the fires in Yorba Linda, I didn’t really have as much feeling of sorrow and sympathy for these types of victims as I do now,” Elgin said.
Many animals have died due to Australia’s fires. Wildlife agencies throughout Australia are rescuing animals and relocating them to safer areas. Animals that return to their home too early are being discovered with burnt feet and body parts requiring medical attention.
Elgin noticed the community’s involvement after the fires.
“My school raised over $1,000 for the fire victims one day. We have to wear uniforms to class, and if we wanted casual Friday we had to donate some money for the victims,” Elgin said.
The fires have been contained but the damage will take many years to repair.
“These fires have been really bad and the destruction almost absolute in some places, but we will bounce back,” Phillips said. “The rebuilding effort for some of these communities will take years, but we’ll get there.”
