Victoria's relentless bushfires - set to erupt again.

Black Saturday on 7 February 2009 seems so long ago. But those bushfires just do not go away.

While tomorrow’s  conditions are not expected to be “as bad” as Black Saturday, the Premier of Victoria has warned that they “will be as bad as those of Ash Wednesday or Black Friday… They are up there with the very worst conditions we have had in our state in the last 100 years. If these fires get away, you will see them race up hills at 50 to 100 km/h and that’s why it is such a dangerous, dangerous day”.

With wind gusts of up to 120km/h, fires could “spot” up to 14km ahead of the existing fires.

The Country Fire Authority uses an index to rate the danger of fires. A score of 50 is considered to be a “high fire danger”. Scores above 70 mean firefighters would struggle to control the blaze. Forecast figures for tomorrow show several areas over 200. The figure for Dunns Hill is 296.

Some good news

Meanwhile, over the past couple of weeks, the Alfresco’s Group (Jaspas, Al Frescos, Pepperonis and Papa Joes), has hosted fund raising events in both Hanoi and Saigon for the victims of the bushfires. Today, the Alfresco’s Group reported that a total of USD15,000 had been raised and transferred to the Australian Red Cross. A magnificent effort.

Click on the Youtube link to see a short tribute to the victims by Peter Holdsworth from the Alfresco’s Group.

A number of people connected with the Vietnam Swans and Bali Geckos have been directly and indirectly affected by the fires. Accordingly, the two Clubs expect to announce details shortly of fundraising activities that will occur on the weekend of our match in Saigon on 28 March 2009.

But tomorrow, the Hanoi and Saigon communities will be thinking of those Victorian communities in particular that find themselves standing in harm’s way. May tomorrow be safer than the Victorian Premier fears.