[OT]Canberra Firestorm

I notice that both CNN and BBC are carrying this story.
We're OK, our folks are OK, and only one of our friends
is MIA - but probably in one of the evacuation shelters,
her house was in Duffy, and only one body was found there.

See http://www.abc.net.au/news/2003/01/18/video/20030118pm_fires.ram
(This video was taken in the middle of the day, yesterday)

The experts are calling this a 1-in-200-year fire. Basically,
a normal bushfire that had been contained suddenly got as
bad as it could be due to freak weather.

Tomrrow, the weather conditions don't look too good. We're
10 miles away from the nearest fire, which has been contained,
but we had Firestorms* on Saturday, and when they happen, there's
not a lot you can do except avoid them. And everyone within
about 10 miles needs to have a hose ready for the burning
fallout, like we had yesterday.

Never a dull moment down here :-)

* Firestorm - the fires are so bad that they make their own local
weather, sucking in air from outside areas. Happened in Hamburg,
Dresden, Rostock, Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, but not Nagasaki.
They're rare down here, and AFAIK this is the first time we've had one
that's enveloped a built-up area rather than just uninhabited
bushland. 3 lives lost, about 400 homes burnt, and the Mount Stromlo 
Observatory gone, Dammit! All telescopes now melted glass and steel.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/19/1042911265561.html