When I woke up this morning, and gave Leo Laporte a brief interview on the TWiT Network, updating him about the Victorian Fires, considering the fact that there are a number of Australian TWiT Army members, Leo was concerned about the safety of a number of members, in particular Army member bear3931 who lives right in the fire zone, the DocNetwork extends the prayers of our staff, as well as the rest of the TWiT Army, Bear, if you read this, drop us a line, and tell us how you’re doing, we would love to hear from you. You may view the interview here; the video is hosted by kiwinerds ODTV.me.
I had hoped that I was going to have some partially good news to report about the Death toll remaining the same it was at the last time I reported it, but unfortunately, I have been recently informed that the Death Toll has increased to 181, and the earlier prediction of it hitting the 200 point has been revised from the end of the week, to the end of Thursday, in fact the number has been speculated to reach 300.
As I have been keeping tabs on official news wires, as well as my string of contacts in the field, and it prides me to see that international assistance is appearing.
United Kingdom:
England has offered to supply its Australian contemporary whatever it may require to assist in regards to the crisis, the Queen has issued a public statement offering her condolences to those that have lost loved ones, UK PM Gordon Brown, has spoken to his Australian counterpart in relation to what assistance the UK can offer.
United States of America:
President Barack Obama has spoken to PM Kevin Rudd, offering his condolences, and offers the support of the US Government in whatever way the Australian Government requires, as 35 Veteran firefighting operation chiefs, aviation managers, planning section chiefs and specialists in land rehabilitation prepare to deploy to Australia within 48 hours, this is in response to 44 Australian and New Zealander Fire fighters assisting the US during their latest Californian Bushfires, however while no front line forces have been mobilised, sending American fire crews has not yet been ruled out.
New Zealand:
Australia’s oceanic brother in arms, has mobilised the largest international effort, by placing 100 fire fighters on standby to move into Victoria as soon as they are requested, along with these units, New Zealand has sent ‘Blue Thunder’ the largest Firefighting helicopter in the Southern Hemisphere, to aid in the efforts. The helicopter will fly under its own power to Norfolk Island, to Lord Howe Island, and on to Sydney, before it flies down to Melbourne and straight into action. Along with this, New Zealand Police have offered to send officers over to assist in the identification of fire victims.
Other States/Federal Assistance:
More than 240 fire-fighters from NSW, 95 from the ACT, 94 from Tasmania and 69 from South Australia and 22 from Western Australia have joined Victorian crews, along with disaster identification experts from around the nation. 400 Royal Australian Army soldiers, have been deployed to reinforce fire crews, and to assist police in corpse retrieval, NSW Ambulance Service, has been put on Standby to aid their Victorian compatriots, St John Ambulance NSW was on hot standby, but have since been downgraded, and will only enter should the situation deteriorate, however border Divisions are already in Victoria.
The relief fund including Federal and State Donations exceeds 20million AUD; I have been unable to tabulate a complete total, as sources are conflicting in the total amounts.
As this situation continues, the DocNetwork will continue to report the facts as we get them, we will start twittering news as we get it, as well as continuing to post information on the TWiT Live IRC Chatroom.
On a personal note, the DocNetwork will like to thank our loyal viewers, who have allowed us to reach one thousand page views in only four months of operation; we hope you stay around for another thousand.
