Bushfires destroy buildings in Australia as heatwave melts highway surface

By Alison Bevege

 

Bushfires destroy buildings and threaten lives as a heatwave hits three Australian states with temperatures in excess of 40C (104°F) on Saturday. No reporter narration

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Bushfires in Australia destroyed buildings and threatened lives on Saturday as a heatwave in three states brought temperatures strong enough to melt the bitumen on a highway.

 

A fire raging out of control set several structures ablaze on the outskirts of Melbourne, the country's second largest city, and the capital of the southeastern state of Victoria.

 

The state's emergency management commissioner, Craig Lapsley, said hot temperatures had combined with dry weather, strong winds and a wind change to create dangerous conditions.

 

"It's exactly what the forecast indicated and when we have fires running that's obviously a problem for us," he told a news conference.

About 400 homes lost power and 50 fires were reported across Victoria on Saturday, although many were small and were extinguished.

 

Emergency warnings were issued both in Victoria and in the nearby state of South Australia, where authorities advised residents of a rural area to seek shelter in buildings from an out-of-control fire.

 

Experts consider such a move to be safer than running the risk of getting trapped in the open if the fire suddenly changes direction.

 

Total fire bans took effect from midnight as Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania braced for dangerous fire conditions caused by temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104°F).

 

The heat was strong enough to melt the bitumen on a 10-km (6-mile) stretch of freeway in Victoria, national broadcaster ABC News reported.

 

Australia is prone to deadly blazes, thanks to its combination of remote terrain, high summer temperatures and flammable eucalyptus bush.

 

In 2009, the worst bushfires on record destroyed thousands of homes in Victoria, killing 173 people and injuring 414 on a day the media dubbed "Black Saturday".

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-07

thankfully the only concern here at home , was my smartphone(s) battery Apps displaying figures exceeding 60C, and that was in the shade!

  Have three of them, and they all shut down, so I lost all home surveillance access on my Alfred set up, for the rest of the day...

Friend in Oz just told me a 15 year old girl has been charged for starting a big fire near Melbourne.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The heat was strong enough to melt the bitumen on a 10-km (6-mile) stretch of freeway in Victoria, national broadcaster ABC News reported.

LOL. Have to do better than that to bolster the "man made" GW propaganda.

 

When I was a child ( a very long time ago ) I saw bitumen melting on New Zealand roads in summer.

 

As for buildings being burnt, if people are stupid enough to build next to bush in a drought prone country, they only have themselves to blame if it happens.

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

When I was a child ( a very long time ago ) I saw bitumen melting on New Zealand roads in summer.

Except that wasn't bitumen.... it was the tar holding the stones onto the road surface.... 

In the South of France I heard that they have heat proof road surfaces and that the UK wants the same for the South of England with a view to climate change, Hey, forward thinking, what happened?

47C in Sydney today - that's hot!

I feel sorry for the English and Australian cricket teams

at the Sydney Cricket Ground up to 57 degrees

Crikey Bruce, she's a tad hot today

I feel sorry for the Koala's !

46 minutes ago, wirat69 said:

Except that wasn't bitumen.... it was the tar holding the stones onto the road surface.... 

Sorry, wrong. It's all bitumen

Tar was made from coal byproduct and they stopped using coal gas in NZ before I was born, far as I know.

 

Google dictionary

bi·tu·men

bəˈt(y)o͞omən,bīˈt(y)o͞omən/

noun

noun: bitumen

a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation. It is used for road surfacing and roofing.

 

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/chipsealing-new-zealand-manual/docs/01-history-of-chipsealing-in-nz.pdf

Bitumen Emulsions Bitumen emulsions were first used in New Zealand about 1910, and their use today is detailed in Sections 8.3 and 11.4. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
By the mid-1960s new technology and chemicals had become available that allowed production of the alternative ‘cationic’ type of bitumen emulsion (in which the dispersed droplets of bitumen carry positive surface charges) at about the same cost as anionic emulsion. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

These advantages of the cationic type over anionic make it the main type now used in New Zealand.
 

Hot countries should be using cement for their roadways, as pavement which contains the bitumen tar and ashphalt rocks and clay just does not take the heat and literally melts. the Tiles on the roofs are also better to be used in cooler climates, and cement tiles are best for very hot countries, or at least metal roofs if you are not rich enough to have tiles. My thoughts anyway.

 

The problem where I live is not heat, but the strong winds that have partially wrecked my 10 year old ashphalt shingled roof. Good Luck all you heated up Aussies, I would rather visit you country when you have cooled down a bit.

Geezer

"metal roofs if you are not rich enough to have tiles" metal roofs are dearer than tile 

roofs in aus

14 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

I feel sorry for the English and Australian cricket teams

at the Sydney Cricket Ground up to 57 degrees

 

I feel sorry for the English cricket team, they are getting thumped again :)

15 hours ago, simple1 said:

47C in Sydney today - that's hot!

It would be hot indeed, if it was true. But I can't find any record of it.

3 hours ago, arithai12 said:

It would be hot indeed, if it was true. But I can't find any record of it.

That's because all the records melted in the heat.

3 hours ago, arithai12 said:

It would be hot indeed, if it was true. But I can't find any record of it.

Did you use google? It was kind of hard to miss.

Sydney swelters with near-record high temperature

Sydney endured its hottest temperature in nearly 80 years on Sunday, Australian meteorologists say.

The mercury rose to 47.3 degrees Celsius, or 117.14 Fahrenheit, in the Sydney metropolitan area.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in the area was 47.8 Celsius degrees (118.04 Fahrenheit) in 1939, the Bureau of Meteorology for the state of New South Wales (NSW) said.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/07/asia/australia-sydney-hottest-day/index.html

10 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Hot countries should be using cement for their roadways, as pavement which contains the bitumen tar and ashphalt rocks and clay just does not take the heat and literally melts. the Tiles on the roofs are also better to be used in cooler climates, and cement tiles are best for very hot countries, or at least metal roofs if you are not rich enough to have tiles. My thoughts anyway.

 

The problem where I live is not heat, but the strong winds that have partially wrecked my 10 year old ashphalt shingled roof. Good Luck all you heated up Aussies, I would rather visit you country when you have cooled down a bit.

Geezer

LOL. I suggest you look at a map and see how long the roads there are. Then ask yourself if you'd be wanting to pay the tax to pay for concrete roads.

Very large country, small population.

10 hours ago, heybuz said:

"metal roofs if you are not rich enough to have tiles" metal roofs are dearer than tile 

roofs in aus

Are you sure about that? A tile roof has to be stronger to take the weight, ergo more expensive to construct.

 

In NZ corrugated iron roofing sheets are quite cheap, too.

Edited January 8, 20188 yr by thaibeachlovers

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Are you sure about that? A tile roof has to be stronger to take the weight, ergo more expensive to construct.

 

In NZ corrugated iron roofing sheets are quite cheap, too.

yes been in construction in aus for 50yrs,was not always the case but with the mining boom the cost of steel escalated and iron roofs became much more expensive.

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 11:19 AM, ilostmypassword said:

Did you use google? It was kind of hard to miss.

Sydney swelters with near-record high temperature

Sydney endured its hottest temperature in nearly 80 years on Sunday, Australian meteorologists say.

The mercury rose to 47.3 degrees Celsius, or 117.14 Fahrenheit, in the Sydney metropolitan area.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in the area was 47.8 Celsius degrees (118.04 Fahrenheit) in 1939, the Bureau of Meteorology for the state of New South Wales (NSW) said.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/07/asia/australia-sydney-hottest-day/index.html

LOL.

So in 1939 it was hotter! Not even a record now.

Sort of puts the boot into the "man made global warming" hysteria, eh?

 

Thanks for posting that.

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL.

So in 1939 it was hotter! Not even a record now.

Sort of puts the boot into the "man made global warming" hysteria, eh?

 

Thanks for posting that.

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between climate and weather.

19 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between climate and weather.

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between hysteria and rational thoughts.

 

3 minutes ago, ELVIS123456 said:

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between hysteria and rational thoughts.

 

Is that you Trump? hey, didn't know you could type. 

9 minutes ago, ELVIS123456 said:

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between hysteria and rational thoughts.

 

All those hysterical climatologists. 

Troll posts removed.