The rumour is the Chalet at Mt Buffalo may burn over the next day or so. I hope this isn't true.
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The rumour is the Chalet at Mt Buffalo may burn over the next day or so. I hope this isn't true.
What's a happening down your way OB? I see there's a couple of fires in the Otways!!
All good here mate... Thanks for asking...
Been doing 12hour days on the Wind Farms, and very thankful there have been no fires near us this time....
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
LeroyPatrol (17-01-20)
They are referred to as "Stobie" poles and are named after the man who invented them.
I was told many years ago that Stobie poles are subject to a patent and as such may not be copied or duplicated.
A Stobie pole is a power line pole made of two steel joists held apart by a slab of concrete. It was invented by Adelaide Electric Supply Company engineer James Cyril Stobie (1895–1953).[2] Stobie used materials easily at hand due to the shortage of suitably long, strong, straight and termite-resistant timber in South Australia. (Wikipaedia).
See also for more info.
Edit:
I remember asking an SEC employee in Victoria about the use of timber poles in that state and he replied that people are rarely killed when a vehicle hits a wooden pole as the pole often snaps (reducing the impact), whereas there were many fatalities associated with vehicle collisions involving "Stobie" poles, due to their steel and concrete construction.
Last edited by tristen; 17-01-20 at 10:57 PM.
LeroyPatrol (17-01-20)
bloke I work with is a CFA volunteer and said they are sending a crew up to the Chalet tonight!!Good news!!
hinekadon (18-01-20)
I find that statement HIGHLY questionable.
It takes a LOT to snap a wooden pole, at least the kind I am most familiar with in NSW. Have to remember a car is usually hitting them around 1 m from where they are secured in the ground, not half way up where there is a lot more give.
Having seen plenty of cars that have hit poles, I can tell you I wouldn't like to be in one that snaps a pole. Time that happens the engine is usualy shoved back into the cab area and is sitting beside or underneath you or it's another 50M Up the road.
Anyone that thinks a pole is going to snap and offers them an amount of safety in my opinion is VERY misguided.
Concrete/ steel poles might be less yielding but I think there is not going to be much difference in the outcomes of a car hitting a wooden pole hard enough to snap it and hitting a concrete pole at the same velocity just the same as there is not much difference in the end result of falling off a building from the 20th floor or the 30Th.
I would suggest that if the consideration of an impact were a factor, they could make the concrete and steel poles yield much easier while still supporting the loads they need to carry. I'm no engineer but I know there is a big difference between stress loads and impact resistance.
If vehicle impact were a consideration, poles could be made from steel or aluminium tube which would be very strong for side loads but would crumple very easily and absorb a lot of energy if hit by a vehicle.
Been 50mm of rain here at the western fringe of Shitney in the last week. More in some parts less in others but one things for sure the fires have calmed down a lot.
With more rain predicted over the next few days, we may be over the worst of it.
At very least, it will free up resources where the fires are still burning and allow more concentrated efforts.
Hopefully no more homes and certainly no more lives will be lost.
I fear the effects of all this are going to be felt for the next 10 years or beyond. I drove through a part of the Mid North coast the other day where the fires were bad. that was November and the place is still a charred wasteland without a single sign of life . The trees are annihilated and it seems at least a 5th of them are burnt right through and up the middle. In the same area only a KM away where the fires didn't reach there are many trees dying from lack of water.
Been a few Ml of rain there, maybe enough to keep them going till something decen't comes along.
pics from the Chalet last night. They sent a crew up. Embers were seen in Bright and Myrtleford last night too!!
Prior to yesterday all the rain had been heading north and south of us. Finally we got some and I don't think I've ever felt so relieved to get it. Here's hoping it's put all the fires out and there's not too many land slips etc.
and more rain today. Feels great to relax with cooler temps. It has slowed the fires right down but they are still there!
Thala Dan are you still in town?
40 + here again today. Nice and cool 23 in the house with the AC going though. 10 pm and its still 30 here.
Supposed to be in the 20s tomorrow and rain. Was spitting outside before.
Saw one of the water bombers crashed today. Not something one thinks about but shows that nothing to do with fighting these fires is without danger and more than one might assume .
Also saw how the various charities are dragging their feet with distributing the money to victims. The bloke from the red cross said they were paying $1m a day.
BFD!! In the scheme of things that total peanuts!
Just can't trust anyone not to look after there own self interests these days.
Of course they are "dragging their feet" and it has nothing to do with lining their coffers. It does have a lot to do with ensuring the money goes to the right places. There are enough scammers out there to take all of the donated money, and some, if the charities did not do their due diligence beforehand.
I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
tristen (29-01-20)
Yeah, except they admitted they were witholding money for future disasters and no doubt to ensure ther payroll is met every week.
Their slush fund by their own account was not insignificant either.
I donated a couple of hundered to a mates gofund me appeal. Least i know he got all of it and already has it.
Yeah, thanks Leroy….still alive and kicking……managed to stay put through three “Evacuate Now”s, and live to tell the tale
Might be a little more sceptical of the warning system in future events.
Went for a run to Bright today…..no visible damage on the north face of Buffalo from the road……town was busy, lots of families, kids everywhere.
Heaps of in-bound caravans on our way back….so looks like life is starting to return to something like normal.
Have been devastated by the news from the Snowies though….used to stay in Pattinsons Hut when Jim Pattinson was still alive, and drink and shoot pool down at the Kiandra Chalet (the old courthouse) after a day on the Eucumbene.….both are now gone!
And every damn road into the mountains that we would have used once all the terrorists had gone home next week is currently closed.
Still, at least we’ve still got a roof over our head, which is more than some poor buggers can say.
Thought you might be interested in this site….it has an interactive map that shows all the hazard reduction burns planned for 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 in Victoria.
Had to laugh when I saw that they were planning to burn from the back of Lake Buffalo down to Abbeyard this year and next…..they can scrub that one off their list now
Not much activity planned up your way from what I can see.
Incidentally, 80mm in the gauge over the last two days….very welcome.
hinekadon (24-01-20),LeroyPatrol (24-01-20)
This report is very lengthy, but if you whip down to the top of page 54, para 3.4.6 reads:
Driving down the road toll by building a Safe System3.4.6 Stobie poles
Develop a case for eliminating Stobie poles from the road network. This will
require efforts to induce cultural change amongst responsible agencies and
the establishment of a plan of action and funding. Safe alternatives to the
use of Stobie Poles should be investigated.
Professor Fred Wegman
Because the report is so long, I didn't try to find his rationale, but the following might cast some light on it:
A letter to The Advertiser from ROB ATKINSON, Chair, SA Regional Trauma Committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Adelaide says, in part:
Unfortunately Stobie poles, as indicated by Fred Wegman, are a hazard (The Advertiser, 28/7/12) and can act as a "cheese-cutter", cutting a car in half or intruding, negating the advantage of the crumple-zone.
That might go some way to explaining the comments of the SEC employee.
tristen (29-01-20)
so I went for a ride over Mt Hotham, down through Cassillis, Swifts Creek, down the Omeo Hwy to Bruthen. So sad seeing the devastation especially the Tambo river with all the ash and silt washed in after the rain. The smell of rotting fish was yuk. But as you can see the section of Bruthen that was burnt late Nov/early Dec is sprouting again!!
And this is what it should look like. This is Big River further up the Omeo Hwy.
fandtm666 (28-01-20),lsemmens (28-01-20),Thala Dan (28-01-20),Tiny (28-01-20),VroomVroom (29-01-20)
Brilliant report....thanks Leroy......I hadn't checked the VicRoads site for a while, and didn't realise that Great Alpine and Omeo Hwy were once again open......your photo of the Big River was all it took to get the campervan packing frenzy underway
Pity the Bogong High Plains is still closed....a much quicker and shorter trip.
The Tambo looks a bit ordinary.....hope those dead fish weren't trout......it never was real big in that department.
I heard something in the background on the news the other day about kids/fire/houses at your location........hope your place wasn't involved.
hinekadon (28-01-20)
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