Report on Wild Fires in Australia

We recently received an email note from Jim Zickefoose a unit member who has lived in Australia for many years.

Email from Jim:

Just a quick note to let you know that we are about 400 miles from where the fires hit in Victoria. It is the state south of New South Wales which is where our families are located. We went through that area on holidays about 6 months ago. It is very similar to the Ozarks as far as forests and terrain. If you get caught in the area it would be difficult to get out. Looking at the news coverage of the actual event and the aftermath I can say that I have never seen anything like it. It looks like the towns were hit by about 1000 fighter jets dumping napalm on their towns. Watching the houses and trees ignite in fireballs looks just like they were hit by napalm. Anyone in the area or in the houses would be very lucky to survive. It is hard to imagine the horror that the people were going through. Last report was 165 dead, 750 houses destroyed, 5000 homeless. The fire front was about 30 miles wide. Weather conditions were terrible across the Southeastern part of Australia for the week prior to the fires, that iscludes here in Young and a lot of NSW. Has been 40 plus centigrade (about 110 F). Several places reached above 120 F during the heat wave.We are planning our trip back to the states but it will be right at the end of August when we leave Australia so will not be back in Kansas in time for the reunion which is disappointing. May have to try and organize a get together with a few people in Emporia during our visit. Will have to let you know our actual travel plans when we know them ourselves.

Regards,
Jim Zickefoose