I interrupt this blog for a word about Fire.

If you've been watching the news at all this weekend, you may have heard about the wildfires in Australia. Victoria is burning. I don't mean a town. I mean the state. There are fires elsewhere in eastern Australia too.

Last night, the Kinglake Complex fire had a front line that was over 100 km long and had burned over 465 square miles (~296,000 acres). NASA has taken photos, but this was taken on January 30, 2009, BEFORE things got bad.

Melbourne's Alfred Hospital (the largest trauma/burn center in the state) has run out of morphine for its burn victims. There are over 90 people confirmed dead at this time and will probably quickly cross 100.

As far as I can tell, the town I used to live in, Kilmore, is still there. Fires started east of town and continued east, joining another fire and creating the Kinglake Complex. My "little brother" DownUnder, Justin Dally, is a firefighter with the CFA. I hope he and the rest of the family are safe. It's already been the weekend from hell down there. I hope it doesn't become the week from hell too.

If you feel so inclined, the next time you have a chat with whatever higher power you chat with, please say a few words for the folks in Australia--both the citizens and the fireys.

These photos came from the galleries at the Herald Sun. (Gallery 1) (Gallery 2)