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Science

Bushfires Destroy Historic Mt. Stromlo Observatory 296

Posted by timothy from the shame dept.
Anthony writes "The historic Mt Stromlo observatory has been destroyed by fires. Unfortunately Google cache and similar archives are the only available detailed information. Looks like the web site was housed at the observatory. Telescopes housed there were 74" and 50" reflectors along with the "Oddie" 9" refractor used by the Canberra Astronomical Society. Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops. The view from the air is one of molten domes and twisted metal. These fires have already destroyed 388 houses in the suburbs of Canberra. Luckily the winds have not picked up today, but the danger is still high."
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Bushfires Destroy Historic Mt. Stromlo Observatory More

Bushfires Destroy Historic Mt. Stromlo Observatory

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  • The real culprit... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @03:29AM (#5112046)
    "The historic Mt Stromlo observatory has been destroyed by fires. Unfortunately Google cache and similar archives are the only available detailed information. Looks like the web site was housed at the observatory."

    Did the fire that destroyed the site happen before or after the /. story?

  • Interesting (Score:2, Funny)

    by rmohr02 ( 208447 )
    Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops.... Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops.
    Score: -1, Redundant

    • Re:Interesting (Score:2, Insightful)

      by bm_luethke ( 253362 )
      The sad thing is that assuming the slashdot editors Did The Right Thing that is the best submission. Maybe that is where they get thier great use of repitition (because we all know that denotes importance).

  • CNN article (Score:4, Informative)

    by mmoncur ( 229199 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @03:31AM (#5112054) Homepage
    The CNN article [cnn.com] doesn't mention the observatory but does have some other details about the fires.

  • Ah Progress.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I see that Slashdot is now so efficient that we get the repost before the end of the original story posting.

    It's good to see progress in action! ;)

  • Let's give a good Slashdotting before the Observatory passed away...

  • forest fires (Score:4, Interesting)

    by vldmr_krn ( 737 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @03:44AM (#5112099) Journal
    This is an interesting article [cei.org] about why some forest fires are more destructive than they could be.
    • And you actually believe an interview from Fox, where their only expert is somebody from something called the "Competitive Enterprise Institute"?
      Evidently I have to be the one to break this to you, but This man is not a scientist!
      These are industry flacks. People who are PAID by big corporations to put out stuff like "The costs of Kyoto" or to go on television representing the auto industry [cei.org] about why we should be buying more SUVs.
      Just because somebody says it doesn't make it true.
      Oh, and by the way, as somebody who *has* talked extensively with actual scientists (with PhDs and field experience and everything, woohoo), that whole "just clearing this timber for the good of society" stuff is utter bullshit.
      There are any number of good ways to reduce fire damage. Allowing companies like Weyerhauser to go in and lumber the place is not one of them. Not only do they consistently get caught taking out more trees then they claimed they would (thereby creating the sorts of empty spots and monocultures that seriously damage the forest and in fact INCREASE the risk of fire) but they do it in ways that damage the soil's ability to retain moisture. I could give you a dozen other reasons why but you're big boys and girls, you know perfectly well how to use Google should you so choose.

      I'm gonna keep hittin' it 'til folks get a clue.
      Facts, people. From sources that you have checked out. Not "I read it somewhere". Facts.
      Grrrrrrr
      -Rustin

    • Re:forest fires (Score:5, Interesting)

      by m00nun1t ( 588082 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @10:09AM (#5112877) Homepage
      I don't know much about other countries (as I'm Australian), but in Australia bush fires aren't a bad thing - they are part of the natural cycle of life here.

      For example, there are some trees with seeds in pods that only open when burnt - without fires, this species of tree would have died out thousands of years ago. The problem is twofold: people have chosen to live in areas designed to burn down, and having people there increases the chances of a fire starting thus making it more frequent than it has to be. The fires will continue - we are the ones that have to change.

      You can learn a bit more here [planetark.org]..

  • text of article (Score:2, Interesting)

    by paughsw ( 620959 )
    try http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://msowww.anu.edu .au/ MOUNT STROMLO AND SIDING SPRING OBSERVATORIES Astronomer at work: Alex Rodgers, a Research Fellow and later a Director of the Observatories, at the 50-inch Great Melbourne Telescope in the mid-1960s. Established in 1924, the Commonwealth Observatory at Mount Stromlo, on the outskirts of Canberra, antedated the University by many years. In 1950 the Commonwealth Astronomer, Richard van der Reit Woolley, was appointed an Honorary Professor attached to the Research School of Physical Sciences; but it was not until 1957 that Mount Stromlo formally became a part of the ANU. As the lights of Canberra began to interfere with the astronomers' viewing, the University moved to establish an observatory at Siding Spring in the Warrumbungle Range, 660 kilometres due north of Mount Stromlo. ANU scientists and engineers helped design and construct the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring, which was commissioned in 1974. An advanced technology 2.3 metre telescope was constructed during the 1980s. Astronomers at Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories have made outstanding contributions to astronomy and astrophysics. Research in the 1950s provided the first clue that the Magellanic Clouds had evolved differently from our own galaxy, and so offered new insights into galactic evolution. In the 1990s ANU astronomers were able to show that about 90 per cent of disc galaxies (such as the Milky Way) take the form of `dark matter', the unseen matter in the galaxies' haloes. The 2.3 metre telescope at Siding Spring, at the time of its opening in 1984. The cuboid building rotates on its base.

  • From a Canberran .. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19, 2003 @03:50AM (#5112116)
    The area outside Canberra, Australia's equivalent of Washington, has been on fire for a few days. Yesterday things got much worse and the fires spread over a huge area, eventually reaching the urban areas.

    Atleast 400 homes have been destroyed, and 3 people are known to be dead.

    I myself was watching the fires during the day as they got closer and closer to urban areas. (The City of Canberra was designed before it was built and there are lots of bush areas between suburbs). When the wind picked up the fires were spreading over huge areas, and I could see flames about 30ft high, taller than the trees they were burning down.

    The sky was completely covered in smoke all day, and it was very dark even at 3:30pm. Traffic was frantic and everyone had their lights on. At the supermarket people were desperately stocking up on food supplies.

    A few hours later the dried-grassy area right next to my suburb (Monash) caught fire.. some people were evacuating their homes, while others were desperately putting water on their roofs.

    After watching the fires get closer and closer to our homes for about 10 minutes, a group of about 40 of us decided to cross the road and put out the fire ourselves. Some people had buckets of water and the rest used branches ripped off nearby trees.

    As we got near the flames we realised how hot the fire was. I could hear people yelling "God that's hot" and "fuck that burns".

    We hit the flames with our branches and put out the fire bit by bit. At the same time people ran across with water, tipping it on the fire quickly but surely. Once we'd cleared a certain amount we could get through to the lake just beyond the fire, and some people ran down and filled up their bottles etc and then continued fighting the fire with the water from the lake.

    It was difficult to breathe and most people were wearing a tshirt or cloth over their faces. Every few minutes I had to stop and get some breath and try to clear my eyes. There was a sense of communion and group-effort.. everyone working together towards the same ends. We had gone from people who wouldn't notice each other walking down the street to people who were going out of their way to save their homes.

    After a while we had cleared all the fire, and we stood around relieved.. I was covered in sweat from the heat, and I had ashes all over my clothes. The others who had also been running back and forth stomping out the fires were in a similar condition.

    Once we were sure all the fire was out, as we were looking at ourselves and surveying the charred grounds, someone amongst us triumphantly said "Better than watching our houses burn down!". I agreed.

    • According to ABC local radio, a fourth person has been found dead, apparently trapped in her house.
    • Well done.

      I'm an ex-Canberrian myself, and know the area fairly well. From talking to a friend who's being doing just the same (he lives in Woden), your case isn't the only one. This is why so many people are turnning up at the hospitals with "minor" burns, mostly because they're doing their best to stop the fire.

      I've been there myself, when living in country Victoria. One of my neighbours was doing a controlled burn when this insane wind appeared from friggin nowhere and the burn just went real bad. Twenty or so of us in the immediate area spent a good half hour limiting the fire's spread until the the CFA took hold of the situation. I managed to save my house, but the two next to me we're not so lucky. I still remember standing infront of 40 foot flames, drenched in water, holding the thing back with a wet blanket and a hose. Strangly enough, I didn't feel scared ... just determined not to let the fire win.

      Fight the good fight dude; my heart and thoughts are with you all up there.

  • How The Fire REALLY Started (Score:5, Funny)

    by n3rd ( 111397 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @04:00AM (#5112141)
    The fire started when some of the lab's employees got drunk and decided to see who could burn more ants using the telescope.

    Professor Frink was in the lead with 13 when they all made another alcohol run and accidently bumped the telescope leaving it pointed at a pile of oily rags in their rush to get "shotgun".
    • My very good friend Dr. Ralph Sutherland of the Australian National University has his base of ops at Mt. Stromolo. Today he'll be utterly devastated, as will all those who worked there.
    • Aussies might make a bitter joke of it, but not such a lame joke as the parent post. Real spirit is shown by the gentleman quoted in the SMH:


      Greg Matthews does not rise from the wooden garden bench where he sits beside his father, on the footpath, facing his burnt-out home. "G'day", he deadpans, "we'd offer you a cuppa, but we're out of milk."

      The seat is somehow undamaged by the flames; so are Mr Matthews and his family, but that is about all. Everything else is gone -- the house, its entire contents, three dogs, the parrot, and about 700 tropical fish.

      "It was just terrible, mate," he says, pointing to Mt Arawang, 1.5 kilometers to the west, "from the top of that hill to the bottom of our street, no word of a lie, the flames took no more than about five minutes. The noise was deafening. It sounded like a Boeing jet."

      And insurance?

      "My insurance was a dog in the backyard," he said. That, and a fire hydrant on the footpath, not 10 meters from where he now sits. But that proved to be no more protection than the dog. ...


      You poor bastard.
  • with the "Oddie" 9" refractor used by the Canberra Astronomical Society. Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops...... with the "Oddie" 9" refractor used by the Canberra Astronomical Society. Also destroyed were a number of student houses and workshops.

    apparently the student houses were imporantat

  • Wow, a Slashdot first. (Score:4, Funny)

    by D.A. Zollinger ( 549301 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @04:14AM (#5112177) Homepage Journal
    A duplicate within the story. Sources within the Slashdot editing staff were quoted as saying, "We're not going to wait for someone else to submit the story again, we decided to be preemtive, and duplicate the story ourselves!"

  • I live in Canberra (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19, 2003 @04:15AM (#5112180)
    The fires have been burning for weeks in one form or another, yesterday a combination of old fires and new ones reached Canberra. Canberra is often called "the bush capital", it's a city embedded in bushland. So things could have been a LOT worse.

    The weather was hot hot hot - 37 Celsius. Strong dry winds coming in off a thousand kilometres of desert to the northwest. It hasn't rained here for about 9 months, Australia is currently in the worst drought for generations, so all the forest is tinder dry. Australian eucalypt leaves have a relatively high oil content, when they start buring the canopy can literally explode.

    I was driving earlier in the day, and all I could see to the west was a bank of smoke covering the entire horizon. As the day progressed the smoke covered the city downwind of the fires. It was a thick black cloud, like a heavy thunderstorm. At my house the smoke was pretty high up, so the air at groundlevel was fine, just a little smoke smell.

    Things could still be pretty bad. Although hundreds of houses were lost, and fire stations, schools, medical centres and so on, all this is really just on the western edge of the city. The city has many other areas which are just as susceptible given the current drought. We're right in the middle of the hot part of summer, and even hopes for rain depend on El Nino ending around about March. If it doesn't, and we don't get rain for another year, ...

    Getting back to the observatory, Mount Stromlo observatory is on the outskirts of the city, on a medium sized hill called, um, Mount Stromlo. Mount Stromlo had a heavy forest cover. The observatory area on the top of the hill was cleared for some distance around the domes, but I guess the fireball from tens of thousands of tons of wood all going up at once must have been overwhelming.

    There were a number of houses on top of the mountain for astronomer families and support staff, I guess they must have been evacuated early on, there's only one way down from the mountain.

    It's a big historic loss. The observatory has been of reducing importance in past years due to the encroaching city, but measures such as replacing street lighting with observatory friendly lighting were being undertaken. I doubt it will be rebuilt because of this.

    Jamie

    • This may sound like a silly question... but why don't you just pave more of the ground outside of cities and build newer buildings with more brick?
    • we've had several heavy rains in the last month.

      my roof in Downer flooded even.

      but is *HAS* been dry and the rivers and reservoirs are low.

  • One of the last visitors to Mt Stromlo... (Score:3, Informative)

    by vk2tds ( 175334 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @04:21AM (#5112201)
    I think I was one of the last visitors to Mt Stromlo... I was there just before closing on Friday afternoon, and for some reason did not take any photos... That was a mistake.

    There has also not been any people at the Tidbinbilla NASA facility since midnight saturday night according to reports, but it is likely not to get any damage since it is in a field rather than trees. I can assure you that I would not like to be trapped there during a fire since there was a pine forrest right arround, but from memory none closer than about 2 miles.

    One of my friends evacuated his computer room at work to his house - with US$500K of equipment in his safe lounge room at home.

    I am now back in Sydney... And glad to be out... There are still 750,000 people without power...

    Darryl
    • And saw the distant red glow of fires approaching from over the mountains. It could have as easily been a smidgeon north to where I live. I remember:

      Last night, a harried post-grad rushing around, looking out the door at us, presumably for invading their turf.

      Years ago, school trips to Stromlo for science. Technicians fooling about, spilling foggy puddles of liquid nitrogen to impress us.

      At college, friend relating a scary tale of my physics teacher driving back down the winding road and waving his hands around and not paying nearly enough attention to driving whilst explaining stuff.

      Later at university, a friend of mine being busted by security for burning a bible over Duffield's grave. "It was dark man..."

      Orienteering on the map, "Arachnicopia", named for the abundance of spiders on the mountain. Running through thick pine forest, being covered with thick layers of cobwebs and spiders. (Indy eat your heart out)

      More recently, work trips there to use the meeting rooms and beautiful views for planning days (my idea :o) )

      Coffee in a cafe in the shadow of the dome. Pastries and foccacia.

      And Friday was the first time ever my GF had been there.

      While I have not seen pictures, the local radio helicopter's description was enough for me to fill in the blanks. Broken telescopes in a tangle of black steel.

      There's a cool change in the wind tonight and the firies have the upper hand for the first time.

      Xix.
  • The Australian government news service, the ABC (similiar to the British BBC) has these links on this story:

    Mt Stomlo observatory severely damaged in fires
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/act/me tact-19 jan2003-11.htm

    Photos from Canberra:
    http://abc.net.au/news/galleries/2003/a ctfires/pag es/default.htm

  • I just learned about the Mt Stromlo fire here on Slashdot. My spouse was collaborating remotely with a friend doing research there. (My spouse is safe here in the US, friend was at Mt Stromlo, and have no idea about his safety.) Some news websites says the observatory staff had only 20 minutes warning before the firestorm came up the hill through the pine trees. I hope he got out in time, since there is only one road in or out of the observatory grounds.
  • Lots of detail at the Sydney Morning Herald [smh.com.au] but here's a specific story [smh.com.au].

  • other caches? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mattr ( 78516 ) <mattr&telebody,com> on Sunday January 19, 2003 @05:16AM (#5112306) Homepage Journal
    I was thinking that in addition to google's cache of the destroyed site, there also must be many copies in web caches around the world, for example at general Australian ISPs and proxies at astronomical institutions. Plus there are of course the browser caches of individuals.


    I looked around at sites like ircache.net [ircache.net], vancouver-webpages.com [vancouver-webpages.com], and elsewhere looking for a way to get pages from caches besides of course hitting them from the side of the served network (i.e. with a browser or a spider like wget or wwwwoffle).


    There is a hierarchical cache [unimelb.edu.au] at U. of Melbourne for students there, so if anyone is reading this from a dorm there you might be able to spider the cache of the site to preserve it on your hard drive.


    If anyone is familiar with caching protocol and how to query other caches on the net, why not share them here. Much of the data may be on the net. Likewise if anyone knows how much is replicated on other sites it will save people the trouble. I'm just worried that the contents of these caches may expire one day soon..

  • The news from Astronomers (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19, 2003 @05:39AM (#5112344)
    This is the email running around amongst the Australian Astronomers ..

    Subject: Update on Stromlo Destruction

    I have just gotten off the phone with Gary Da Costa and can confirm the
    worst ... Stromlo Observatory is effectively destroyed. All people are
    accounted for which is the most important thing. All of the residential
    houses, bar two, are gone, as are the 50", Yale-Columbia, Oddie, Old Admin
    Building, Workshops, etc. The 74" and Visitor Centre are unaccounted for
    right now, but are on the worst side of the mountain and are probably
    lost. Gary is hearing that the Woolley building suffered water damage,
    but may be salvageable. Nothing reported on the Duffield. In terms of
    practicalities, the loss of the Workshop may be hardest to deal with.
    NIFS, the instrument soon to be delivered to Gemini, is lost, and what the
    loss of the workshop means for the one they had just been commissioned to
    build is yet to be sorted.

    More news as I hear it ...

    Brad

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 12:11:30 +1100 (EST)
    From: Brad Gibson
    Subject: Stromlo Observatory Destroyed

    As most of you are by now aware, most of south-west Canberra has been lost
    to the raging bushfires. 2500 people have been evacuated thus far with
    400 homes destroyed as of this morning. I am now hearing that all of
    Stromlo Observatory has been destroyed. As best as I have been able to
    find out, no one on the mountain has lost their lives, although at least
    one person died in the Stromlo Forest Settlement. I'll pass on updats as
    I hear them.

    BKG

    Prof. Brad K. Gibson
  • Much of the network at the Australian National University is currently down (Canberra has suffered extensive power outages over the weekend). The ANU owns Mt Stromlo and so Web sites may possibly return tommorow. The ANU is safe (currently) as it is located about 20km from fire fronts.
  • I've been up (trying to catch a little rest here and there) since 9am yesterday morning (it's now 9pm today). The damage here has been devastating. I'd just like to say thanks to all the emergency services personnell for all the work they've done over the last few days. This has been termed the largest natural disaster in Australian History (or so I've been told).

    Last night I was up on our roof hosing everything down, the smoke was so thick I couldn't see the flames coming towards us. All we could see was a bright red glow that looked like the sky was on fire. I don't think that's a vision I'll ever forget.

    I just consider myself lucky that I'm in the northern area as it wasn't hit anywhere near as hard as the southern suburbs. At the moment I believe that 25% of Canberra is still without electricty, water and gas.

    Again, thanks to all the emergency service people who prevented this disaster from becomming any worse.

  • Four dead - over 400 homes destroyed (Score:5, Informative)

    by Technodummy ( 204943 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @08:17AM (#5112641)
    For those interested, most of the damage was caused not by regular fires, but by a "firestorm", burning embers raining down from the sky. This caused hundreds of spot fires around the suburbs, and in inaccessible areas, gaps between houses and fences, in power poles. This type of fire (this large) has never happened in Australia before.

    For those blaming fire services for not being fast enough, some facts:

    * The Canberra fire forces are equipped to deal with SIX house fires at the same time.
    * Over FOUR HUNDRED homes have been destroyed.
    Many more fires have burned and been put out by residents using garden hoses and garden tools.
    Even those of you without a calculator can probably see where the problem lies.
    Some suburbs have lost access to water completely, with water station pumps burned out.
    One power station has been completely razed, residents in that area may be without power for a month or more.
    Several fire engines and police cars have been lost, roads are blocked by fallen trees and power lines, some of which are on fire.
    Firefighters have been out saving other people's homes while their own burned to the ground.
    A fire station itself caught fire, and no engines went to put it out, as people's homes were still in danger.

    Give them some credit for putting their lives and homes on the line, to save others.
    _______________________
    News links:

    Residents are posting in a Canberra community at LiveJournal.
    Canberra Communtiy [livejournal.com]

    Google news about Canberra:
    Google news [google.com]

    Canberra Connect Government Website (sometimes is not loading)
    Canberra Connect [act.gov.au]

    ACT Bushfire Status
    www.esb.act.gov.au/media/bushfire.htm [act.gov.au]

    Red Cross locating evacuees
    www.news.com.au [news.com.au]

    Make a donation to the Red Cross
    RedCross.org.au [redcross.org.au]
    _______________________
    There's news from Observatory astronomers here [slashdot.org]
    _______________________
    http://news.ninemsn.com .au/National/story_45108.asp

    Fires destroy Stromlo observatory
    Irreplaceable equipment worth millions of dollars was destroyed when the Canberra bushfires ravaged the historic Mount Stromlo Observatory.
    Research officer Vince Ford, a 38-year veteran of the observatory, told AAP staff were given 20 minutes' notice to evacuate as a fire storm on Mount Stromlo caught authorities by surprise.
    A single road through pine forests links the observatory, established by the Commonwealth in 1924, with suburban Canberra.
    "There's no way we could have saved it," Mr Ford said.
    The fire storm destroyed all the observatory's telescopes and the original observatory building, which dated back to 1924.
    "It's gone, it's all gone," Mr Ford said.
    "We've lost all the telescopes, the administration building, which was the original observatory back in 1924.
    "The first telescope has actually been there since 1910, it's gone.
    "The main research telescopes, the 74-inch and 50-inch, they're gone. I've just seen pictures of it from the air and we don't have a telescope left."
    The Australian National University (ANU) facility was one the premier astronomy training and research centres in Australia.
    "(It's a huge loss) from a historical point of view, from a cultural point of view, from a scientific point of view," Mr Ford said.
    "It's an absolute disaster."
    Observatory staff still hope they may be able to salvage some of their research, stored on computers in office buildings that might have escaped the worst of the blaze.
    The observatory offices are believed to be standing, but have been water damaged.
    "At least we should be able to recover the hard disks from some of the computers, but at this stage we're guessing," Mr Ford said.
    "All we know is the observatory is gone."
    Some back-up files would also have been stored at the main ANU campus in Canberra.
    "But a lot of the work will be at the observatory," Mr Ford said.

    "Some of us, being suspicious sods, have stuff at home, but most of it would have been on the computers or in the offices up at the observatory."
    ANU vice-chancellor Ian Chubb was due to meet observatory chiefs to be briefed on the extent of the damage. ©AAP 2003
    • Please don't link to the canberraconnect web site -- it seems to already be overloaded just with people who have a bona fide interest.

    • The fire chief was quoted saying it would have taken about 500 trucks to properly fight the fire.

      Of course, the problem is, if you buy enough equipment to deal with a 99th-percentile fire, you will have 500 trucks sitting idle most of the time.

      I'm interested to see what will change in future years. Even if this was an unpreventable fluke, I don't think it will be politically acceptable to do nothing. Perhaps stricter building codes? (Fire shutters? No wood houses?) Perhaps more fire trucks, or emergency water reservoirs?
      • There is nothing to be done. This area is prone to fire, and fire combusts everything in its path. Your options are:
        • Live with it.
        • Leave it.
        I have to give the emergency services folks in Caberra credit. It sounds like they have worked out a way to get most of the people out of harm's way. Property can be rebuilt, and historical buildings are destroyed all the time. (That's what makes the surviving ones so special after all.) But people cannot be.

        Technology can't prevent fires, or floods. It has done a pretty good job mitigating the damage of Earthquakes, and to a lesser extent hurricanes. But look carefully at the specs and you will see that all technology has a point beyond which it will break. After this point more "technology" will only delay the damage, not prevent it.

        • Getting so many people out was a pretty impressive effort, I agree. In the newspaper tables this morning of previous fires that destroyed a similar number of houses the number of fatalities was sadly substantially higher -- I think about 60 for Ash Wednesday. Having good, relatively empty roads, good communication, and emergency services people doing what they could covers most of it.

          Whether or not it is true that there is nothing to be done, I'm sure it would be politically unacceptable for Stanhope to do nothing. "These things happen", however true, is not going to go down well. Knowing that Something Must Be Done, I'm curious what that Something will be.
    • The major problem was - NO BLOODY WARNING!

      No one can stop a fire on a hot day with a strong wind - but you can save your house as it roars past. Usually you get fair warning of bad days

      The warning was not there.

      More importantly, the fire service didn't pick the weather - and then they and the government panicked... They stuffed up, got scared, panicked, and got lucky when the wind dropped. Every one makes mistakes. That is what happened on Saturday. If everyone had done everything right, we still would have ended up with one or two dead - the situation was just too bad - but the mistakes cost a couple of lives too.

      • Most of these people would have been no better off with a warning, except maybe saving a few possessions.

        Fire raining from the sky is not something firefighters are generally equipped to do, ever.

        Most of the damage occurred in just 2 hours, and there was never going to be enough resources for that.

        This was not an ordinary bushfire.

  • Remebering the Stromlo Observatory (Score:4, Interesting)

    by chongo ( 113839 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @08:45AM (#5112702) Homepage Journal
    The news is carrying details of the loss, devastation, and deaths [theage.com.au] related to one of Australia's worst bush fires [cnn.com] in history. I'd like to focus on one small aspect of the disaster: the loss of the Mt Stromlo observatory facilities.

    The loss of Mt. Stromlo Observatory [abc.net.au] facility is very great loss.

    A number of the obvious sites related to Stromlo are down, due to the fire or due to the wide spread power outages in the area. I will make links to indirect and cached pages.

    Established in 1924, the Commonwealth Observatory at Mount Stromlo [216.239.33.100], on the outskirts of Canberra. Commonwealth Observatory was recognized for its important research into the origin and future of the universe.

    Astronomers at Mount Stromlo [ninemsn.com.au] made outstanding contributions to astronomy. It would be difficult to list all of the important contributions to Astronomy made by the people working at Mt. Stromlo. Now, a few come to mind:

    • Stromlo research in the 1950s provided the first clue that the Magellanic Clouds had evolved differently from our own galaxy. These results gave us important insights into galactic evolution.
    • In the 1990's, astronomers from Stromlo and Sliding Springs (many km away from the fire area) showed that about 90% of disc galaxies (such as our own) are greatly influenced by ''dark matter'', in their galaxies' halos.
    • They made important observations in the first hours after Supernova 1987A [hubblesite.org] (the first naked eye supernova in several centuries of years) was discovered.
    • Then there is the sort of work such as the Stromlo Abell Cluster Supernova Search [216.239.33.100]
    • The Massive Compact Halo Objects (Macho project [noao.edu] that was the first to record many microlensing events in our Galaxy as well as in the LMC [uoregon.edu].
    • Then there was all of that tedious, but vital work of spectral classification of southern stars.
    • Many of the first parallax distances to Southern stars were first made at Stromlo.
    • The list goes on and on ... I am sorry that I must leave out so many other significant contributions!

    One of the principal instruments at Stromlo was the 74-inch (188-cm) reflecting telescope [216.239.33.100]. The 74-inch telescope was erected in 1953, and until the completion in 1974 of the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring, this was the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1982, it was used to discover the fossil star CD-38245: a star so old that it is made almost purely of gases left over from the big bang.

    It also was home scopes such as the robotic 50-inch (127-cm). It was an excellent example of how an older telescope could be outfitted with new controls and instruments to perform innovative work. The MACHO project [mcmaster.ca] was conducted on the 50 inch.

    Two historical scopes come to mind, the Oddie, and the Yale-Columbia telescope:

    The Oddie [ballarat.net], was a wonderful 9-inch Newtonian telescope. The Victorian MP, James Oddie, presented this telescope to the Commonwealth government for use in the proposed Commonwealth Observatory. It was installed on the site at "Mt Strom" (as Stromlo was originally known) in September 1911. Over the years the Oddie telescope has made valuable contributions to Southern Hemisphere astronomy; it did some of the first measurements of the brightness, color and spectral classification of southern stars.

    The Yale-Columbia telescope [virginia.edu], 26-inch Grubb long-focus refractor was erected at this site for the determination of parallaxes of southern stars (it was the largest refractor in the southern hemisphere when first installed.

    Moreover, there were other scopes as well ... But alas, from what can be seen from the air at this time, most, if not all of those telescopes have been lost. At appears that heat from the burning of the nearby bush /trees [mcmaster.ca] was hot enough to melt many of the domes at the observatory.

    The Canberra Astronomical Society [starclass.com.au] used the Stromlo lecture hall for their monthly meetings. During public nights, the public had access to a domed C14 scope, the Oddie, and a number of scopes brought to the site by members ... all through the hard work and generous efforts of the Canberra Astronomical Society [216.239.33.100].

    I had the privilege of observing at Mt Stromlo several times and spoke at one of the CAS meetings. I still can recall flying down from the US to a CAS member's home to see SN1987 [utk.edu], . I was there only 36 hours after the naked eye supernova was first observed. I still recall seeing the single star, at a distance of over 168,000 light-years, change in color and rightness over the course of an evening. I was one of the most important astronomical events I have had the honor to witness. I recall that every scope up at Mt Stromlo was all pointed at the Large Magellanic Could where SN 1987A [seds.org] was blazing away. The previous observing board schedule was cancelled as people raced to collect as much early critical data as they could in the early hours of the event.

    I had the privilege of being with the members of the Canberra Astronomical Society on two of my several total solar eclipses: 1991 in Hawaii, US and most recently the 2001 eclipse in Ceduna, AU [tip.net.au].

    (Both trips count among my several successful viewings of solar totality. Although the 1991 Hawaii was a close call that was saved because my friend (the one who introduced me to the CAS) broke his arm a very short time before the Eclipse ... which allowed both of us to have a full view of Totality in Hawaii ... but that is another story!)
    I look forward to meeting with many of these same people when we go to Antarctica for the 2003 solar eclipse [arizona.edu].

    My best wishes and heart felt sorrow go out to all of those people who worked so hard to make Mt. Stromlo such a wonderful place for the public to visit and who helped the observatory make many important contributions to Astronomy. Much of what was lost cannot be replaced. Still it is my hope that those who are left will be able to rebuild something anew out this tragedy.

  • Latest Toll (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As of 9pm Australian EST
    The official tally is:

    4 People dead
    247 homes destroyed (NOT 400!)
    many more are thought to be destroyed but official tally is 247...
    ninemsn has this story [ninemsn.com.au] on the fires


    shame on all of you who make jokes about australians dying

  • Terrible, but let's keep things in proportion (Score:3, Informative)

    by shplorb ( 24647 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @01:26PM (#5113595) Homepage Journal
    As terrible and horrific as it's been, I really can't stand that people are labelling it the "worst ever". Not being from the eastern side of Australia probably has something to do with the way I feel about this (yes, people west of Qld, NSW and Vic feel like they're in a different, neglected country), but it seems that people are forgetting that *the* worst fires *ever* were Ash Wednesday in SA and Vic on February 16, 1983:

    2545 Buildings destroyed
    75 People died
    >390,000 Hectares burnt

    source: http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fire/IUFRO/CONFL AG/ASHWED83/AW83.HTM [anu.edu.au]

    Don't get me wrong, the current predicament is terrible and serious, but please don't forget history or act like NSW is the only state that matters.

    These are also some pages descibing that day:

    http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_tim e/Transcripts/s678221.htm [abc.net.au]
    http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gscfa/ash.htm [vicnet.net.au]
    http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/4A25676D0022F2EE/BCView/ FAAF080E6756F7904A25679300155B2B?OpenDocument [vic.gov.au]
    http://www.historysmiths.com.au/CentFedPlayKit/eve nts/nature/1983_ash%20wednesday%20bushfires.htm [historysmiths.com.au]

    Google will help you find more.

    • I fought in those fires. I can't agree more.

      Having said that, I've fought a few bushfires, and they're all devistating. This fire is the worst the **ACT** has seen.

      Oh, and something that hasn't been said .. it's one long fire front - not several different ones as is being reported in the news. And that's from a) people on the ground fighting it, and b) a report from one of the helicopter pilots.
  • http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/19/10429112 70928.html

  • I'll be there in 2 weeks (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tconnors ( 91126 ) on Sunday January 19, 2003 @05:20PM (#5114749) Homepage Journal
    I heard this on the news lastnight. I was absolutely devestated. I know many of the PhD students - we have 2 visiting this insitution currently - I rang up one of them yesterday, but all her family is safe.

    There have been emails flying around all the astronoical lists - my supervisor did his PhD thesis there. All the telescopes have gone. The computers destroyed - some (most? All?) tapes were stored offsite as soon as they realised there was a fire coming (why they don't store them offsite as part of normal backup routines escape me). The biggest loss will be for the students - the telescope is not at a dark sky site (Canberra is /big/ these days), but the students do most of their PhD's on this set of telescope, almost exclusively. We also lost one instrument that had just about been finished and was soon being send off to the Gemini telescopes. Another one that they were meant to be building will have to have other plans - the workshop is destroyed. A lot of the astonomers lost their houses, but so far, every life has been accounted for, and the main university site is still safe... for the time being.

    I wrote my journal entry lastnight - I'm afraid it might be a bit emotional. But I will keep updaeing it as I find things out - http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/journa l/index.cgi?030119.001042611975 [swin.edu.au]

    I'll be there in 2 weeks, as part of a cosmology school. We were meant to be taking a tour of the site. Oh shit, I don't know whether I want to go there anymore.

    I am really worried about MOST telescope that the university of Sydney runs. A bit north of Canberra, but I think it is out of the way of fires. The grass around there will go up in seconds though - I hear the fire in these situations travels at up to 60 km/h. All the telescopes in Australia are somewhat unsafe from fires - the Siding Springs Observatory is in the middle of bushland, and there is no fire-break up there (I think there was one for Mt Stromlo). The fires in 1998 came too close for my liking...

  • Gemini Instrument Destroyed as Well (Score:4, Informative)

    by Betelgeuse ( 35904 ) on Monday January 20, 2003 @12:01AM (#5116626) Homepage
    The $5M spectrograph that was being built there (to go on the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii) was destroyed as well. This is a major loss for the Astronomical community. Very sad.

  • More news on Mt Stromlo (Score:3, Informative)

    by allrong ( 445675 ) on Monday January 20, 2003 @12:29AM (#5116756) Homepage

    According to this Spacedail article [spacedaily.com] the databases of astronomical research have been salvaged, the team will keep building their instruments, probably on the main ANU campus and Stromlo will be rebuilt (though I'm guessing minus the telescopes).

    I've written down some of my own memories [allrite.net] of Mt Stromlo observatory.

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