Was it a case of missing the forest of fuel, for the love of trees; or missing the fire of trees for the forest of global warming? Either way all the spending and commitment of communities and government was worthless because their strategic decisions were wrong. Out of the despair and grief from the ashes of these horrendous fires there may yet be some forgotten wisdom to be re-learned. Over-indulgence in feel-good greenish solutions and an excessive tilt towards fashionable natural rather than human shaped landscape in habitats in semi-rural Victoria, has contributed significantly to the appallingly high loss of life and injury from Victoria's February bushfires . A failure to heed the outcome of numerous previous enquiries after bushfire disasters throughout the 20 th century, nearly all of which have recommended hazard and fuel reduction by regular hazard reduction burning in forests and the clearing of vegetation around settlements, has significantly contributed to the sca...
Stirring grist, grizzle and gore to flavour the stew.