Our Australian members...

[Salaam]

Hope you or your loved one's are not caught up in the fires.

[smorzando]

No, it missed our house, thankfully, but we were under threat from embers. Not anymore though. We're stuck in between the Kinglake and Strathewan fires though, which really sucks. Loads of people at school have lost houses, students as well as teachers, a good few are in hospital. Our school almost got burnt down. One of my friend's dad is still missing. A teacher's missing and his wife, and one of our student's has died - burned in his house - his parents are still unaccounted for but feared dead. There's still people who haven't turned up to school that I can't contact that I'm worried about. There are only three houses left in Kinglake West I think. A few of our teachers didn't come to school today because they were fighting fires. And to top it all off, one of the parents of the kids in my year died of cancer on Sunday.

It's not a pretty picture here, but it's not all bad.One of my friends and her family hid in their pantry and survived the fires. Another had her neighbours come and help her because she was home alone at the time. Another still lost all the land around their house, but their actual house survived. It could be worse, I guess.

And it feels weird because theres so many people who are crumbling from grief and so on - including my mum, but I'm not. I can't feel sad while there's other people sad around me. I have to help them, and so my day has consisted of comforting people. I'll feel the brunt of it all probably months after it's over.

smorz.

[Salaam]

Glad to hear your OK.

[k2hsharpe]

ah Grace
this is so fucking terrible, so much worse that any we've had. I think only Canberra from 6 or 7 year ago could be likened to it. Leastways, in my time. It's hard to work out if your area is safe or not - I hope it is.

[Funkadelichika]

I have some friends out that way, luckily they aren't in the same areas as the fires. I hope the heat settles down there and that more people don't get hurt.

[smorzando]

Update: the missing teachers have been found. Turns out they were burned. I dont even know what to think. I cant cry about it - not while everyone else is crying too.

At last count, I think the death toll was over 180 people - and they still havent found everyone yet.

i dont know anymore