Australian Bush Fires
Donation protected
Being an Australian currently residing in Ireland, I was feeling a little helpless in what to be able to do for my country back home. This is the first time that something like this has really affected me and brought me to tears.
Watching families being displaced and houses and homes being destroyed. Our own flora and fauna, lost.
Entire towns have been engulfed in flames, and residents across several states have lost their homes. The heaviest structural damage occurred in NSW, the country's most populated state, where close to 1,300 homes have been destroyed and over 440 damaged.
The fires have burned 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres) of land in NSW, 1.2 million hectares (2.9 million acres) in Western Australia, 784,000 hectares (1.9 million acres) in Victoria, at least 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres) in Queensland, and more than 91,000 hectares (225,000 acres) in South Australia, according to the states' fire authorities.
In total, more than 5.9 million hectares (14.6 million acres) have been burned -- an area larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined.
To put that into perspective, the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires burned about 7 million hectares,according to Brazilian officials. In California, which is known for its deadly wildfires, just over 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) burned in 2019, and about 404,680 hectares (1 million acres) in 2018.
A total of 17 people across Australia have died this fire season, including several volunteer firefighters.
There has also been extensive damage to wildlife and ecology. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of their habitat has been destroyed
It is something of a common thing to hear of bush fires in Australian, however what is not common, is the scale of these current fires. Australia is not even in the middle of the bush fire season which is generally in January and February. So there is alot more of this to come, as currently there is no sight of rain for the people in NSW.
I couldn't sit back and watch, my husband and myself wanted to do something for the people back home, and therefore have created this page to help bring donations back to the folks in Australia. Families that have missed out on celebrating christmas and ringing in the new year.
I am sure most of us in Ireland have family, friends, mates, friends of friends, of have visited Australia or have family history in Australia. We would love to help bring that connection back to the people in Australia with helping them to rebuild their lives.
We will be donating all processed to St Vincent De Paul Society - $50 will help put food on the table $150 can pay for unexpected bills. We will have this page running until 31st January and all proceeds will be donated to St Vincent De Paul Society on behalf of the Irish community in Ireland.
We thank you for any contribution at all, and for helping the Australian families out.
Sandra & Declan O'Connell
Watching families being displaced and houses and homes being destroyed. Our own flora and fauna, lost.
Entire towns have been engulfed in flames, and residents across several states have lost their homes. The heaviest structural damage occurred in NSW, the country's most populated state, where close to 1,300 homes have been destroyed and over 440 damaged.
The fires have burned 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres) of land in NSW, 1.2 million hectares (2.9 million acres) in Western Australia, 784,000 hectares (1.9 million acres) in Victoria, at least 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres) in Queensland, and more than 91,000 hectares (225,000 acres) in South Australia, according to the states' fire authorities.
In total, more than 5.9 million hectares (14.6 million acres) have been burned -- an area larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined.
To put that into perspective, the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires burned about 7 million hectares,according to Brazilian officials. In California, which is known for its deadly wildfires, just over 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) burned in 2019, and about 404,680 hectares (1 million acres) in 2018.
A total of 17 people across Australia have died this fire season, including several volunteer firefighters.
There has also been extensive damage to wildlife and ecology. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of their habitat has been destroyed
It is something of a common thing to hear of bush fires in Australian, however what is not common, is the scale of these current fires. Australia is not even in the middle of the bush fire season which is generally in January and February. So there is alot more of this to come, as currently there is no sight of rain for the people in NSW.
I couldn't sit back and watch, my husband and myself wanted to do something for the people back home, and therefore have created this page to help bring donations back to the folks in Australia. Families that have missed out on celebrating christmas and ringing in the new year.
I am sure most of us in Ireland have family, friends, mates, friends of friends, of have visited Australia or have family history in Australia. We would love to help bring that connection back to the people in Australia with helping them to rebuild their lives.
We will be donating all processed to St Vincent De Paul Society - $50 will help put food on the table $150 can pay for unexpected bills. We will have this page running until 31st January and all proceeds will be donated to St Vincent De Paul Society on behalf of the Irish community in Ireland.
We thank you for any contribution at all, and for helping the Australian families out.
Sandra & Declan O'Connell
Organizer
Sandra O'Connell
Organizer
County Limerick
