California has had its share of wildfires, so we know what they are like. Unfortunately, Australia is experiencing fires on a scale that dwarfs what happened in California.
(Bloomberg) — Australia is in the grip of deadly wildfires burning across the country, triggering an emotive debate about the impact of climate change in the world’s driest inhabited continent. The unprecedented scale of the crisis, and images of terrified tourists sheltering on beaches from the infernos, has shocked many Australians.With summer only just beginning and the nation affected by a prolonged drought, authorities fear the death toll will continue to mount as more homes and land are destroyed. Here are some key details of the crisis:How many people have died?Since the fire season began months ago during the southern hemisphere winter, at least 24 people have died. Among the fatalities are volunteer firefighters, including a young man who died when his 10-ton truck was flipped over in what officials have described as a “fire tornado.” Australia’s worst wildfires came in 2009 when the Black Saturday blazes left 180 people dead.How big an area has burned?Massive tracts of land have burned. More than 10 million hectares (25 million acres) have been destroyed — that’s about five times the size of Wales, or larger than Indiana. In New South Wales state alone, almost 5 million hectares of forest and bush has been destroyed, while more than 1.1 million hectares has been burned in Victoria. The fires are so large they are generating their own weather systems and causing dry lightning strikes that in turn ignite more. One blaze northwest of Sydney, the Gospers Mountain fire, has destroyed almost 512,000 hectares — about seven times the size of Singapore.The scale of the blazes dwarfs the California wildfires in 2018, which destroyed about 1.7 million acres, and about 260,000 acres in 2019.How many homes have been destroyed?Some 1,400 homes have been destroyed in New South Wales alone this fire season and the tally is rising daily as the fires continue to burn and authorities assess the damage. Scores of rural towns have been impacted, including the community of Balmoral about 150 kilometers southwest of Sydney, which was largely destroyed before Christmas.
We have seen coverage of these first on TV but often the most compelling illustrations of disasters like this come from still photos, which capture and freeze the event in a way that moving images can’t.
Below are a series of photos of the Australia wildfires from Pro Photo Daily which bring home very powerfully the extent of the disaster.
In Focus: Images of Bush Fires Raging through Australia
CNN
Deadly bush fires are burning across Australia, exacerbated by strong winds and a record-breaking heatwave as the country experienced one of its worst droughts in decades, notes CNN, which features a portfolio of news service photographs that capture the disaster.
Deadly bushfires are burning across Australia, exacerbated by strong winds and a record-breaking heatwave as the country experienced one of its worst droughts in decades.
A resident throws a bucket of water onto a smoldering tree on his property on Monday, January 6, in Wingello, Australia.
Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
A military helicopter flies above a burning woodchip mill in Eden, New South Wales, on January 6.
Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
Families are evacuated by air from Mallacoota on January 5.
Justin McManus/Fairfax Media via Getty Images
A man walks past ash from bushfires washed up on a beach in Merimbula on January 5.
Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
The flight deck of a C-130J Hercules is lit by the red glow of the fires below as the aircrew attempts to land in Merimbula to drop off fire and rescue crews to assist fighting the bushfires on Sunday, January 5.
Corporal Nicole Dorrett/Australian Department of Defence via Getty Images
This satellite image provided by NASA on Saturday, January 4, shows smoke from fires burning in Victoria and New South Wales.
NASA via AP
A father holds his daughter as the skies above turn red during the day on January 4 in Mallacoota, Australia. Many parents with young children were stuck in Mallacoota after flights were grounded because of smoke and only school-aged children and older were allowed to evacuate by boat.
Justin McManus/The Age/Fairfax Media via Getty Images
A Royal Australian Navy crew unload luggage as evacuees from Mallacoota arrive aboard the MV Sycamore on January 4 at the port of Hastings, Australia.
Pool/Getty Images
Smoke from wildfires shrouds a road near Moruya, Australia, on January 4.
Rick Rycroft/AP
Nancy Allen stands outside her house as high winds push smoke and ash from the Currowan Fire toward Nowra in New South Wales on January 4.
Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
Evacuees board the Royal Australian Navy’s MV Sycamore on January 3 in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia. Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before hot weather and strong winds in the forecast worsen Australia’s already devastating wildfires.
Australia Department of Defense/AP
Massive smoke rises from wildfires burning in East Gippsland, Victoria on January 2.
DELWP Gippsland/AP
Royal Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons presents a posthumous Commendation for Bravery and Service on January 2 to the son of RFS volunteer Geoffrey Keaton, who was killed battling bushfires, at Keaton’s funeral in Buxton, New South Wales.
NSW Rural Fire Service via Reuters
Boats are pulled ashore as smoke and wildfires rage on January 2 behind Lake Conjola.
Robert Oerlemans via AP
Cars line up as people evacuate the town of Batemans Bay in New South Wales on January 2.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
A satellite image released by Copernicus Sentinel dated December 31 shows bushfires burning across Australia.
Copernicus Sentinel Imagery via AP
A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Lake Conjola, Australia, on December 31.
Matthew Abbott/The New York Times/Redux
A man tries to defend a property in Lake Conjola on December 31.
Matthew Abbott/The New York Times/Redux
Firefighters hose down trees as they battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales on December 31, 2019. Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were forced to flee to beaches in fire-ravaged southeast Australia on December 31, as blazes ripped through popular tourist areas leaving no escape by land.
Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
A destroyed home in Sarsfield, East Gippsland, Victoria, on December 31.
James Ross/AP
Children evacuated from areas affected by bushfires play at the showgrounds in the southern New South Wales town of Bega on December 31.
Sean Davey/AFP via Getty Images
A skycrane drops water on a bushfire burning near houses in Bundoora, Melbourne, on Monday, December 30.
Ellen Smith/AAP Images via AP
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) captured this satellite image of the historic bushfires burning across Australia on December 26.
Tributes for volunteer firemen Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton are seen at Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade in Sydney, Australia, on December 22. It’s believed they were killed when their vehicle hit a tree before rolling off the road, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in a statement.
Jenny Evans/Getty Images
A firefighter battles the Gospers Mountain Fire in Bilpin, New South Wales, on Saturday, December 21.
Dan Himbrechts/EPA/Shutterstock
A charred bicycle lies on the ground in front of a house destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of Bargo on December 21.
David Gray/Getty Images
Fire and rescue personnel monitor a bushfire as it burns near homes on the outskirts of Bilpin on Thursday, December 19.
David Gray/Getty Images
A property burns in Balmoral on December 19.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
A helicopter drops fire-retardant to protect a property in Balmoral.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
Police disperse demonstrators during a climate protest near Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official residence in Sydney, on December 19, during his absence on an overseas holiday, as bushfires burned across the region.
Wendell Teodoro/AFP via Getty Images
Children swing into the Penrith river during a heatwave in Sydney on December 19.
Farooq Khan/AFP via Getty Images
A landscape of burnt trees is pictured after a bushfire at Mount Weison, in the Blue Mountains, on Wednesday, December 18.
SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images
A wallaby flees a fire burning near Mangrove Mountain, north of Sydney, on December 10.
Rick Rycroft/AP
A smoke haze blankets Bondi Beach as the air quality index reaches higher than ten times hazardous levels in some suburbs of Sydney on December 10.
Jenny Evans/Getty Images
People join a guided climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as bushfire haze darkens the sky on December 6.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
People are seen wearing face masks to protect against the poor air quality in Sydney on December 5.
Don Arnold/Getty Images
A bushfire burns out of control in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales on December 2,
Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
An aerial view shows bushfires burning in the Richmond Valley on November 26.
Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
A CFA crew member rests after a day of maintaining controlled back burns in St Albans, Australia, on November 21.
Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
An injured koala receives treatment after its rescue from a bushfire at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on November 19. The hospital said the fires have “decimated” the area, which is a key habitat and breeding ground for the marsupials. More than 350 koalas are feared to have been killed by bushfires in NSW, according to animal experts.
Tao Shelan/China News Serice/Getty Images
Firefighters try to protect the Colo Heights Public School on November 19.
Dean Lewins/EPA
Bushfire smoke clouds the sky over the Hawkesbury River in Brooklyn, Australia.
Sam Mooy/Getty Images
Firefighters work on controlled back burns on November 14.
Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
This satellite image shows wildfire smoke on November 14.
NASA via AP
A man uses a wet towel to help put out flames near the town of Taree on November 14.
William West/AFP/Getty Images
Firefighters organize their crews prior to working on controlled back burns in Sydney on November 14.
Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
Warren Smith pats his dog after returning to find his house destroyed near Nana Glen on November 13.
William West/AFP/Getty Images
Teresa de Ruyter, left, and Michelle Wilson embrace after returning to their homes near Nana Glen on November 13.
William West/AFP/Getty Images
Firefighters battle a spot fire in Hillville on November 13.
Sam Mooy/Getty Images
Residents look on as thick smoke rises from bushfires near Nana Glen on November 12.
Dan Peled/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks at a screen as he gets a briefing on the bushfire situation on November 12.
Lukas Coch/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Locals watch the fires impact farmland near Nana Glen on November 12.
WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images
A firefighter mops up after a bushfire in the Sydney suburb of Llandilo on November 12.
Sam Mooy/Getty Images
A fire and rescue team inspects damage around the village of Torrington on November 11.
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Andrew Mackenzie surveys the damage to the area around his home in Torrington. His home was spared, but his neighbors’ house was burned to the ground.
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Smoke from the Gulf Road Fire fills the air in Glen Innes on November 11.
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
A sign on a Taree fire station warns of “catastrophic” fire conditions.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
A lone joey is pictured on a scorched patch of ground in Torrington on November 11.
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Emergency crews tend to animals on a property in Torrington on November 11.
Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Burnt trees dot the landscape in Old Bar on November 10.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
A firefighter works to contain a bushfire near Taree on November 10.
Darren Pateman/EPA/Shuttterstock
A helicopter drops water on a bushfire in Old Bar on November 9.
Shane Chalker/AAP Image/Reuters
This aerial photo, taken on November 9, shows bushfires in the northeastern part New South Wales.
Tom Bannigan/AFP via Getty Images
Fires burn in the distance as children play on a beach in Forster on November 9.
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
A fire rages in Bobin on November 9.
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
The remains of a property are seen in Bobin on November 9.
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
A plane drops fire retardant on a bushfire in Harrington on November 8.
Shane Chalker/EPA
Firefighters try to put out a bushfire in Woodford on November 8.
Dan Himbrechts/EPA
Police knock on the door of a house to warn residents of an out-of-control bushfire near Clumber on November 8.
Dan Peled/EPA
A resident hoses smoldering logs as a bushfire burns in Woodford on November 8.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP via Reuters
The sun is seen through heavy smoke as a bushfire burns in Woodford.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP via Reuters
Firefighters hose down an area in Woodford.
Dan Himbrechts/EPA
Forster residents watch as a water-bombing helicopter flies over a bushfire on November 7.
Dan Kirkman/EPA
In this handout photo from NASA’s Aqua satellite, destructive bushfires are seen off the coast of New South Wales on November 7.
Bill Dobbins is a professional photographer, videographer and writer based in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited as fine art in two museums, a number of galleries, and he has published eight books, including two fine art photo books:
Bill Dobbins THE BODY PHOTOGAPHER became well known for his male and female physique photos - images of the aesthetic, athletic body.
Using the same distinctive personal style, characterized by strong graphics and a classic look in both color and BW, Bill Dobbins has also developed a body of work featuring fashion, beauty and glamor photos In a world in which so many images create a level of "noise" that makes it hard for advertisers to be noticed, Bill's work cuts right through the confusion and grabs the eye.
Bill has created two art photos books: The Women: Photographs of the Top Female Bodybuilders (Artisan) and Modern Amazons (Taschen) and his fine art work has appeared in two museums and several galleries.
WEBSITES
BILL DOBBINS PHOTOGRAPHY
www.billdobbinsphotography.com
BILL DOBBINS ART
www.billdobbinsart.com
THE FEMALE PHYSIQUE WEBZINE/GALLERY
www.billdobbins.com
EMAIL: billdobbinsphoto@gmail.com