Fire crews preparing for hot, dry and windy Friday (prayers please)

news.com.au ^ | 26th February 2009 | John Masanauskas

[naturalman1975]

MORE than 200 schools and 146 child centres will close tomorrow as Victoria prepares for a scorcher tomorrow.

Schools and kindergartens in high risk fire areas including the Otways, Grampians, Mallee, Gippsland and Yarra Valley will close amid concerns for student safety.

One hundred and ninety government schools, 178 kindergatens and child care centres, 16 Catholic schools and at least 17 non-catholic private schools will close tomorrow as the bushfire risk increases.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development cited travel safety concerns, possible water contamination and the threat of continuing or new fires as reasons for the closures.

The CFA has declared a day of total fire ban across Victoria tomorrow with temperatures expected to hit 40C in some parts of the state with the fire danger heightened by strong northerly winds.

A southwesterly change and dry lightning strikes will hit in the early evening.

[naturalman1975]

Tomorrow will be the worst day in terms of fire danger since what is now being called Black Saturday in Victoria when over 200 lives and 2000 homes were lost. Some of those fires are still burning.

We have emergency workers in Victoria from every Australian state and territory as well as from New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and Indonesia.

One firefighter has been killed so far, another half dozen injured.

We're as ready as we can be and we hope we're as ready as we need to be. We hope we're being paranoid and worrying too much.

Prayers appreciated. Very appreciated.

[PERKY2004]

Prayers up!

[FlingWingFlyer]

My corner of Arizona almost burned completely down a few years ago. I’ve got two sons who are firefighters. One is a wildlands firefighter and the other is a city firefighter. I always send up prayers for those who take on that task. Prayers for you and your countrymen. Hopefully, some rain will come soon. Take care and be safe.

[naturalman1975]

They think we’ll have rain next Tuesday - here’s hoping they are right. Even a few showers can make a huge difference to how easily stuff burns.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I know what you mean. We've had a bad drought here for quite a number of years. Over the last two or three years, things have begun to get back to normal. We got a heck of a lot of snow this year. Take care, good luck and stay safe. We'll be keeping you guys in our thoughts and prayers.

FWF

[tanuki]

Will pray very hard!

[fieldmarshaldj]

Prayers for a positive outcome.

[Chgogal]

Special Prayers sent your way. May God Bless and Protect you and your countrymen each and every day. If you are called out, Godspeed.

[basil]

I heard on the radio the other day that the area around Austin, TX, where I live is the driest in the country. All our lakes are drying up, rivers are running very low, and in some instances, you see only lake beds.

We have had a burn ban for months, now---and there's no sign of rain in the forecast.

We took a ride through central TX today, and it is very bleak.

While y'all are doing all that praying, please aim some our way. It's really getting scary here.