Another update…

84 people confirmed dead. Over 700 homes destroyed. The blazes go as far west as Horsham and as far east as Beechworth.

This is the worst fire in Victoria (and the whole country I think) ever. Worse than Ash Wednesday of 1983.

God be with us.

(On a related note, I went to wikipedia just now to check if this fire is really worse than the 1983 one, only to find out the entry has already been updated…

The Ash Wednesday fires were a natural disaster that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km (68 mph) per hour caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia. Years of severe drought and extreme weather combined to create one of Australia’s worst fire days in a century. The fires were the second worst bushfire disaster in Australian history – only the 2009 Victorian bushfires claimed more lives.

…I was only a small child when I heard reports of this fire in my home state of South Australia, but I still remember how sad everyone was. I’m feeling some dark days are upon us)