As you know, Victoria is in the grip of a ferocious bushfire season. The fires have been so severe that the smoke has drifted across many parts of the state, including Melbourne.

Here are some images that I took around midday today... It makes one appeciate how challenging the firefighting must be if the visibility is a mere 3 kilometres in the CBD -what is it like at the fire scene?

Looking down Swanston Street towards the (nearly invisible) Shrine of Remembrance:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb01.jpg

Commonwealth Bank in focus
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb02.jpg

Bourke Street, towards St Patrick's Cathedral
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb03.jpg

Bourke Street Mall
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb04.jpg

South-west view from the Rialto, looking towards Port Melbourne.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb05.jpg

Melbourne CBD
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb06.jpg

Eureka and the Yarra
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/adonline/FireMelb07.jpg

Thanks for the pics, it is really bad today, I could smell the smoke as soon as i awoke this morning. Our firefighters really deserve our thanks and must be comended.

I'll make light of this and say this probably looks like Los Angeles on any normal given day.

how far is the bushfire from city centre. from the look of how thick the smoke is, pretty close?

Nice shots. You don't usually see these types of photos because people tend to put their cameras away when there is a blanket of smoke all around! :) First and third shots are winners for me.

That's a bloody long train in the last photo - I wonder if the other end is at Southern Cross?! :)

Check this satellite photo out...

http://www.theage.com.au/ftimages/2006/12/08/1165081129112.html

how far is the bushfire from city centre. from the look of how thick the smoke is, pretty close?
I think the closest is about 150km.

That's a bloody long train in the last photo - I wonder if the other end is at Southern Cross?! :)
It's a beauty, isn't it?! ha ha ha

Check this satellite photo out...
This is an amazing image, taken yesterday. I hope they take another today as I would be keen to see it...

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/12/08/PH2006120800475.jpg

Great pictures, thanks for going up Rialto to get the birds eye view. Hope you have a yearly pass.

great pics, its a great opportunity for photos, and it should make us feel lucky as many cities in the world have pollution like that all year round lol. Amazing satelite shot. Where did you get it from?

I saw this on the news and Melbourne looked really foggy! I remember during the 2003 bushfires in Sydney, the sky was orange and the sun was red and I had even found several black leaves near my house despite living a bit more further away from the fires. That year also saw the worst bushfires to hit Canberra which can be seen here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/2003CanberraBushfires.jpg. Pretty crazy stuff!

Hopefully the bushfires in Tasmania and Victoria are put out soon!

Superb. I love shots relating to the weather or of natural occurances as it offers something different to the touristy shots.

I'm glad it didnt get any worse down there.

Just look at the photo from the Rialto looking at Melbourne Exhibition Center just how brown the surrounding grass is. Not something you're likely to see in the middle of Melbourne. Just shows that the drought is extremely severe. No one knows when it will break and there is no sign of rain any time soon.

Just look at the photo from the Rialto looking at Melbourne Exhibition Center just how brown the surrounding grass is. Not something you're likely to see in the middle of Melbourne. Just shows that the drought is extremely severe. No one knows when it will break and there is no sign of rain any time soon.

Even we have managed to keep most of our grass green and its rained less in Adelaide than melbourne :)

I've been in Torquay all week, and didn't know about the massive fires. But on the way home this morning (at about 12noon) the smoke along the melbourne geelong freeway was very thick, and from the top of the westgate bridge you couldn't see the water below.

Was going down the West Gate this afternoon, here's the view from the city-end:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dasa/ssc/city.jpg

edit: a couple more
Another from the West Gate Bridge:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dasa/ssc/smokecity1-1.jpg
...and from the freeway:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/dasa/ssc/smokecity1-2.jpg

Yep, looked like that ^ Any more shots?

Yep, looked like that ^ Any more shots?
I edited a couple more in.

What is the situation right now on bushfire ?

The fires could burn well into the new year unless it starts to rain.

Latest reports are saying that this fire could last up right into the snow season.

All that smoke in Melbourne almost gives the impression that it's smog!

http://thehoddlegrid.net/dump/smokeyoffice1.jpg

http://thehoddlegrid.net/dump/smokeyoffice2.jpg

http://thehoddlegrid.net/dump/smokeyoffice3.jpg

I hope the bushfires don't get any worse, thankyou for posting the photos.

The north wind has already started to kick in so lets spare a thought for the firefighters in the ranges.

Nice shots. You don't usually see these types of photos because people tend to put their cameras away when there is a blanket of smoke all around! :) First and third shots are winners for me.

That's a bloody long train in the last photo - I wonder if the other end is at Southern Cross?! :)

Check this satellite photo out...

http://www.theage.com.au/ftimages/2006/12/08/1165081129112.html

Yep we have massive freight trains going west and north from the Port of Melbourne that can be up to 2 KMs long

wow. I really hope the fires don't get worse but it seems they probably will. Good luck to the firefighters. Apparently the Victorian government asked the US and Canada for help and more crews. Is this true?

that's a nasty amout of smoke! looks even smokier than it was in my block when a neighbouring apartmenthouse burnt down... and we were just 50 meters from the fire then

I'm regretting that I lent my camera to someone over the weekend and couldn't get it back in time. There was a great view from the eastern suburbs looking past all the hills.

That said, the air was stinky and stepping into a air conditioned bus/tram was quite a relief.

Would bushfires count as part of our carbon dioxide emissions?

wow. I really hope the fires don't get worse but it seems they probably will. Good luck to the firefighters. Apparently the Victorian government asked the US and Canada for help and more crews. Is this true?
Yes it is, but they asked New Zealand first as it was closer. NZ firefighters are already on the ground in Victoria.

Would bushfires count as part of our carbon dioxide emissions?
I have wondered this myself. I would expect not because it is a natural phenomenon, but I am uncertain.

Would bushfires count as part of our carbon dioxide emissions?

Probably not, as much of what they burn will now not rot (eventually) which also releases CO2. It would probably be considered the same way as biomass heating or power systems - where tree prunings are burnt for fuel. This is considered to have zero CO2 emissions.

not looking good

thanks for the pics

These pics are from level 78 of Eureka (they picked a really bad day to take some pics for realestate.com.au :-)

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/5468/103685468ml1166255839.jpg

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/5468/103685468bl1166255841.jpg

These pics are from level 78 of Eureka (they picked a really bad day to take some pics for realestate.com.au :-)

Probably not a good day since I guess blue skies make everything look glamorous, but those pictures surprisingly make that room look cosy and warm. Though probably even a little mysterious.

heres some shots the last weds when the smoke was bad, the evening sun cast a strange glow over the city
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5215/1000412ad1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4116/1000474hx1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

smokin:)