As wildfires continue to rage throughout the Australian bush, Boston University students studying down under have gotten a lesson about living in a country under siege by natural disaster.
The Victorian bush fires, which have been burning in a southeastern province of Australia, have destroyed at least 1,000 homes and killed nearly 200 people, according to The Daily Telegraph of Sydney. The fires take on significance for students witnessing a disaster up close.
‘This is definitely a national disaster,’ Anthony Smith, a School of Hospitality Administration junior who is studying in Sydney, said in an email.
Smith said he thinks many of the casualties could have been avoided.
‘The reason why so many lives were lost in these fires were because evacuations are not mandatory, which is different from the States,’ he said. ‘They are thinking of changing this.’
Smith noted, however, that Sydney is largely unchanged.
‘There is a morning news show here called ‘Sunrise,’ which is comparable to the ‘Today’ show in the States, and they have extended their regular hours in the morning to report on the fires,’ he said. ‘But I have not noticed a change in the normal day-to-day pace of Australians.’
Students said they have learned that this year’s fires are worse than those that naturally occur annually.
‘These fires happen every year, and it’s how the bush rebuilds itself,’ College of Communication junior Colleen Canty said in an email.
Still, The Daily Telegraph reports that natural bush fires, which clear out brush and happen in rural areas, reach a fire danger index of 100 when they become uncontrollable; the recent fires in Victoria have reached an index of 400.
‘Every major broadcasting corporation is calling this national crisis the worst bushfire in Australian history, with the death count potentially stacking up to 300 or more,’ School of Management junior Bo Xu said in an email. ‘The crisis here is quite a big deal.
‘Although it is on a much smaller scale compared to the earthquake in China, the Indonesian Tsunami or Hurricane Katrina, the bush fire is a national disaster here in Australia,’ he said. ‘It saddens me that American media has such a low coverage on the issue.’
BU spokesman Colin Riley said BU is ready to deal with issues like the Victoria wild fires when they occur abroad.
‘The Office of International Programs deals with any international program in the same way,’ he said. ‘There are special procedures, and we are ready to implement them in any situation.’
Riley said there have been past situations during which BU students have been pulled from their positions abroad.
‘It’s an unfortunate reality that there are natural occurrences around the world that may impact specific programs, and the university is prepared to deal with this,’ he said.
Xu maintained that he and other students in Sydney feel safe.
‘I just want the BU community to know that everyone is safe here in Sydney, and while we are going to Victoria next week, we were told that the fires are far away enough not to affect us,’ he said.
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