"At least 25 dead" according to media reports!

That's a lot for a bushfire. I understand that they can come on fast, but I'd be questioning the evacuation procedures given the death toll. It's not like fires in California are unprecedented.

Also not sure of the history of the fire - whether it was a fire that had been burning for a while then took off when conditions worsened or sprung up on the day. There have been situations in Australia where small fires burn for weeks then explode when the wind and temperature gets up - whereupon they spend millions of dollars throwing everything at it but still lose houses and lives. Would seem more sensible to look at the weather report and spend the million bucks putting it out before the horror conditions arrive.