My Lamma Forums

[zep]

Another successful grave-sweeping day. That is, if you want your ancestors to roast in Hell. Virtually the whole of the vegetation cover on Pak Kok Shan has been destroyed by fire. Can nobody stop these maniacs?

[Alan]

[zep]

Here are some pictures of the graves where the fire appears to have started. The can full of burned papers looks very much like the "smoking gun." Maybe the owners of this grave would like to pay for reforestation of the affected area?



Other graves in the affected area included these:

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[Guy MIller]

Not having seen yr pics, which I eagerly await, I may have to differ with yr assumption, & may have the smoking gun itself

[Guy Mlller]

But in the meantime - before & after images.

First one, last week, is of a flower I hadn't previously seen, just opening in the early morning sun.
Second image in roughly the same spot.

[zep]

Scary. The flower looks like a passion flower. I saw a number of the (edible) fruits a couple of days ago.

[Guy Mlller]

Zep...... no pics yet?

[Guy Mlller]

Attached is a picture of the SW slope of Pak Kok Shan.
Not having seen Zeps pictures, I am assuming the graves referred to are in the mid left of this picture, with all the devastation of the hillsides being to the N & E of the the gravesites.

Having gone there today & with the wind direction being SWesterly, blowing from the direction of Aberdeen & Stanley, (and presuming it was similar yesterday) it would suggest the gravesites were at the end of the fires life as opposed to the beginning.
Also having spoken to somebody from Pak Kok who said the helicopter was dropping water as the flames got nearer to the Power Station road, it would tend to support that suggestion - Also the lighter grey area (top left of picture) might be where the water was dropped & helped to halt the progress of the flames.
Thus leading one to believe the fire was started to the right of the puctured scene

[Guy Mlller]

If one then follows a path in between the 2 main hills (in the direction of Aberdeen).

[Guy Mlller]

And still further along, but downhill from the previous picture
You can see how the fire line is just up slope a couple of feet from the path.

If the fire was fanning in the direction of the path it would have at least burnt down to the path - but the wind was blowing uphill !!!
Fires find it easier to burn uphill or in the wind direction.

Last week this path was very overgrown & in places very difficult to pass.

[Guy Mlller]

Then about 20m past the burn area the path becomes a lot more passable & there are a couple of graves there.
This area is hardly at all overgrown in front of the graves - possibly where they have been cleared of shrubs in previous years.

[Guy Mlller]

So retracing ones footsteps along the path, you can see more clearly how the fire line follows the contour of the path.

[Guy Mlller]

And lo & behold, just above the fire line is a piece of wood (underside showing) that is only burnt at one end despite being wholly in the burn area.
The path is shown in the left of the picture.

[Guy Mlller]

A closer look at the piece of wood

[Guy Mlller]

The area where the graves are & the piece of wood are in the most NEasterly area of the "burn", and bearing in mind the wind direction & the slopes would tend to suggest this was where the fire started, or at least where the last part of the "setting" (if that is the case) took place.

Also on checking around the graves nearest & now easily accessible, which had no signs of being visited recently (no cigarette ends, litter etc), could lead one to believe the area was scorched & made more easily accessible for an impending visit.

That's if anybody apart from Zep is interested of course.

[zep]

Very elegant theory, Dr. Watson. My main problem with it is that I was sitting at the top of Mt Panorama watching the progress of the fire, and it came from the opposite direction, i.e. from the direction ot Pak Kok. Shortly after 3 p.m. I could see the fire spreading up from the left to the right of your first photo(#9930). The grey area just seems to be a lot of ash in the gulley, where the vegetation was thicker than on the bare slopes.

I think I have a photo showing the fire still not having reached the path as it spread up from the left - I'll check tomorrow. I eventually walked over to Pak Kok Shan made my way up the path but was turned back by the firemen.

Who are the Chow family whose names appear on these graves? What is their story?

[Guy MIller]

I'm think yr observations are explainable, but I shall take a walk up there tomorrow morning just to make sure.

I'll keep an eye out for Chow relatives & if I see them I'll ask them.

[zep]

Here are three pictures of the fire last Friday. The first one shows the fire moving over from left to right on the picture, i.e. from the direction of the cable road. The second is a bit later, with the fire spreading, in spite of the wind blowing in the opposite direction, which can be seen in the smoke. Note too the black kites hovering for some tasty cha siu. In the third picture, the wind did cause renewed fire down a gulley which had been missed by the earlier spread

[Guy Mlller]

Can understand what you are suggesting.
However....

Looking at your first picture, it confirms (from the smoke direction) that the wind was blowing towards Pak Kok, but that the fire is spreading against the wind. But having reached the ridge is having a harder time burning down hill.

What yr picture does not show is the area shown in (my) #9936, which is below the ridge in the foreground of your first picture.
Also you can't see any of that area from Mt. Panorama (see attached picture # 0097)

The way I see it is that the fire (was) started below that first ridge & spread along the gulley (out of sight) in the direction of the graves in the pictures shown by you at the beginning of this forum, fanned by the wind.
At the same time it moved up the hill towards the ridge in the background (#0097), partly by the wind & partly by burning uphill.
Having reached that first ridge it burned down the other side a little, but generally moved west towards yr graves & Pak Kok.

As the fire moved closer to the graves along the gully (fanned by the wind) it started burning up Pak Kok Shan & on a broader front towards Pak Kok, until it was stopped by heavier foliage nearer the Power Station Road & the helicopter drops.
The fire continued burning up Pak Kok Shan because of the incline & over the ridge, which is where it was at the time of yr photos.

Having revisited the area today, am still convinced the fire (was) started in the area shown in my latest picture.
Going back to picture #9936, my suggestion is that the fire (was) started along the path shown, the torch instrument (#9935), was held at arms length, along about a 50m stretch of that path, & then was discarded into the burn area, on the assumption that it would burn.

The person, if that is the case, that started the fire then left the area, but failed to notice the "torch" did not burn & was left exposed as previously described.

Any more compelling?

[Alan]