It would be quite felonious to argue that Aboriginals did not have any assets; it is 2009, although it is obvious that some people’s intellectual capacity has reached rock bottom, not everyone has surrender to Primitive idiocy.
Many people perished in cars because of the intensity and speed of the fire; If Man cannot escape in Machines , how the hell do you think anyone or thing could escape ;- this is so , because of the Criminal negligent laws PASSED by your government to appease a minority of Lobotomized Idiots, and the brainwashed Cosmo Lobotomized snotty nosed morons .
In turn, prevent anyone, or Authority to do anything to prevent it.
The fact that the temperatures released was 26 times more radiation than Hiroshima Atomic detonation, is the prize winning assumption of how much fuel was on the floor.

It will not matter if a house is burnt down or not, the Intensity from NOW on , and well off into the future , fires will ensure that there will be vast horizons of dead baron wastelands; - poetic justice then, it matches the Greens theory not only anti Human , it kills off and makes nature redundant.A new definition of National Geographics.
Nothing ,or No one would escape that.

The sheer ignorance about the bush and bushfires is underlined by may of these posts.
In a fire like the Vic ones create their own wind and can and do blow embers up to a kilometre. In many house burns it’s the embers that burn houses!

Therefore clear areas alone won't necessarily save houses. SA Hills houses in the Cherry Garden/Corromandel (rain shadow and regular fires) after “the big Hills burn” had extra building requirements mandated. Boxed guttering, roof sprinklers independent water, Double Glazing, shutters to mention a few. Perhaps bunkers should be added. Sure it cost more to build there but if you couldn't afford to build in those safety features then you couldn't "afford"(too dangerous) to live there.

As I've said before there is no one culprit or solution that will solve the issue.

I could point to those recalcitrant residents who refuse to move with the times and store their winter fire wood, build chicken coops, dump their prunings, park derelict cars in firebreaks behind their houses (as have occurred near my home) some have even fenced them off to stop people going behind their houses! And become violent when made to clear it up. Their argument is that these areas won’t stop fire…of course not they’re access to defend their houses.

It should be noted the SES/council/fire brigade organized a fire information afternoon because of the proximity to high fire loaded bush and drought…no body came. The attitude that Fire protection is Somebody Else’s Problem….councils Government bodies, Greenies (usually far end extremists) and fire Bugs. Yet raise their taxes/rates to pay for it and then listen to the screams. But a new performing arts centre, a settler museum or improvements to a sporting field etc….well!
Every environment has its costs and risks. Be aware, properly prepare or pay the price. Wake up Australia fire protection is down to all of us after all this is a country that has evolved to burn. Too busy is not an excuse it’s an epitaph

Roger you said! "The second requirement is for the owner-occupiers of land to realize that they own the fuel and thus the fire that burns that fuel" Well Roger, resident owners do not always have control over vegetation or its offspring,the fuel load on their property. Local councils and their state government masters prescribe environmental bylaws,local laws,statutory instruments which ban,outlaw and further restrict the owners maintenance and safe management of their homes where native vegetation is present, even if the vegetation is planted and produced by the owners .

I am amazed at the armchair environmentalist's who try to slate the blame to the property owners and in another issue, lobby state and local councils to prescribe no selective clearing and prescriptive controls over other residents property to selfishly protect their views.

Mikk,
Aboriginal people had many assets that they carefully protected with their use of fire that they evolved over their 40-60,000 years of living in Australia. Those assets were their food sources, animals for many products such as skins and bones, medicinal plants, bark of certain trees for canoes or utensils, clean water supplies, and the list goes on (not forgetting their own lives and those of their families and tribal members). Many of these assets were very different to what so many Victorians have sadly lost in the fires, but they were essential assets nonetheless.
Roger, Good article; keep it up.