Boolarra Bushfire

So... the bushfires.

Here's some links to news articles about them:
ABC.com.au - Vic blaze destroys homes as town runs out of water
The Age - Bushfires destroy Gippsland homes
The Australian - Huge bushfire threatens power line, coal mine in Victoria
News.com.au - Gippsland fire now within containment lines

The fires started late Wednesday afternoon. I was at work at the time, and the weather had just turned nasty - as in, 40° Celsius. Most of the grass and vegetation that had grown during rainy December last year had turned to kindling by this stage, so a bushfire was probably inevitable... though I was hoping that we'd see the summer out without having a fire this time.
A customer came in during the early evening, and said "Hey, it looks like there's a fire somewhere..." and I thought, "Oh, no..."

I took some photos from the front yard, and the edge of town. These were taken last Saturday at about 4.30pm, while the weather was still scorching hot, and the huge smoke cloud coming from the fire was still visible. It got worse over the next three hours, until the whole western section of the sky was covered in a sickly purple-orange haze. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of that because it was just too damn big to fit into 640x480 pixels...

It's taken about three days to get under control - fortunately, the weather has turned cooler again, but the wind has also picked up. During this time, the towns of Yinnar and Mirboo North also came under threat. When I popped in to work to get fuel, my co-worker told me that our town had been issued an alert for falling embers - I went straight back home and filled up some buckets to prepare. Luckily we didn't need them.

Boolarra was the worst hit, however - though no-one was killed, and the general township was spared, at least ten homes were destroyed by the blaze.
One of my friends from the mural project lives - or lived - out in Boolarra. Apparently, she has lost everything.
Her family had no time to grab anything of value - they just had to get out of there. When they came back, they found nothing recognisable. Their house was completely destroyed, as if it had never existed. The only thing they could identify was part of a stepladder.

I'm going to try and send her and her family something to help them get along. I know they'll be eleigible for emergency accommodation and relief packages, but what else can you offer someone who has lost their home and belongings?

This is crazy.
Even worse, there is suspicion that the fire was deliberately lit. If it was, the people who did it have yet to be caught.