School baulks at fire refuge tree clearing

THE Education Department has renewed the controversy over Victoria's response to bushfire risks by ordering 27 primary schools in the Dandenongs and Yarra Valley to clear trees from their grounds.

Brumby gives permission to cut around council laws as fire season looms

HOME owners will get increased powers to clear trees and other vegetation from their properties under a controversial move to prepare the state for another horror bushfire season.

Australian Furniture Champion Bows Out

MELBOURNE furniture maker Nicholas Dattner began championing Australian redgum a quarter of a century ago at a time when it was regarded only as good firewood.

In A Spin: Newcastle Thrower Makes First Olympic Team

CHOPPING firewood is never a fun task, but one way to get out of it is to have your name read out on national radio as the latest member of the Australian Olympic athletics team.

Nepalese Struggle To Save A Dwindling Vital Resource

THE line of figures trudging along beside their firewood-laden bicycles stretches as far as the horizon on this dusty Nepalese back road.

Nepal's Precious Forests Are Going Up In Smoke

THE line of figures trudging along beside their firewood-laden bicycles stretches to the the horizon on this dusty Nepalese back road.

For Melburnians, The Price Of Wood Now Burns A Hole In The Pocket

Keeping the home fires burning is proving harder and more costly than ever, says Barry Horrigan, one of Melbourne's traditional firewood merchants.

Forest Crackdown On Firewood Collectors

PEOPLE who pick up sticks in state forests are in for a shock. A crackdown is under way to stop the illegal collection of firewood.

Stacks Of Wood, But Most Of It In The Wrong Place

A bumper farming crop season, wet weather and the GST could affect supply Melbourne firewood supplies this year.

Up In Smoke: Bulldozed In Queensland, Burnt In Sydney

Landclearing in Queensland is becoming the major supplier of Sydney's quality firewood.

Too Many Blinkered And Blinded

IT was late in the afternoon at the show at Briagolong, a day's hard ride from the mouth of the Snowy River, and there was a chill in the air. The freshly cut firewood had all been sold, the beer was running low, too, and the pony rides were packing up. Wisps of smoke were drifting up from the litt

Firewood Sale Caught On Tape

A MAN accused of murdering two men and burning their bodies in sand dunes was allegedly videotaped buying large bundles of firewood on two consecutive nights last August. A Newcastle Supreme Court jury heard yesterday that the man, Kevin Naismith, was allegedly filmed on a security surveillance c

Blacks Court World Spotlight

SYDNEY It's a world away from the Sydney that Olympic Games organisers want to portray. Twenty Aborigines living in 16 tents, surrounded by a couple of old sofas, a motorised tricycle, a VW Kombi van, piles of dried firewood and a host of other items of less obvious use, such as an upside-down

Firewood Could Be A Serious Business

The expansion of plantations on farm land specifically to grow firewood is the subject of a business plan released by the Victorian National Parks Association. The plan, entitled Firewood Business - the Business of Growing Firewood for Profit in Victoria, outlines a scenario in which 2000 hectar

Shed Fire Investigated

FIRE destroyed a shed containing firewood in Bourke St, Maitland, yesterday morning. Firemen, police and ambulance officers were called to the fire, which broke out in the small workshop about 9.50am. A Newcastle fire command spokesman said Forensic Services Group police were investigating the ca

Camper Caught

A West Wollongong man arrested for high-range drink-driving told police he was looking for firewood. Nowra Local Court heard Aaron Owen Domel, 20, of Reserve St, was stopped for a random breath test in Kangaroo Valley. He returned a blood alcohol reading of .185. Domel said he was camping

Communities Pay For Coal Price Cuts

I agree with your Opinion (MercuryAE Dec 22) on the pain of coal price cuts. It is now more expensive to buy a tonne of firewood or topsoil than it is our coal. Our people have borne the brunt of industry restructuring giving the owners greater flexibility and profits. You are right when you s

Better...better Get A Bucket

A HINT of freshness on the southern breeze, A blush of colour on the falling leaves, New-season apples for two, These foolish things...remind me to get the sick bucket. For most people, the cooler weather signifies the beginning of autumn, a time for chopping firewood, of simmering soup

Cosy Charm And Romance By The Truckload

A RAMBLING, old bus depot at Robin Parker's Hampton Wood Yard is choking with stacks of different firewood. From now until October, hundreds of people will walk out of the yard with bags of boxwood, red gum or mallee roots to fuel up their roaring log fires. Mr Parker, who has operated the yar

Execution Theory On Bullet-riddled Body

A 26-year-old man whose body was found in dense bush near Warburton last month could have been executed, police said yesterday. Detective Inspector Paul Sheridan, of the homicide squad, said a person looking for firewood found the bullet-riddled body of Doan Sanh Tran, also known as Peter Tran,