Someone has developed a not-for-profit website to facilitate temporary housing for victims of the fires. I haven’t had time to check it out myself, but it’s via a trustworthy IRL source. He says:
A friend of mine has been involved over the past week in developing a not-for-profit website to facilitate temporary housing for victims of the fires. It’s up and running (three cheers for agile web development!) and available at:
They are looking for people to offer up a spare room/bed/couch through the site, and are promoting the service by word of mouth – please spread the word!
Also, John Quiggin’s donation thread is continuing through the weekend. My donation recommendations are here and here.