A few weeks ago, we had snow. This week it was bush fires.

It was shortly after some friends and I retired inside after a lovely balmy night eating alfresco (and after providing treats to many of the Kandos kids for Halloween, which was great fun), that a neighbour called to warn me. There was a fire blazing on the escarpment out the back of my place, ‘Old Baldy’ to be precise.

I’ve been near bush fires before when living on the North Shore in Sydney but somehow being in the country makes it much more concerning. Even though distances may be similar, the space between dwellings and fires is mostly bush with few houses. It’s easy to understand why the local fire services are held in such high esteem in the country.

Although many locals (including us) were involved in Rylstone StreetFeast the next day, most locals had an anxious late night watching the fire flare up from a small blaze and then quieten down after 1pm. The area was inaccessible and it wasn’t until daylight that the water bomber copters could go in to quell the blaze.

Anyway, fortunately it seems under control now and since being home from StreetFeast, I have now become attuned to the non-stop whir of the choppers as they continue to douse the flames. I’m sure the local fire services were one of the community beneficiaries from StreetFeast today and richly deserve local support.