Tag: bush fires

Local Bushfires

Published on by conventandchapelLeave a comment
Taken at around 11.30pm last night.
Taken at around 11.30pm last night.

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.

At around 7.30am this morning.
At around 7.30am this morning.

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.

Water bombing helicopters out the back.
Water bombing helicopters out the back.

 

 

February Dragon in October

Published on by conventandchapelLeave a comment

I remember this book so clearly after reading it over forty years go. Now I’m in rural Australia, it has hit home much more closely how the fires impact on the people, lifestyles, countryside and wildlife. I’ve always cared but now being here, watching the news constantly, having to check RTA websites for road accesses and seeing the damage first-hand makes it so much more real – and it hasn’t hit my area yet.

The last week or so has been horrific. I’ve driven through two of the areas in the last week in-between fires. These are areas I have known for decades and have always been beautiful and scenic – places I would have loved to have live in. Now they are deeply scarred by fires. I can’t imagine the devastation felt by the home owners impacted.

I do know that the locals will rally and help people out as much as possible. I also now have a profound appreciation for the local fire services and the importance of their role – and how much we all rely on volunteer support for crises.

The reference to February Dragon was via a novel, that this was when the big fires could hit – at the end of torrid Summers. These fires have come to us well before Summer. We are just mid Spring, hence there is serious trepidation for many months to come.