I was going to save this post for another day, the first of December in fact, but with the raging fires in the beautiful south of our state right now, I bring it forward.
We've been preparing for fire season for a couple of months now. Clearing, mowing, firebreaks etc. As I write this, up to twenty homes were lost yesterday in the spectacular Margaret River region and over a thousand hectares of beautiful bush burned. For anyone that has been lucky enough to have visited this area, you will know how special it is. It is particularly close to my heart as I spent a great deal of my childhood there and lived in Gracetown for a while.
My heart goes out to all those affected directly and indirectly. Our never ending thanks to the wonderful 'vollies' who give up their time in training and preparation for things like this. My son has been on standby since this morning, eagerly awaiting his first 'real' call out. I'm not so eager for him! As he was talking to a friend of mine on the phone this morning, she had to go, she too had been called out. She lives about 140km from me in the Central Wheatbelt. Two years ago this Dec/Jan, her family (all volunteers) fought the terrible fires at Toodyay, thankfully no loss of life but dozens of homes burnt. I too once lived in this town.
Currently there is a fire burning about 25 km from us. It doesn't sound far, but we are very safe. In February this year, a large fire sparked by an angle grinder destroyed or damaged 104 homes. My son goes to school in Kelmscott and this affected them greatly. We have friends that didn't know for a couple of days whether they had a home or not.
It is only the start of the season, I am very worried for the coming months. That first smell of smoke sets alarm bells ringing.
On December 1st, it will be two years that we also had a close call. It started just like any other day. Monday morning, a forecast temperature of around 27 degrees, an absolutely beautiful day and also my DD's year twelve graduation in the evening. We were shopping at the closest shopping centre - maybe 15 km away - when my DH rang. He wanted to know where I was and suggested I return home immediately and get the bore sprinklers on. Our next door neighbour had phoned him stating a fire had started on their block and it was heading towards us. With my daughter and littlest in tow, we left immediately. By the time I was in the shopping centre car park I could hear the fire engines. Maybe six minutes later we were on the highway and the sight we came across I will never forget. The plumes of black smoke billowing into the air as we drove towards home was terrible. I remember saying to her, that's our place burning - there were maybe a few expletives in there!! By the time we were at the top of our street, it was full of cars, residents and volunteer fire brigades and of course the never ending rubber neckers (those just having a sticky beak). I couldn't get near our place. My friends husband was already there and offered to go and put the sprinklers on. At the same time, DH turned up and went straight by. Together they did what they could with hoses and the bore. It was hours before I knew if we still had a house. The smoke was so thick, we could hear things exploding and everytime I asked anyone, they said the smoke was too thick to tell. I will never forget how helpless I felt standing on the side of the road waiting.
At the end of the day, we were very lucky. We lost nearly all of the back of our property, at the front the house, shed and chook pen survived. For months the kids had moaned and groaned about having to rake, cut and clear the outskirts of our building envelope. It was this that had saved our property. Embers had travelled over the house to the other side but because we had put so much time into preparation, they didn't have a chance to really catch on. I will never underestimate the importance of preparing for fires each and every year. We are so lucky to have what we have, but with it comes a responsibility. The fire started from a ride on lawn mower next door. These are no longer allowed to be in use when fire conditions are extreme or catastrophic, and it is recommended that all ride on mowers be equipped with fire extinguishers.
The seven fire brigades that travelled and attended the fire were fantastic. Without these volunteers we would have lost everything. I have written about community and looking after each other before, it saddens me that community spirit is getting lost along the way in so many places.
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| This little fella managed to survive. We found him in a burnt out tree that was still smouldering. At first we thought he was dead but he was very much alive!! |
We ended up going to DD graduation night. My sister and her family offered to stay on for us. The fire crews stayed until well into the night and were back the next day. A passing neighbour actually put out a small fire that had re-ignited the following morning, she spotted it as she rode by on her push bike.
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| After only two months there was abundant signs of new life! |
This was traumatic enough for me, I can't imagine losing everything, I feel so much for those that have.
I hope if you live in fire prone areas you are all prepared and have emergency plans in place. I'm quite sure that most of you would take this quite seriously, as we do.
Wishing you a safe day :)
