(Good morning everyone, Eha is our guest Un-Blogger today. As a child she emigrated from Estonia to Sydney on a big ship and now later in an eventful life she is living in a part of Australia that is smouldering with fires. She wrote this for us when she was in the midst of an horrific fire last week, in fact she had her bag packed and at the door in case of evacuation. Over to you Eha. c)
The sirens heralded the disaster. An ambulance? No, there were a series of ululating sounds one after the other and a view out of my window showed long rows of fire trucks racing up the road. The time: Thursday 17th October; the place: the beautiful Southern Highlands south of Sydney; the day: hot, dry and windy . . . the bush had exploded.
Cold shivers ran down my spine ~ I had been there before! Little did I know the same was happening all along the NSW coast and across the Blue Mountains west of Sydney? The city was totally surrounded by fire . . . one of the largest had started about 10 km SE of my community. Ten days later my ‘backyard’ blaze has burnt out some 16000 hectares in a conflagration now affecting some 11 villages and stretching some 40 kilometres. So far this is the worst natural disaster we have faced in fifty years. Our bushfire season normally begins late November and lasts to March ~ Quo Vadis?
Celi had just trusted me to fill in for her on one of the mornings she is to be in California . . . what other scenario could I present to the Fellowhip?
What is ‘bush’ strangers ask. It is an iconic word for us to denote the vast areas of land outside urban development and cultivated land. Oft covered with dense vegetation or undergrowth it is our ‘forest’ with gums or eucalypts being the predominant tree.
These can be hauntingly beautiful but also one of the deadliest trees in the world. They spread from the coast as far inland as vegetation grows . . . we are the ‘dry continent’ after all with 80% of us living within a two hour drive of the sea. The land being oft quite dramatically rugged much cannot be cultivated and thus this bush, including national parks and water catchment areas, almost reaches into suburbia. The terrain is oft quite inaccessible . . . when a fire starts it oft has to burn itself out . . .
A bushfire needs fuel, lack of rain, heat and wind. We had a record breaking warm winter with no rain since June. Hence the gums shed leaves and sheets of bark to carpet the ground. The gums are full of explosively flammable oil. That is the fuel. We oft have a spate of 100 C days in early spring, but October this year has broken all existing records. Hot, wild gales blow from the ‘Red Centre’ followed by line squalls from the Southern Ocean, oft at 100 km speeds.. If a fire begins it may move much faster than a man can run and gain momentum. It can cross wide roads and creeks and jump gulleys. The fire and heat are but some of the problems – smoke inhalation kills more than the flames and the myriads of embers which may move kilometres ahead rob the air of oxygen and start new spot fires to grow.
The spark? I wish I could say lightning or household accidents: well, the biggest this time was caused by army exercises!! But most often they are caused by man ~ a careless flick of a cigarette butt or the sick actions of juveniles playing God! Three of the main conflagrations were started by 11 – 15 year olds who will all ‘get off’ !!!
So, how do we fight nature? Especially if we want to live in the bush as an increasing number of urban folk do? With vigilance and an indomitable spirit methinks! The state of NSW has the world’s largest rural fire service. The administration is paid: the70,000 proud volunteers are not. When the bush bursts into flame they leave farms, shops and offices, don their heavy garb and go on incredibly long, hot and dangerous shifts! Often whilst their own homes burn!!
Once they remove helmets you see teenagers, so many females and so much grey hair!! Mateship whilst the community needs you! Oh, mates from all other states have joined us: some 800 in all! The rural fire service has concise free educational programmes and wonderful media coverage. A warning phone call is issued as a fire front approaches ~ the police doorknock whenever possible. Each house is checked. So many thousands of hectares have so far been burnt and hundreds of families have lost their homes ~ there have been only two deaths: a heroic helo pilot and a guy who succumbed to a heart attack.
I must have seen dozens of interviews . . . barely a tear! Usually it has been ‘It’s OK, mate! Got the wife and kids out! And the photos! Even the dog and cat . . . heck, mate : it was only a house! We’ll rebuild!!’ With their indomitable spirit they will!!
| … Eha |
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111 responses to “Living in the Land of Flood and Fire . Guest post by Eha.”
Eha, what a breath taking post! Although I have been lucky enough not to have been that close to one of these ‘out of control’ fires, we do get them here in the US as you know. I volunteered for the Red Cross a few years ago and was part of a local shelter when our mountains caught fire. It was heart breaking to talk to families as they came into the shelter worried about their homes etc. Back then we didn’t have the facilities for animals and several people refused to come to the shelter and leave their animals behind. this was never more highlighted than when Katrina hit, as several people refused to evacuate without their animals. Now the services (FEMA, Red Cross etc.) understand that peoples animals are as important part of the family as anything else, and where possible make provisions for them.
I do hope you and your family are safe and remain so for the rest of the ‘fire’ season.
Hugs
Hello Lyn ~ yes, in preceding years I have seen more than a few of your forest/wildfires on TV . . . would you believe we once even sent a planeload of our ‘firies’ to help with a huge California one. Methinks I saw [and am still seeing!] as many animal stories as human ones. Some of the evacuation places have special areas for families with pets. Also there are a number of centres especially set up for both family pets and larger animals such as horses. And these are free . . .
You took me into the interiors and situations of bush fire. I saw the thick smokey haze covering the city and really terrified and skeptical if this would end. Kudos to volunteers. I wish they could get some compensation for their work.. Great courage !
Rhema: unfortunately this episode is far from an end as due to today’s weather extremities many fires rekindled and oh so many new ones, some potentially very dangerous, began their fearful growth. Unfortunately two pretty close to me . . . the smoke even managed to creep indoors. I live alone . . . that does not make one comfortable for sure!!
Thanks so much for your post. Hopefully you are keeping safe. I hate to think of the Blue Mountains being consumed by fire. The photos are amazing.
Dear Nruit ~ Well, I sure did not feel safe thru’ today – but the cool change and wind quietening for the night are making me reasonably comfortable talking to you at nearly 11pm 🙂 ! Hate to tell you there is a new fire begun by arsonists in Blackheath in the Blue Mts, but I think they have it under reasonable control. So still four there – bummer!
That indominatable spirit is amazing and part of our national psyche. And fire is so aribary, destroys one house and leaves the property next door intact. Like you I am a migrant and not confident about fire in a way that those that are born here seem to know about fires and also the sea with its dangerous rips. However the last few years have been very educational, to leave or to stay and “defend”that is the big question? A few yea
After the bush saturday fires in Victoria we all had to get better with fire, no excuses. I went onto the NSW RFFS and did a fire plan. I read about what is needed to “stay” such a small word, such a huge commitment. What I read terrified me. The noise, the heat, the smoke and the total loss of sense of place that occur in a fire. I for one have chosen to leave, I have made a decision to leave on days that are “catastrophic” maybe even before I am told to go. I only hope that there is time for someone to tell me to go.
This must have been a scary time for you, thank you for yor honesty in posting at a time when most of us would be, to use another indomnitable Aussie phrase, shitting ourselves!
And last of all, thanks to all of those amazing voluntary firefighters, so good to know you are there.
With the State of Emergency still on I think the Powers that are can make us leave, turn off the electricity to avoid ‘fire in the wire’ etc. I had been mostly a city girl until I moved here and knew little fear until ten years ago the fire came within 100 metres of my home late on Christmas night . . . I’ll never forget the embers, the noise, the smoke and the police screaming into their bullhorns. Two days evacuation followed by three weeks of not seeing the house opposite because of brown smoke: this is when I grew afraid for all time. Yes, I too would go . . . and I might be close at times to the other too 🙂 !
I am glad to know you will leave if you need to, take care, and thanks again for this amazing post.
I can’t begin to imagine the fear and even anger at times. Where does one go when the world around is in flames? Do take care.
If one wants to live in the country one has to make peace with it: the Australian Bush has to regenerate every so often and it does so by fire . . . we are the ‘invaders’ and we have to respect the power of nature . . . I DO fear but I am not angry and methinks all of us try and take care! Thank you for your comment . . .
a wise understanding, and a healing one. Namaste
And namaste to you . . .
Thinking positive thoughts that any fire will pass by your door and leave you unharmed. I am about to face my first cyclone season in northern Queensland, and like you, it’s stay and batten down the hatches, or pack up and head for the hills if a big one comes our way. Screaming winds and horizontal flooding rain is bad enough, but fire is just plain scary, and I wouldn’t be you for quids. Stay safe.
Hello Kate: I am not sure about THAT choice!! I have lived up north altho’ Category 2 was probably the worst I copped. That too was scary. And the Bureau of Meterology has been making predictions I would rather not believe about N Qld this season. So lets make a bargain: I’ll keep fingers, toes and all else crossed for you and when you hear that south of Sydney is aflame, you do the same for me! All the very best for summer!!!
Oh my gosh! I’m speechless; which is not something I’m known for. I’m feeling all weepy for your friends and community. What terrific Dunkirk spirit you all posses. It makes me feel that everything I face is rather trivial, and compared to your situation, it is. Please do take care Eha and stay safe.
Thank you Veronica ~ we have our wonderful ‘firies’ to take care of us: you can see them in action on photo 3! Would you believe, since all of this began just a few weeks back, 4000 [four thousand] new applications have been received to join the Rural Fire Service: please remember they are unpaid volunteers! It is due to them that whilst some 400 buildings have been affected and countless hectares burned down, only two persons have lost their lives!
Thank you for putting together an eye-opening post at a time when you must have had a lot of concerns. Just reading your post puts things into sharp perspective. Take care over there,
Kim
Hello Kim ~ In this instance I am really just an in situ reporter! Tonight I am so worried for friends who are very much closer to the conflagrations because of today’s new fires, in one case possibly to lose her livelihood. I can take always take a small case and run 🙂 ! [OK, 6 hours back looking at the brown smoke not so far away, I was scared!!!]
thank you Eha for such a wonderful account of the tragedy happening in Australia..even better than I have seen and read on the news…
There can be no doubt that the Aussie Spirit is indominable..always prepared to pick up the pieces and start again.
People who have lost their home and belongings are grateful that at least their pets were saved.
The men and women, old and young who volunteer to fight these fires…without pay…and risking their own lives to save others…
Yet the people who started the fire get away scot-free….can this be right?
Thank you Eha for such a wonderful descriptive piece of writing…Celi has chosen well !
Eha, thank you for this incredible window into the conflagration. Stay safe, my friend. I will be thinking of you. I visited Australia many years ago and it is truly one of the most magnificent and fierce lands….with incredibly pragmatic and strong people. xo
Natalia – I am so glad I decided to check the blog once more: all of a sudden a number of blogfriends have appeared from seemingly nowhere ~ you were not ‘there’ earlier. Thank you for your good wishes . . . Dorothea MacKellar wrote about Australia:
I love her far horizons I love her jewel sea
Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!
I guess ‘terror’ is part of the given in the equation . . .
Oh Eha, my heart goes out to you and all your country. Your words and pictures brought back the very vivid feelings of our central Texas fires a little over two years ago. We are all still healing, rebuilding… getting on. Thank you for taking the time to share your world with us. It turns out we all seem to have similar experiences… makes me really appreciate and cherish “normal.”
Hello Virginia ~ Nature and its furies affect every corner of the globe I know . . . Australia just happens to be the most fire prone country in the world . . . actually our southern state of Victoria takes that dubious ‘honour’! I am just so afraid that this very early start to the bushfire season here will lead to a fearful summer unless an equally early monsoon up north sends bucketloads of rain very soon! And I for one would be absolutely terrified to live in the US Tornado Alley!!
Thank you for the words I do not deserve! Today a new fire began at Blackheath in our beautiful Blue Mts west of Sydney: by tonight it was known two separate fires had been criminally begun there. So often youngsters are the ones who seem to need the power they get by these sick deeds. They go before Children’s Court and we are not allowed to ‘follow’. But if they are under 15, I think, nothing seems to happen to them. I may not know enough. The Fire Srvice and Police work v closely together, yet these sickening episodes keep recurring . . .
The above was for misswhiplash . . . my computer obviously does not like bushfires either!!
Good grief, that looks frightful! Your pictures are amazing, and very scary. Please stay safe….leave if you need to and God bless! Hoping for cooler weather for you this coming week!
Hello Nancy ~ Cooler weather just in but the winds will be up again tomorrow! Actually the pictures I could have sent to Celi after some of today’s new fires would have pipped these by a long shot!! If no rain we are in for a horrible summer!!! Thank you for your wishes!!
Thank you for your post and for giving others a glimpse of what bushfires can be like to live through. Touch wood, we have not had a big one up here in Far Northern NSW lately, but the conditions are ripe for it. It is tinder dry up here and we’ve had plenty of hot, windy days with a hot dry summer forecast. Having a plan is easy to say but what about the animals? We think we have all bases covered with cleared paddocks around the house paddock and water in the dams etc., but there would be much to try and get done if a fire was imminent. Our cows would have to be let out, including the farm animals and pets of absent owners along the road, the chookies have to be let out to take their chance (although given time I could get the 8 of them in the car (with the goldens – pandemonium ) and the budgies in the aviary it would take time to net them. If released the local kookaburras would get them for sure. The wildlife too – we have many wallabies here who would not be able to escape the speed of the the fires we’ve seen recently and, of course, our beloved koalas who can very quickly climb a tree, but are very slow on the ground. My hubby is a volunteer with the local bush fire brigade and recently travelled down to the Blue Mountains to help along with many others from this area. Some volunteers drove over from South Australia – 3 days drive in their fire trucks. Now they are saying old power lines are to blame for some of the fires. Joy
Joy ~ thank you for your absolutely wonderful description of what it is would be like to face a bushfire on a proper farm. I live in a tiny village at the edge of a National Park and don’t have your worries! I hope everyone carefully reads your post, already for the fact of your husband’s part in helping fight the Blue Mts blazes. God’s blessings on people like him! You know one guy came from WA! And 600 from Victoria!! Yes, there have been quite a few discussions about ‘fire in the wire’ and whether electricity simply should be cut off in certain weather conditions.
Thanks for sharing this story with us. I had a friend in Tasmania who also experienced a season of fires. I admire your spirit . Please stay safe.
Thank you: the big Tasmanian fires were only at the beginning of this year . . .that island in the Roaring Forties usually is safe . . . I don’t think we have any options about ‘spirit’: you either get on with it or come apart at the seams. Our poor Blue Mountains, still burning, already had a street parade and huge party last Saturday!!