Jaime Tomahawk
Nov 20th, 2006, 03:40:30 AM
Well....
I know other places get fires, but not on the scale Australia can get. Imagine if you will what my pretty backyard really is - a million hectares of trees that encourage fires and have oils that aid them burning (Gum trees breed with fires) , a drought that's been five years long so everything is tinderbox dry and tomorrow we have 50 kph winds from the west so it's going to be stinking hot and very dry - with a big blaze that's ready to make a run at the suburbs within 40 km. And we got a week of the worst fire weather coming, hot, dry, windy.
I'm taking a day or two off to finish fire preparations like cleaning up rubbish around the house, wetting down the lawns, cleaning gutters etc and preparing for ember attack, which makes a bushfire spread as fast and as quickly as it does. It's so serious that the fire brigaids are calling meetings of all Blue Mountain's residents to discuss what could happen. They dont do that unless it's serious.
I'm about as safe as it gets in the Blue Mountains, but that's not really a good thing - any house here could be in trouble if a fire gets a run on and goes for the suburbs.
I've organised for the cats to be shifted if it gets really bad, I'm selecting items that I need to take with me in case of the worst - which probably wont happen but... best to be prepared.
I would ask that prayers be with the hundreds of firefighters who will be between the homes and the flames in the next few days. It's so dry here I dont see how anyone can stop a fire the size of what's in the valleys now..... maybe we get a load of rain or something.
I'm not really worried, but I am keeping a wary eye on events in the next day or two.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fire-danger-for-blue-mountains/2006/11/20/1163871336771.html <---- I'm in the Lower Blue Mountains
I know other places get fires, but not on the scale Australia can get. Imagine if you will what my pretty backyard really is - a million hectares of trees that encourage fires and have oils that aid them burning (Gum trees breed with fires) , a drought that's been five years long so everything is tinderbox dry and tomorrow we have 50 kph winds from the west so it's going to be stinking hot and very dry - with a big blaze that's ready to make a run at the suburbs within 40 km. And we got a week of the worst fire weather coming, hot, dry, windy.
I'm taking a day or two off to finish fire preparations like cleaning up rubbish around the house, wetting down the lawns, cleaning gutters etc and preparing for ember attack, which makes a bushfire spread as fast and as quickly as it does. It's so serious that the fire brigaids are calling meetings of all Blue Mountain's residents to discuss what could happen. They dont do that unless it's serious.
I'm about as safe as it gets in the Blue Mountains, but that's not really a good thing - any house here could be in trouble if a fire gets a run on and goes for the suburbs.
I've organised for the cats to be shifted if it gets really bad, I'm selecting items that I need to take with me in case of the worst - which probably wont happen but... best to be prepared.
I would ask that prayers be with the hundreds of firefighters who will be between the homes and the flames in the next few days. It's so dry here I dont see how anyone can stop a fire the size of what's in the valleys now..... maybe we get a load of rain or something.
I'm not really worried, but I am keeping a wary eye on events in the next day or two.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fire-danger-for-blue-mountains/2006/11/20/1163871336771.html <---- I'm in the Lower Blue Mountains