Surfer Tom Backer Pic by Wayne Kopit
How clueless can a person be?
Well I was fairly clueless to how hard the RFS (NSW Rural Fire Service) and their team of volunteers work , let alone being right next to major bushfire and seeing it unfold firsthand in front of my own eye’s
The Monday night was a scare in its self as we (and everybody who else who lives in the Shoalhaven area) received automated phone calls from the RFS stating that Tuesday was going to have ‘catastrophic’ conditions with temps close to 40 degrees Celsius and howling NWN winds, and be prepared to evacuate when told too….wow…and received 2 text messages via my phone as well, well this was going to be serious! Was up early Tuesday morning and walked outside, no sign of fire or smell of smoke but it was already cooking outside and it was only 7am ! Had to meet a client in Nowra early so drove in thinking not much about it till I received a call from a mate asking if I was ready to evacuate and he was already packed and heading down to the water! Driving back down the Hwy towards home and everything was the norm on the road with no sign of smoke or RFS volunteers till about 12pm when the wind really started to blow and the next thing I could see was plumes of black smoke pouring from over the foothills behind where we lived and the buzz of helicopters who were just starting to water bomb the fire. Now it was starting to sink in about how serious this fire was and with the screaming WNW wind and heat , it was going to move real fast and it would no matter how many fire tankers they threw at it, there was no stopping it till it burnt its was thru to the ocean, taking Sussex Inlet and surrounds out with it in its path. Lucky for us the wind kept it on a path away and it wasn’t till 9pm Tuesday night that the cooler southerly finally hit us as predicted , much to the relief of the 13 plus RFS tankers and its teams of volunteer fire fighters who were on the ground trying to stop it crossing the hwy at Jerrawangala….a fairly sleepless night in our house as well! The next morning the RFS threw everything at it, 20 something plus tankers and crews, plus a stream of fix wing and chopper water bombers that never seem to stop flying over our house, absolutely incredible and all I can say is a big THANK YOU to these guys, I never realised how much work and time these blokes throw in and they are all volunteers leaving there own houses and jobs to fight these fires…it wasn’t till sunday morning that I had a chance to shake some hands of these fellas!
It’s now been over a week since this fire has started and the RFS has finally got a grip on it after it has burnt thru over 8500 acres of bush, with no property loss and now all we need is a few days of rain to really nail it…thanks again RFS!
Tuesday Afternoon
Wednesday morning
Friday
Sunday
Jerrawangala
Even my Drop Bears need some water to cool down
Clueless? say cheese Paul!
I was wondering whether any members of SCUMM might have been in the firing line of a fire and very relieved to hear that you survived ok. We live in a high fire risk area too so I can understand your gratitude for the awesome commitment of the volunteer firies!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate
DeleteMy father-in-law was the local Captain and Life Member of Dunmore Bush Fire Brigade and myslf was a volunteer when I was 15 and it all was a bit of fun back then. Have seen fires like this on the TV before and always from the safe distance of my lounge room...so when you are right there in the thick of it and seeing everything first hand....its been over a week and the fire is still smoking, the crews are still there working and the choppers are still buzzing, its not over yet! I saw the pics from my friends at Marg's when the fire ripped thru there a few years ago! Life in the bush eh?
G`day waka, glad to hear you`re ok. My sister lives at Basin View-havn`t spoken to her yet and only seen little bits on the news.
ReplyDeleteWe`ve only had 2 inches of rain since July,running out of dam & tank water to fight fires, pleanty of fires in National Parks due to low & mid level growth.
I have several friends here in the RFS and know many NSW professional Firies. My brother is an inspector at Port Macquarie.
The volunteers are a great organisation to be involved with, they do a lot of training and often put in money from their own pockets. Many have died and been injured protecting property.
Because of my health i can`t join but donate cash regularly.
P.S. Great pic of the volunteer giving water to the koala.
Thanks Mick
DeleteYour sister will be sweet over at the Basin, plenty of water surrounding her there! My mate down at Tassie is going thru 'no rain/empty tanks' pain like you, me thinks the whole of Oz is going to dry up and fry if we dont start getting some regular rain...the bear pics I pinched off the net and were from the devastating bush fires that went thru Victoria a few years back. Look after your self Mick and give us a yell and call in next time your down this way for a comp, always a room for you and the dogs!
About the bush on a lighter note.
ReplyDeleteOn acreage myself, a few weeks ago i saw a brangus cow in my carport. I was looking uphill and this thing looked huge, worried about it trampling my thong clad feet i approached carefully but it casually walked into my neighbours place.
I thought one of my neighbours fence must be down.
Checked my own fence first and there was a 10 inch wattle across it. The drought had weakened it and termites attacked the base.
Only took 2 hours to chop up the tree and fix the fence fortunately, it was 42 that day. The cow got home, fence is like new and i have some firewood for winter.
Starting to rain up north on a regular basis, must come south eventually.
Waka scary story and close call for you guys with that fire
ReplyDeletegreat story from the front lines
Im glad the fires missed all your homes thanks in part by those volunteers
your photos show just how close the fires were to you all the bear getting a drink from the firefighter is priceless
as is paul and his darth vader outfit!
Mate, the pucker valve was twitching duringthis event, as you know being surrounded by bush is a wonderful thing until this happens, I cant praise the local firies and volunteers enough they have and did a superb job. The blog is another ripper as usual, and as you know us SCUMM memebrs enjoy our weekend fun !!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMay the force be with you !!!! bahahahaha