G'Day All,
Having some problems sleeping and headaches so I thought that it's a good time for an update on our local scene - or in other words "what the news media is not broadcasting".
Currently there are 30 Major Bushfires burning in the state of Victoria but the news media are only reporting on where the main deaths have occurred - that's okay, but its a lot worse than what's reported.
The fire near my home - Sunday night the fire was contained and the boys did a sterling job in saving several homesteads from burning. Monday afternoon we had a report that the fire flared up on the Southern flank and is now in a Blue Gum Plantation. Tuesday morning we then had reports that the Northern flank has also flared up by the strong winds and heading towards the SE corner of Bendigo where 50 homes have been lost. #$%@**^^
Our group consisting of 8 towns have been released from this fire and a group from Adelaide will be in taking over. Currently this fire has burnt 75,000 acres. It has been decided that our group needs 2 - 4 days rest as we are about to be deployed to NE Victoria in the Ovens and Kiewa Valleys near Beechworth to relieve the current crews. Beechworth is about 300 Kim's to the NE of Melbourne.
Fires ravaged this area 6 years ago when I was living in the Kiewa Valley. The fire at that time lasted 21 days, 21 days of living hell - that was before I became a Volunteer. That was the fire that changed my life and left a permanent imprint on my brain. According to Linda, I became a far better person after that fire but we never talk about it - or at least, I don't. I can remember to this day the night the fire peaked at about 3.00AM on Australia Day 2003. The mountain behind my home and less than 1 kilometer away, the flames breached the crest and the flames were twice the height of the Mountain Ash trees atop (these trees were at least 100 feet tall) including the noise that sounded like a freight train - believe me, you NEVER want to hear this sound.
To this day, I do not understand how my life and home were saved - I have no explanation - these fires burnt 1.4 Million Hectares .........and now it's back again.
I have been chosen to fight the fires in this area due of my local knowledge of the roads and tracks - after a fire has passed through, with landmarks gone, it's hard to tell exactly where you are. It's not the first time a fire truck got lost in a fire area..After those fires in 2003, most Victorian fire trucks have had GPS units installed. Really handy when a message comes over the radio asking what is your exact position....
Derek, my heart goes out to you with the loss of relatives here in Oz. I have friends (not related) that live in the Wondong and Kinglake areas that I have not heard from since Saturday. The news media has started putting photo's on the TV of people that have perished in the fires. I look at these pictures and pray that I DO NOT recognise anybody.
That's it for now, I will have another attempt at sleeping....Good Night and God Bless....
Martin