I had an appointment at the hairdresser's at 9 this morning, and with a temperature forecast of 44, revised upwards from 43 degrees overnight, it seemed like a good plan to spend the rest of the day at home. Particularly after a night out last night at the cricket, when the Aussies lost their fifth one day match in a row, to the Black Caps.
Today's temperature and forecast high winds before a strong south westerly change later in the day, with extremely low humidity lead to bush and grass fires across Victoria in the hottest day on record. Melbourne reached 46.4, and 47 degrees was a common high across the state. When you get a combination of hot weather and strong winds like this, fighting fires becomes extremely dangerous: lessons learnt in past battles have lead to the safety of fire fighters as the first priority, with protection of homes as a secondary aim, and other assets coming a distant third. On a normal hot day, tankers can drive along the flank of a fire, dousing the flames, and while extremely uncomfortable, can be fought directly. Just to go outside for a few minutes during this afternoon was horrendous, I can only imagine how dreadful it was to be involved in this battle.
Today's extreme conditions have been so dangerous, that authorities can't even tell us how many houses have been lost. Noone knows at this stage whether lives have been lost, as may isolated properties are still unable to be checked. What we do know, is that more than eleven homes have been lost, a farmer has been hospitalised with 50% burns to his body and fires still rage in Gippsland and to the North of Melbourne.
Behind the scenes, thousands of volunteers give up hours of their time, to man fire stations, tankers and radios. Each time the fire network radio crackles, breaths are held, wondering: Is this the big one that we've all been waiting for.
In a strange kind of fatalism, those of us who have lived in regional Victoria understand the truth, that the thin veneer of civilisation and control over our Australian environment can be broken by a tiny spark. For years, we lived in the false, naive belief that our modern equipment and techniques could protect our homes and our lives from the ravages of bushfire, provided we were well prepared.
We now know that there are days when we are completely helpless, and that life is far more precious than possessions. Planning will, and must be done; for the thought of having done nothing cannot be countenanced. The ABC News website has more details.
This was a really touching post, mum, and made me all teary.