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So when my time on earth is is done and St Peter escorts me to the gates of hell, I'll be well acclimatised after the last couple of days I've been through...
I thought we'd made it through the fire season. humidity was rising and we'd even had a couple of early showers.
Last Thursday arvo was declared a 'Total fire ban' because of extreme conditions expected. You might have similar in UK?
About 5pm I get the call from a property over in the east that a fire has started. Our district whatsapp group went red hot as everybody spread the news and got equipment together to get over there.
The fire was lurking up in a range that first evening and hard to get too. Most of us wanted the backburn into it that night, but the local property owners didn't want to and prefered to leave it until morning. After some crazy adventures early that morning, trying to backburn in daylight and rising winds only resulted in the fire jumping the breaks and getting away.
Three families had actual houses threatened by the fire and Territory Bushfires sent in five units and a helicopter to try and help protect them.
I retreated up the hill to my first fire break. I was on that firebreak 24 hours only leaving each time my water tank was exhausted and calling in a bushfires unit to hold the line in my absence.
My wife has currently travelled interstate to visit her family in Queensland so its just me and The Boy here. Bad time to travel as I could have used a second pair of hands...
While all neighbouring properties burned I held my boundary aided by the fact that the fire was hitting the break a section at a time, not the whole six kilometres. It did jump at one stage and burnt something like half an acre on the inside of my boundary, but luckily two bushfires units were arriving in to support me and we all drove into the bush chasing the fire front. But the wind dropped and miraculously we caught it and hosed it down. Luckily I had just returned from a refill run and was full.
I spent the whole night patrolling that boundary squirting out little fires or burning trees throwing embers. The nest morning the fire approached again from my northern boundary.
Even though my neighbours properties had been torched the day before, they all came up to assist me to backburn.
That did the job. But then I was left alone with a long firebreak to patrol with trees burning on the outer edge threading to throw embers in. I spent all night Saturday up and down the fireline.
Thats 36 hours fighting fire non stop.
Our property is the last unburned in the district but no cause for celebration. Thousands and thousands of animals are dead and high-value conservation habitats devastated.
People round here are in shock. Its the first fire to come through in five years. Our management strategy has protected us since then.
And it was purposely lit by somebody illegally entering a property and lighting a fire on a Total fireban day. Right now I'm still too tired to be angry...
Cheers Alan
I thought we'd made it through the fire season. humidity was rising and we'd even had a couple of early showers.
Last Thursday arvo was declared a 'Total fire ban' because of extreme conditions expected. You might have similar in UK?
About 5pm I get the call from a property over in the east that a fire has started. Our district whatsapp group went red hot as everybody spread the news and got equipment together to get over there.
The fire was lurking up in a range that first evening and hard to get too. Most of us wanted the backburn into it that night, but the local property owners didn't want to and prefered to leave it until morning. After some crazy adventures early that morning, trying to backburn in daylight and rising winds only resulted in the fire jumping the breaks and getting away.
Three families had actual houses threatened by the fire and Territory Bushfires sent in five units and a helicopter to try and help protect them.
I retreated up the hill to my first fire break. I was on that firebreak 24 hours only leaving each time my water tank was exhausted and calling in a bushfires unit to hold the line in my absence.
My wife has currently travelled interstate to visit her family in Queensland so its just me and The Boy here. Bad time to travel as I could have used a second pair of hands...
While all neighbouring properties burned I held my boundary aided by the fact that the fire was hitting the break a section at a time, not the whole six kilometres. It did jump at one stage and burnt something like half an acre on the inside of my boundary, but luckily two bushfires units were arriving in to support me and we all drove into the bush chasing the fire front. But the wind dropped and miraculously we caught it and hosed it down. Luckily I had just returned from a refill run and was full.
I spent the whole night patrolling that boundary squirting out little fires or burning trees throwing embers. The nest morning the fire approached again from my northern boundary.
Even though my neighbours properties had been torched the day before, they all came up to assist me to backburn.
That did the job. But then I was left alone with a long firebreak to patrol with trees burning on the outer edge threading to throw embers in. I spent all night Saturday up and down the fireline.
Thats 36 hours fighting fire non stop.
Our property is the last unburned in the district but no cause for celebration. Thousands and thousands of animals are dead and high-value conservation habitats devastated.
People round here are in shock. Its the first fire to come through in five years. Our management strategy has protected us since then.
And it was purposely lit by somebody illegally entering a property and lighting a fire on a Total fireban day. Right now I'm still too tired to be angry...
Cheers Alan
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Seems like yous guys over there have your work cut out for yous …. Let’s hope yous get some help from upstairs and it rains 
