Sunday 23 December 2012

tis the season

Tis the season for bush fires in Australia.
A little busy over the last 4 days...but not getting ready for Christmas.

One of my worst nightmares came true last Wednesday night when we had a call at midnight to say there was an out of control bushfire on our property.. Started by a lightening strike.

Of course we were in Newcastle at a wedding, so drove all night arriving at 5.15 am ready to do battle.
Shocked to see our hill in the distance all aglow in the dark.....a bit like overdone Christmas lights!

Luck was with us and a shower or rain had dampened the fire so the process of extinguishing hot spots and containing the fire continued until after midday on Thursday... Satisfied that all was well everyone went home.

Mr floss and myself went back to check the fire at 4pm and it was off and running again....THAT was scary!....And our neighbours in the rural fire service all turned up again....( a fantastic group of volunteers)... This time bringing in the big guns...Planes to bomb the fire...They were incredible, dropping a foam and water mix that showered down like snow.  They worked till dark, filling up from nearby Lake  Keepit and were extremely accurate in placing their load over the burning logs and into the gorge that we couldn't get to.











yes this is me!






The next day a dozer arrived to put in containment lines and bury stubborn smouldering logs.
Luck was with us again and a huge downpour of rain dumped 20ml of water right on our fire!
That really put it out!...we were soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear...emergency over!



About 300 acres of country was burnt... The cows and our house were safe.... The grass will grow back better than ever .....so all is well!

Christmas isn't cancelled after all!
I hope everyone in blogland has a wonderful Christmas...I know I will.

Till next time
Cheers Floss

9 comments:

  1. Ohh what a scary time you must have had! Yay to the volunteers who helped. Id buy a lottery ticket, I think. Someone was looking after you and your home.

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  2. so glad you are all safe....
    Hugz

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  3. we had a fire on the neighbours the other day too.......also started by lightning.......hit the power pole and blew the top off........lucky it got out quicker then yours.........always a big worry until they are out for sure.........

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  4. Oh gosh, that must be so scary, glad to hear it's all under control now......

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  5. Sounds scary, but aren't those fireies heroes. Glad it's all contained now and everyone is safe.

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  6. So pleased you are safe...Merry Christmas Lea...xx

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  7. So glad you are safe! That sure is a lot of acres that burnt!

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  8. How scary for you all, but it's great that all is well, and you are right about the grassland - it will be up again in the autumn.
    Happy Christmas to you and yours.

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  9. Oh NO! So glad everything worked out ok in the end :) What a start to your festive season xx

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