The Day After

The cobbing workshop was great, catching up with old friends was lovely, Sydney kept us busy for a few days, seeing movies, specialists, eating too much cheap great food, and then we were glad to be home. I will likely write much more on all those topics, but strangely enough, the homecoming was more exciting than the trip.

We pulled into our driveway at 10.30 am Friday Jan 16th 2009. By 12.00 I was sitting down to a salad lunch picked from the garden by Mike. I hadn’t had a chance to visit the garden as I had been busy unpacking, washing, tidying, putting away. All was now complete, with a coffee in hand. I did the sudoku for a while and then felt a bit guilty about the business phone calls I had to make, so spent the next hour accomplishing that side of things.

At about 1.30 I thought, ooh good, the rest of the day is my own and I might phone my Mum. Then Mike came in from outside and said he didn’t like the look of that smoke over the hill and he might ring our fire buddy Mark to check out the situation. 10 mins later we were donning full body protection, boots and hats and it was game on.

Mike got the ladder out, up on the roof clearing gutters. I filled up both baths and all sinks, plus about 10 L bottles of water. Once the power is cut the pump on the rainwater tank won’t work, and neither will the one on the garden water tank. We have been ho-humming about spending money on a diesel generator for back up, but we’ll be buying one today if they’re not all sold out.

As I was collecting our personal documents folder and packing up the computer gear in a box, Mike was up in the back paddock bringing down extra hoses, putting sprinklers on the lawns, connecting the 600L water cannon (on a trailer) to the ute. Then I began soaking towels and old nappies (who’d have thought I’d ever get to use that bag of nappies my friend passed on to me, in hope?) and stopping all windows and doors, taking down curtains. There seemed an endless amount to do, and I had no idea of the time frame in which I needed to get it done.

My lovely friend S called to see if we needed a hand, and I gratefully conceded we did. She and her husband came over and helped us finish hosing down the house. The sky was looking terribly ominous, with a blazing red sun behind the darkest of clouds, yet standing beside these was the clearest of blue skies. It was hot, and we were all working hard. I filled up 6 pint glasses with water and kept passing them around continually.

The strong winds felled a big branch of an old white-ant-eaten tree, over the other side of the brook, which landed on the fence. The barbed wire snapped and the fence post was driven almost all the way into the ground. S’s husband helped Mike chainsaw it up and get it off the wire, then they went to help another mate who was much closer to the fire than us.

By this stage we had the old valve radio going, listening to the ABC radio which gave us updates every ten minutes. Between the area known as the peninsular and Bridgetown, up to Hester Cascades was being urged to evacuate if they were not prepared to stay and defend. I’ll admit I was VERY nervous. Mike and S’s husband had been to the top of the hill on our neighbour’s property to see what was happening and had decided we were safe for now, the wind had changed and was blowing the fire away from us. I went up later and had a look for myself, the hot wind blowing a gale on my back, plumes of smoke closer than the horizon, the town surrounded by black clouds. Mike lost one of his binocular caps but I didn’t feel like staying around to search for it for too long.

With all the prep work done, we went to bed at 9pm. (Still on NSW time, so it was 11pm for our tired bodies). It took me ages to get to sleep even though I was exhausted, especially anxious when the breeze came up again.

Saturday has dawned clear in our neck of the woods, but reports in suggest we remain on alert. The fire is still burning out of control and heading North (away from us). 6,000 Ha have been lost, though only two houses and no lives, thank God. I can hear the helicopter and the four water bombers that have started up again. The Hospital has planned evacuation procedure and Mike will let the Drs know he’s back even though he’s still technically on holiday. Fire control units are being sent from Perth (even though they have their own problems in King’s Park and Two Rocks). Part of the South Western Highway is closed, as is the Boyup Brook Rd, though Brockman Hwy has been reopened so technically we could leave and go to Mum and Dad’s farm nr Nannup. But we won’t. We’ll stay on high alert and I will attend the public meeting at the town hall this morning at 10am.

The weather report promises rain tonight and tomorrow, and I so hope it delivers. Each strong breeze outside chills my bones. It’s strange how your perception of something can change so quickly. In normal circumstances the strong cool winds in summer are a blessing. Today they are a curse.

I’ll update as I can, internet connection permitting.