Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires

Subject: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 03:10 AM

G'day all,

When they predicted mid 30s (Celsius) temperatures and strong winds for Christmas Day, I knew we were in for bush fires!

As we drove over to friends' home on Christmas Eve, we could see plumes of fire smoke from the Blue Mts foothills ... and closer western suburbs. Today, as we drove to the family Christmas lunch we heard reports that 70 bushfires are blazing in 36° C temperatures, fanned by winds gusting to 90 km/hr.

One hot spot is Mt Riverview, in the lower Blue Mts ... home of occasional 'Catter "Roo" ... who runs the "Folk Australia" web site. I have not heard more about Mt Riverview in later broadcasts, as we drove home, so I hope this is not one the towns that have now lost a number of houses. I got no reply on 'Roo's phone, but this means little - I hope to get through later.

The fires are in the outermost suburbs - generally beyond 'Catters like Alison or Alan of Aust ... and far away from inner Sydney types like Callie or myself.

Somehow, all those northern hemisphere, winter forest, Saturnalia images of holly, ivy, dark evergreens and reindeer don't have much to do with Christmas out here (or, in Israel ... come to think of it!).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: JennieG
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 03:23 AM

Like Bob I am a long way from the fires but it is still scary. We can't see the sun anymore but when we could see it, it was just a red ball in a very hazy cloudy sky. And bits of burnt leaves are blowing into our yard - we are very close to the geographical centre of Sydney but the winds are still (7.20pm) so very strong and hot that fire debris is blowing from a long way away. Even with the house closed most of the day it is smokey inside. My heart really goes out to the people whose houses have already burnt down and my prayers are with those still in danger; it must be such a frightening experience.
Apparently many fires were started from lightning strikes in that storm that woke us at 4am a couple of mornings ago - but apparently several have been deliberately lit. Lord what sort of idiots are they?
JennieG

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 03:23 AM

As Bob has said... it is stinking hot here and very windy.... we are safe...... but there are huge clouds of black smoke over Sydney, and people with breathing difficulties are being warned to stay indoors.

friends of mine are in areas that have been or are about to be evacuated....... I hope they are OK.......

unfortunately they reckon this hot weather and winds will last for a few more days..........

good luck to all those firefighters, many of them volunteers who are spending their Christmas fighting fires around NSW.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: nutty
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 04:17 AM

Our thoughts are with all of you. GOOD LUCK

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: paddymac
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 04:24 AM

Are fire "seasons" such as described above a "normal" thing ther, or are you suffering through unusual drought conditions or the like? In any event, we'll all keep you in our thoughts.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: JennieG
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 04:56 AM

It's apparently a combination of very low humidity, very hot dry winds, and the fact that it is summer time which is bushfire time in Oz. The lightning strikes were the start but because of weather conditions since then Fires are spreading very rapidly. Now some rain would help but if the winds would only stop blowing it would be great. Tomorrow is supposed to be about 27 degrees Celsius (today was 37) but the forecast is still for strong hot winds.
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 05:06 AM

we get bush fires most years..... they do try to keep them under control (back burning during the year to try and remove some of the "tinder")...... but these conditions make it impossible.....

the worst thing is, as Jenny has already said... many of these fires are deliberately lit.....

so Jenny... you still think Gulgong won't be too hot this year???? *grin*..... pack your swimmers!!

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:03 AM

just spoke with Roo on ICQ....... she says she is OK

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:31 AM

G'day again all,

It's good to hear, from Alison, that Roo is all right. I tried ringing again, but this time the 'phone was engaged ... a good sign, anyway. As JennieG notes, the sky was completely shrouded by thick smoke, this afternoon ... and burnt leaves were falling as close to Sydney centre as I am - only 5 kilometeres as the crow flies! There is a thin carpet of charred material building up in my street ... a lot closer to Sydnrey that Jennie's place.

I thought I might bring a bit of a musical line back to the thread: As I saw the smoke of the fires, on Christmas evening, my thoughts inescapably brought up this Australian Christmas Carol. It is one of those written about 50 years ago to give Australians comprehensible songs about celebrating the birth, 2000 years ago, in the Holy Land – without the overlay of northern European winter festivals such as the Saturnalia

I may have already posted this carol, so I won't worry about the tune ... unless I turn out not to have pasted it. The line I have bolded, in the third stanza is an all too realistic view of the Australian Christmas season.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

The Three Drovers
Music: John Williams
Words: William G James

Across the plains one Christmas night, three drovers riding blythe and gay,
Looked up and saw a starry light, more radiant than the Milky Way;
And on their hearts such wonder fell, they sang with joy "Noel! Noel!
Noel! Noel! Noel!

The black swans flew across the sky, the wild dogs called across the plain,
The starry lustre blazed on high, still echoed on the Heavenly strain;
And still they sang "Noel! Noel!, those drovers three "Noel! Noel!
Noel! Noel! Noel!

The air was dry with summer heat and smoke was on the yellow moon;
But from the Heavens, faint and sweet, came floating down a wond'rous tune,
And as they heard, they sang full well, those drovers three "Noel! Noel!
Noel! Noel! Noel!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Roo
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:42 AM

Thanks for thinking of us Bob! We appreciate it. And thanks for the phonecall Alison. Fires behind us, to the north and south and fire engines in the street - the hydrants are open and ready so it is good to know the bushfire brigade has a plan! We can see the ring of fire clearly in the night sky here (Blue Mountains) and the flames are lighting the sky as they leap. Hope the wind stays away tomorrow. Happy Christmas everyone! Roo

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Morticia
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:53 AM

Thinking of you all, be safe and have as merry a xmas as you can!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 11:11 AM

Stay safe, friends. And keep us posted. I remember the fires in the mid-seventies that wiped out thousands of acres of national forest. Sad but not as sad as burning peoples' homes.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Blackcatter
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 11:41 AM

Stay safe all.

I grew up in Southern California and know well of Summer fire season - there it's mostly forests that burn, though. And a few years ago we had a very firey summer in Central Florida - drought and arsonists - 3 counties on the coast had to be evacuated (almost 1 million people) And nationally the conservative Christians said it was Gods punishment for Walt Disney World exteneding health insurance rights to gay partners of employees...

In Florida we don't have much connection to the "Northern Hemisphere" atmosphere. Today at 11:30 AM it is slightly overcast and 72F (21C). It should get up to nearly 80F if the overcast burns off.

pax yall

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 01:18 PM

I've a Mate in South Australia and he was heading out the 14th with a load of hay for the ranchers near Alice Springs. Hope he is out of harm's way as I haven't heard from him since he left.

We've been in drought conditions for the past several years and watch the country turn black every spring and summer. Three years ago there were 250 fires beteen my place and the Indian Reservation 100 miles South of us. I was driving from there to home and watched the lightning strike all around me and my truck as we raced for home. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with you all over there.

Steve

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 07:42 PM

G'day again,

Roo: I'm glad to hear that you are safe ... and Mt Riverview, where my Aunt Iris and Uncle Fred live, nearby their daughter Jan and her family. I have friends higher in the Mountains, as well, but they seem to have missed this round of fires ... ?

Norton1: Your mate heading north from South Aust to Alice Springs will be safe enough from bushfire ... there is no bush! ... mostly desert, which has a whole bundle of dangers of its own. He will be on the main highway, know what he is doing and safe enough, but many tourists looking to get off the beaten track have come to grief in that dry country, and some have done a perish.

Blackcatter: God's revenge, eh? It's a bit like when there were disastrous earthquakes in Portugal a couple of years after Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod. Some stuffed cleric announced that this was God's revenge for meddling with his prerogatives. Franklin replied that he expected God to have much better timimg and accuracy! (Oh, and BTW: 72°F = `22°C, just to remind us how hot you are ... but we are hoping for a mere 26°C (`79°F) as a relief from Christmas Day's conditions ... but it is high summer!)

Merry Christmas to those American 'Catters. who are still in Christmas Day.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: WyoWoman
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 08:56 PM

Thanks for that song, Bob. I've wondered how all those reindeer and Santa images played in other parts of the world. I don't associate them with Christmas, personally, and didn't emphasize that aspect of the holiday much when my kids were little, so I know it's entirely possible to have a lovely holiday minus reindeer.

so very sorry to hear from all of you about the fires. Having lived in New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado, I've seen many more than I ever wanted to. Those last year in Colorado came within a cat's whisker of LEJ's home and were just over the mountain from where I lived. Sometimes terrifying, but mostly terribly sad, just thinking of the loss to wildlife and people.

Hoping you all continue to be well.

ww

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 09:09 PM

G'day WyoWoman,

Actually, all the guffle about reindeer, holly, ivy and such goes over well here ... no one seems to see the incongruity of sweltering around a blazing barbecue and singing about deep winter in a place far from here ... and the Christmas story! I have long tried to promote the Australian carols as a way to see the story and event, not the winter festival / Saturnalia overtones synchretised by the early Christian missionaries to northern Europe. Christamas is all songs about snow, plastic reindeer antlers, wreths of holly and sprigs of ivy ... reminders of things most Australians have never seen.

I guess that, if I really hankered after cold and snow for Christmas, I would have put forward my trip to Tasmania, where my wife Patrica is from, and I could have taken in a spot of snowdrift on top of Mt Wellington (where it did snow, lightly, on Christmas Day!).

Merry Christmas in Wyoming ... whatever the local conditions.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: JennieG
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 10:12 PM

Of course it will be hot in Gulgong Alison - it's summer! *grin* I am packing the swimmers and I will probably even wear them. (I don't think Gulgong is ready for the alternative!) We are heading off tomorrow morning, apparently the highway over the Blue Mountains is open again.
But we will have fun anyway......Gulgong is a great little festival......is there a song about bushfires? My mind has gone blank at the moment.
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,chrisj
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 12:07 AM

Down here in Melbourne, Victoria, 1,000km south of Sydney, we are having a 'cool' xmas this year with temperatures hardly exceeding 20 degrees Celsius.

Victoria too has had its bushfire tragedies in the recent past and we feel for those poor people in NSW. Hundreds of our volunteer firefighters are already up there or on their way to help and we wish them all good luck and come back safe.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Blackcatter
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 12:08 AM

Hey all

It's the end of Christmas on the East coast of the U.S. and here in Florida the temp. has dropped - the overcast sky never burned off and actually got more intense, it's currently around 55F outside.

And Bob - the 72F/21C was an esitmation - I can't remember the mathematical equation for proper conversion - I'm luck my thermometer has both scales. Remember, here in the U.S. we've said "Screw Metric!" for the past 20 years (with the exception of bottled drinks and nuts and bolt on our cars).

Take care all and stay safe - if you need to escape, feel free to drop by my place - you are welcome to a most comfortable couch. And I'll show around the REAL Orlando.

pax yall

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 12:21 AM

Bob and everyone else in Australia, thanks for letting us knwo how you are and please stay safe!

Like WyoWoman, I've grown up with too many memories of forest fires in the Rocky Mountains and it saddens me greatly whenever I hear of such.

Please keep in touch and Bob, I love the song. It is reeally nice to get a different perspective. Did Kipling ever write anything about Christmas down under? can't remember.

Oh, in Wyoming, today, I was in my short sleeves and there is no snow. Very strange. It has been getting cold at night, down to 5-15 degrees F and up into the 30's-40's F during the day.

Happy New Year!

kat

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,nerd
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 01:15 AM

I can't think of an Australian song about bushfires, but I'm amazed none of our friends from there have mentioned "The Fire at Ross's Farm," which is a poem, I think by Lawson, about a pair of star-crossed lovers and a huge bushfire that comes on Christmas Eve.

Here's the text. I hope the HTML will work!

The Fire At Ross's Farm
by: Henry Lawson

The squatter saw his pastures wide
Decrease, as one by one
The farmers moving to the west
Selected on his run;
Selectors took the water up
And all the black soil round;
The best grass-land the squatter had
Was spoilt by Ross's Ground.

Now many schemes to shift old Ross
Had racked the squatter's brains,
But Sandy had the stubborn blood
Of Scotland in his veins;
He held the land and fenced it in,
He cleared and ploughed the soil,
And year by year a richer crop
Repaid him for his toil.

Between the homes for many years
The devil left his tracks:
The squatter pounded Ross's stock,
And Sandy pounded Black's.
A well upon the lower run
Was filled with earth and logs,
And Black laid baits about the farm
To poison Ross's dogs.

It was, indeed, a deadly feud
Of class and creed and race;
But, yet, there was a Romeo
And a Juliet in the case;
And more than once across the flats,
Beneath the Southern Cross,
Young Robert Black was seen to ride
With pretty Jenny Ross.

One Christmas time, when months of drought
Had parched the western creeks,
The bush-fires started in the north
And travelled south for weeks.
At night along the river-side
The scene was grand and strange --
The hill-fires looked like lighted streets
Of cities in the range.

The cattle-tracks between the trees
Were like long dusky aisles,
And on a sudden breeze the fire
Would sweep along for miles;
Like sounds of distant musketry
It crackled through the brakes,
And o'er the flat of silver grass
It hissed like angry snakes.

It leapt across the flowing streams
And raced o'er pastures broad;
It climbed the trees and lit the boughs
And through the scrubs it roared.
The bees fell stifled in the smoke
Or perished in their hives,
And with the stock the kangaroos
Went flying for their lives.

The sun had set on Christmas Eve,
When, through the scrub-lands wide,
Young Robert Black came riding home
As only natives ride.
He galloped to the homestead door
And gave the first alarm:
`The fire is past the granite spur,
`And close to Ross's farm.'

`Now, father, send the men at once,
They won't be wanted here;
Poor Ross's wheat is all he has
To pull him through the year.'
`Then let it burn,' the squatter said;
`I'd like to see it done --
I'd bless the fire if it would clear
Selectors from the run.

`Go if you will,' the squatter said,
`You shall not take the men --
Go out and join your precious friends,
And don't come here again.'
`I won't come back,' young Robert cried,
And, reckless in his ire,
He sharply turned his horse's head
And galloped towards the fire.

And there, for three long weary hours,
Half-blind with smoke and heat,
Old Ross and Robert fought the flames
That neared the ripened wheat.
The farmer's hand was nerved by fears
Of danger and of loss;
And Robert fought the stubborn foe
For the love of Jenny Ross.

But serpent-like the curves and lines
Slipped past them, and between,
Until they reached the bound'ry where
The old coach-road had been.
`The track is now our only hope,
There we must stand,' cried Ross,
`For nought on earth can stop the fire
If once it gets across.'

Then came a cruel gust of wind,
And, with a fiendish rush,
The flames leapt o'er the narrow path
And lit the fence of brush.
`The crop must burn!' the farmer cried,
`We cannot save it now,'
And down upon the blackened ground
He dashed the ragged bough.

But wildly, in a rush of hope,
His heart began to beat,
For o'er the crackling fire he heard
The sound of horses' feet.
`Here's help at last,' young Robert cried,
And even as he spoke
The squatter with a dozen men
Came racing through the smoke.

Down on the ground the stockmen jumped
And bared each brawny arm,
They tore green branches from the trees
And fought for Ross's farm;
And when before the gallant band
The beaten flames gave way,
Two grimy hands in friendship joined --
And it was Christmas Day.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: JennieG
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 02:30 AM

Thanks for that poem - it has been running through my mind since yesterday. Himself and I have changed our holiday plans, we had intended to go to the folk festival at Gulgong (about 4 hours west of Sydney) but have now decided to go south to Victoria instead. I might pack my guitar anyway - I can always plink away by myself in the caravan park. Alison - I see on the news that people are to be evacuated from Baulkham Hills - are you OK?
JennieG - not so cheerily this time

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 02:42 AM

I was thinking about that poem... but too lazy to type it in... thanks Nerd.....

There are over 100 houses lost here.... but no loss of human life, ..... the fires are still surrounding Sydney.... and the sky is a horrible grey-yellow with ash falling in our backyards (and we are about 45mins drive from the nearest fires).......

there are volunteer firefighters being flown in from Victoria.......

I'm leaving Sydney tomorrow for a few days...... so don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while..... same with JennyG... and I think Bob said he was going away too....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 02:46 AM

I never heard that...... didn't think it was that close to us.... can smell smoke here... but no worse than it has been... must be further up Dural direction...

where in Victoria Jenny?

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,Doug
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 04:03 AM

I'm in Brisbane and it's very hot here,no fires yet but only a matter of time with this weather.We are off to the folk festival tomorrow and are expecting heat instead of rain this year.All the best,Doug.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 05:42 AM

G'day again,

Alison posted a couple of hours back (if I have the right zone for Mudcat). Since then I ahve heard that fires are heading toward her suburb ... probably only a danger to the outer parts ...

I also hear that the change of wind has sent fires back toward Mt Riverview, where Roo is (and my aunt, uncle and cousin ... in fact my cousin Jan is in the same street as Roo). The last i heard was that they were evacuating some residents of Mt Riverview ... probably those out on the fringes ... like Roo! I hope it is all under control - at least this is an area with mains water for fire control.

In Sydney, we have much less of a smoke pall ... mainly because the wind is blowing it somewhere else.

Blackcatter: No ... you Americans were the first in the world to adopt metric from the revolutionary French (that's why you ended up with funny new versions of the imperial pint, quart & gallon) ... and have been officially metric for years ... a fact only observed by scientists. Anyone who has any pretence to science and precision uses metric ... the Imperial system is just that ... an upper class plot against the lower classes they (mistakenly) believe too dumb to cope with silly numbers.

I was brought up with juggling with 6s, 8s, 10, 12s, 14s, 16s, 20s, 21s, 24s ... 56s, 112 &c - I had to use them all professionally ... and I know just how stupid it was! I'll go back to such a stupid muddle when you gouge the metric system out of my ten digits!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Roo
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 07:23 AM

Well! I can't believe our house is still standing! God bless the rural bushfire brigade. Without their mammoth efforts we wouldn't have a house now. The fire raced up the ridge behind us and was turned back when it reached the house. All our fences are gone as are the trees - just a blackened mess. It is an amazing site now seeing the ridge on the other side of the valley with trees glowing and fires sparking in the blackness. We are amazingly lucky to be here - 120 homes aren't.

The firefighters said we were the luckiest street they have seen. They managed to save every house on the ridge when they thought they would lose them all (and so did we)

To give you an idea of how close it came, I had to dust ash off the computer before starting it. The house was filled with smoke and there is a fine dust everywhere.

Thanks all for being so supportive.
roo

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: artbrooks
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 08:20 AM

Best of luck to you all. We live with the threat of forest and brush fires here every year, but I've not personally had as close an encounter as you seem to be having.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 08:46 AM

Our best wishes to you all. It's only two weeks or so when Judy and I were vacationing amidst the Blue Mountains in Blackheath, wondering about the rising smoke we saw across the valley from bush fires then.

There's no easy compromise between home security and the need to get rid of years of accumulating dead vegetation. When we do "controlled" burns, we often as not end up with uncontrolled forest fires. I still remember the 1940's in Maine when the entire sky at night was red and smokey and coastal communities were being evacuated.

James Keelaghan has his fine song about a fire fighting team being decimated by an all too fast moving fire, with one survivor haunted by the experience for years after. Doesn't Eric Bogle have a song, or was that one about political change rather than bush fire?

Hang in there!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Crane Driver
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 10:14 AM

Glad to hear 'Catters in the area are ok. Hope the situation gets under control soon, with no loss of life. This is an even hotter welcome than I expected - I'm flying into Sydney tomorrow to see relatives I haven't seen in 21 years. Well, it'll make a change from Old South Wales, I suppose!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: KathWestra
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 12:08 PM

Glad to hear you're all safe. Roo, that sounds like much too much of a close call, and three cheers for the firefighters who kept your home from the flames. Alison, I hope your home remains safe -- Bob's posting about evacuating Baulkham Hills was worrisome! Please keep us posted, all of you, to let us know you're still all right. The fires in the Blue Mtns. and Sydney were the top story on today's U.S. morning news -- the first time since September 11 that I remember a non-terrorist-related story leading the newscast.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Roo
Date: 26 Dec 01 - 07:19 PM

Thanks Kath and Charlie, for your posts. It is cooler today but the fires are still present. There is one about 13 kms away coming towards us on a 25km front which is supposed to reach here somewhere in the next 24 hours. We still feel very vulnerable in the Lower Blue Mountains! Jim (husband) wroote a song a while back about a fire back in the 1960s based on a lady's experience then. It has proved a little prophetic as it talks of a grey smoke column over Valley Heights .... exactly the direction our fire came from. If you'd like to hear it it is at:
http://simplyaustralia.mountaintracks.com.au/issue2/song_theresafire.html
and here are the words - hope I get the html right!
There's a grey black smoke column
Rising over Valley Heights' way
Heralding
A warning on this heat-oppressed day.

And the birds and the animals
Now they are standing still
Statue-like
It's eerie on this heat oppressed day.

Around late afternoon
The fire starts its run
Moving fast
Spurred on by the wind that has begun

Chorus:
For there's a fire and it's coming
Racing up the ridges through the trees
There's no time to think, you just act on instinct
There's a killer and it's trying to be free
There's a killer and it's after you and me.

Animals are rounded up
And brought close to the home
In readiness
No need for them to face this fire alone

It roars its way through the bush
The gum trees scream their plight
Pathetic cries
Unnerving in the smoky bushland light
Chorus

The bush explodes all around
And leaves burst from the trees
Balls of fire
There is no time to think,"When will it ease?"

And just as quickly it races past
And leaves your troubled mind
Wondering
How this killer left some life behind.
Chorus

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 01:24 AM

G'day again,

KathWestra: You worried me a moment ... I didn't really say they were evacuating Baulkham Hills ... but there were reports of fires heading for the outer, western parts ... so far as I know Alison is safe!

Roo: I got the report on your road via my family. Cousin Jan and her husband Gordon live at #24 ... 19 doors down from you ... in the home that was Aunty Iris and Uncle Fred's, before they moved to a smaller house in Elizabeth Rd. Now Jan & Gordon are hoping to sell the 5 bedroom house and move to somewhere saller, as they have only one daughter left at home.

Paddymac: Way back you asked about this year's high fire risk. Alison did answer, but I have been mulling over a lot of chaff on the airwaves about 'hazard reduction'. I wrote a bit on it ... offline and here it is:

I have been talking to friends involved in the Rural Fire Service about the current lack of hazard reduction – precautionary removal of undergrowth, mostly by burning during the cool months. This is something that has always been a special skill of the old Bush Fire Brigades ... volunteer groups of local residents with a close knowledge of their local risks and a commitment to minimising bushfire risk.

This aspect of Bush Fire Brigade work has become more and more difficult with the shift of city populations out into semi rural and mountain areas that are being increasingly seen as outer suburbs of Sydney. Many of the new residents lack the ethos of commitment to such local voluntary groups, expecting firemen in shiny helmets to appear and put out fires. As well, they are hostile to hazard reduction activities, complaining that they " ...don't want their trees burnt ..." or just fearing the minor risks of planned burning. The membership of Bush Fire Brigades has fallen and many of the newer homes are built with no regard to bushfire hazards.

After the widespread fires of 1994/5, which spread quickly across vast areas – largely in the Blue Mountains National Park and, ultimately, right through the Royal National Park, south of Sydney – the State Government accused the Bush Fire Brigades of being slack in their hazard reduction responsibilities. Their response was to take direct control of the BFBs and create a Government service, the Rural Fire Service ... and appoint their own tame bureaucrat to head it. The Government loudly trumpeted this move as bringing all these slack volunteer services under professional control and they said that proper hazard reduction would now be compelled by their appointee.

In the real world, it has now become almost impossible for hazard reduction to happen. Where local brigades could react within hours, when the conditions suited hazard reduction ... and knew which areas should be worked on that day, in the conditions of the hour, it now became necessary to funnel requests for hazard reduction through the Government bureaucracy. They must provide statutory evidence of prior notification and agreement to support the application, await bureaucratic processing of requests, distribute advance public notice ... and then, on the nominated date ... find that the weather is totally unsuitable!

The National Parks present another problem, becoming worse in the modern world. Once National Parks were fairly small and locally administered by a head ranger who was generally knowledgeable in and concerned about local conditions. Now the Parks are being expanded under various Governments and positions are only available to those holding university degrees ... and senior positions go only to those pursuing further research for higher degrees. As well, in these 'economic rationalist' times, the Parks are administered as a financial investment of the Government ... and hazard reduction is seen, in the short term, to interfere with the income potential of the Park, so National Parks seem to be particularly slack in reduction. As a result, the Royal National Park looks like being completely burned out for the third time in a decade.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Haruo
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 01:42 AM

Bob Bolton, near the beginning of this thread you posted the lyrics to "The Three Drovers", and wrote "I may have already posted this carol, so I won't worry about the tune ... unless I turn out not to have pasted it." (sic: pasted?) Anyhow, I'm wondering where you posted or pasted the tune. Would you be so kind as to post it (or instructions on where to find it) in the Australian Christmas Carols thread?

Thanks,
Liland

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 02:50 AM

G'day Liland,

I have e-mailed some TIF images of music & word to you.

I am a little puzzled, as I was sure I was going to post these carols back in December 1998. I can find the MIDI files, all prepared on the same date 9/12/98 ... but I can't find any thread that appear to contain the carols.

I may have held back because they are clearly still in copyright - Australian copyright subsists for 50 years after the author's death and both authors were still active in the 1950s in a number of music projects.

Personally, nowadays I would prefer to post them ... with full ascription ... and hope they are sung. Then, if they are recorded, the copyrights will be paid, not credited to "anon".

I guess it is getting a little late to post them now - perhaps for Christmas 2002?

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: cetmst
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 06:21 AM

Eric Bogle's 'Bushfire' is in The Eric Bogle Song Book published in Australia but the eerie and ominous instrumental accompaniment makes it a frighteningly effective experience.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,Boobook
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 06:23 AM

Bob Bolton - I think you are being a bit harsh on the National Parks & Wildlife Service re backburning. They do the best they can on the area for which they have responsibility - the parks estates. Yes, there is this pull between the academics and the "practical" staff over the balance between preserving animal life and backburning. The bigger problem is the "townies" who buy properties out of town, as you said, don't get involved with the Rural Fire Service, expect to keep a green vista, yet blame others, including National Parks when bushfires break out. My husband volunteers with the Rural Fire Service, and when we lived at Helensburgh (which was evacuated yesterday), his brigade tried to do an education program amongst the people of the town about hazard reduction. They just didn't want to know! The people wanted to keep all their trees, bushes etc, didn't want to spoil the look of the place, yet expected to be as safe as living in the inner city.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 06:43 AM

G'day again,

cetmst: Bushfire, is in one of the three Eric Bogle Songbooks that I have ... well i guess it is the one accurately called The Eric Bogle Songbook ... no date vouchsafed anywhere in the volume, because the 1980 book is simply called Eric Bogle Songbook and the 1988 one is called Eric Bogle,Something of value".

Boobook: I don't really blame the NPWS for the slack hazard reduction ... it is caught in the government's blend of inaction and "windsock" politics, which swing to the prevailing wind of (usually uninformed opinion. However, I tend to believe that the older style rangers would have made it clear that they must give these forests there due burning or they sprout into huge firetraps ... are then much more severely damaged in the 5 to 7-year holocausts.

I admit that I have more friends in the 'old guard' than the new ... and this can colour my opinion, but I think that what I outlined has a strong line of truth. Certainly, the top of the problem is your "townies" that can't understand how to manage the bush that has evolved for, at least, 60 000 years under Aboriginal fire farming policy.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 07:39 AM

I've been following this thread and should I guess chime in and say that I am happy Roo, that you were so fortunate. Any news today? I heard less this morning, but that can be simply because a running story garners less interest rather than things improving.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: kendall
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 08:19 AM

My thoughts are with you folks in Oz, things can be replaced, you cant.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: JenEllen
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 11:39 AM

My thoughts are with you all. Stay safe. We see our share of wildfires out here, and I lost four very good friends is a blaze this past summer. Take care of yourselves, and check in with news,
J

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: KathWestra
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 02:59 PM

I'm glad for the updates and that everybody still seems to be safe. Please keep us up to date.

Bob, I didn't mean to scare you -- guess I read your post in too much haste and inferred more than was there. Whew! It was interesting to read your perceptions on fire suppression policy. This is a huge debate in the U.S. West, particularly among the various government agencies that manage public land (in very different and sometimes contradictory ways): the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service at the federal level, and the state agencies that manage adjacent state land. Many people have moved right up to the edges of public land, and "controlled burns" that are needed to manage underbrush are harder to do under the best of circumstances. They become even more unpopular when they go disastrously wrong, as they did a couple of years ago in Los Alamos, New Mexico, when a National Park Service burn went horribly wrong and leveled many houses and acres of forest. The voices of people who really understand the science of land management -- either by virtue of being scientists who have studied it, or people who know how to live on the land in concert with nature -- are almost always drowned out by the clamor of politicians.

Anyway, we're thinking of you and wish you all safety, calm winds, and cooler weather. Kathy

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Art Thieme
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 08:55 PM

In another thread, a long while back, I posted Banjo Patterson's fine poem, "SANTA CLAUS IN THE BUSH". It's always been a favorite of mine. I'll try to find it...

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Art Thieme
Date: 27 Dec 01 - 09:05 PM

I found it------in the old Australian Christmas Carols thread.

Art

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 28 Dec 01 - 04:53 AM

G'day again,

KathWestra: I checked back and found that JennieG had heard that evacuations were on the cards for Baulkham Hills ... I hadn't heard that, but I don't doubt that it was considered. You are right about the political pitfalls of hazard reduction. Generally, the old Bush Fire Brigade volunteers were good at it precicely because they were not "professional". They were burning around their own homes and they knew the area well!

Art: I saw Paterson's Santa Claus in The Bush poem in you earlier posting. It's a great yarn ... and I have heard a tune to it ... but not actually turned it up ... yet!

Subject: Lyr Add: Eric Bogle's "Bushfire"
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 28 Dec 01 - 07:57 AM

G'day,

Eric Bogle's song Bushfire has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. Here are the words and (MIDItxt of) the music. Note that it is copyright ... sing and enjoy – pay up copyright if you record it. If Wee Eric could persuade some publisher to republish, or anthologise his songs, we would not need to swap them around lke this.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Bushfire
Words and Music by Eric Bogle ©

About nine o'clock we saw the first smoke
stain the far horizon.
A soft rolling shroud of shifting white cloud
above the mountains rising.
Uneasy and afraid we watched and prayed
as the clouds grew ever higher.
But an before noon they blocked out the sun
and the mountains were on fire

And all through the gloom of that long afternoon (gleam in my text?)
the fire fed and grew stronger;
Driven by the wind it danced along the mountain rims,
roaring out its anger.
Fed by the breeze and the helpless trees,
consuming those who bore it
It raced pell-mell from the mouth of hell,
destroying all before it.

Our farm, our home and all that we owned
lay in the path of that fiery river.
We prayed for rain and we cursed the wind
as it drove our destruction nearer.
But no words of men can bring down the rain,
or set the wind to turning
And round midnight we'd lost the fight,
and our whole farm was burning.

Through the smoke and the heat came the crying of sheep
as the flames set their wool on fire.
They ran, terrified, they roasted and died,
their own fleece their funeral pyre.
So we packed up and ran while the fire's red hand
reached out to find us,
While so long and hard to build and so quick and easily killed
our dreams burned down behind us.

Arrogant man, he squats on the land,
he buys, he sells and zones it;
Pants his seeds, cuts down the weeds,
and imagines that he owns it.
For twenty years our land we cleared,
we ploughed and we sowed and we tamed it
But where the Bushfire has passed, there's only black ash,
and Nature has reclaimed it.

Source: the Eric Bogle Songbook, MS 1009, Music Sales Pty. Ltd., Artarmon, Australia, No date (but, presumably, before MS 1953, 1988 ... Probably about 1984/5, judging by textual references)

And here is the MIDItxt of the tune ... in Wee Eric's key; D (sagging, in a very Scots manner) into C:

MIDI file: bushfire.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 1/4 24 8
Tempo: 200 (300000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0000 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0768 0 69 064 0912 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0384 0 69 064 0096 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 1344 0 67 064 0576 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 60 080 0192 0 60 064 0048 1 60 080 0576 0 60 064 0144 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 62 080 1344 0 62 064 0336 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 1344 0 69 064 0336 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 1344 0 67 064 0456 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 60 080 0576 0 60 064 0144 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 62 080 1344 0 62 064 0336 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 74 080 0192 0 74 064 0048 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 74 080 0576 0 74 064 0144 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 72 080 0384 0 72 064 0096 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 1344 0 69 064 0336 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 66 080 0576 0 66 064 0144 1 67 080 0384 0 67 064 0096 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 62 080 1584 0 62 064 0336 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0096 0 62 064 0024 1 62 080 0384 0 62 064 0096 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 1536 0 69 064 0144 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 66 080 0192 0 66 064 0048 1 67 080 1344 0 67 064 0336 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0576 0 69 064 0144 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 62 080 0576 0 62 064 0144 1 60 080 0576 0 60 064 0144 1 62 080 1968 0 62 064 1872 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 62 080 1104 0 62 064 0576 1 60 080 0768 0 60 064 0192 1 59 080 0576 0 59 064 0144 1 59 080 0192 0 59 064 0048 1 59 080 0192 0 59 064 0048 1 57 080 1104 0 57 064 0336 1 62 080 0192 0 62 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:4/4
Q:1/4=200
K:C
D2D4^F2|G2A6|-A8|A8|-A2A4G2|^F2G6|-G8|G2A6|
-A8|A8|-A2D4D2|C2C6|D2D6|-D8|D8|-D2D4^F2|
G2A6|-A8|A8|-A2A2B2G2|^F2G6|-G8|GA7|-A2A6|
A2D4D2|-D2C6|D2D6|-D8|A8|-A2A2A2d2|e2d6|A2c4B2|
G2A6|-A8|A8|-AAA6|B2A2^F4|-^F2G4^F2|D8|-D8|
D8|-DDD4^F2|G2A6|-A8|A8|-A2A2B2G2|^F2G6|-G8|
G8|-GGA2A4|-A2D2D4|-D2C6|D8|-D8|D8|-D8|D8|
-D8|D8|-D2E6|-E8|E4D4|-D8|D8|-D2C6|-C8|C8|
-C2B,6|-B,8|B,8|B,8|-B,8|B,2B,6|-B,4A,4|-A,8|
D8|-D3/2||

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: paddymac
Date: 29 Dec 01 - 02:51 AM

The Mudcat is truly an amazing thing. This thread is now four days old, and the bbc just "broke" the story today. It still hasn't hit the local rags here in the piney woods country of north Florida.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Dec 01 - 12:48 PM

We were seeing sad pictures of roos fleeing across the bush, and teenaged suspects being collared by police on ABC News. We, of course, have our own equally irresponsible teenagers and adults in this country, although none of them are resident in Maine.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: WyoWoman
Date: 29 Dec 01 - 01:33 PM

Bob-- * In the U.S. some pilot projects are proving that the very best brush control is large herds of goats. There are people who are getting contracts now to bring their herds into the forests to clear the underbrush, then they move them on to the next brushy forest. It's far superior to starting a "controlled" burn, which have been the source of so many of our worst wildfires. * Also, I'd like to hear a recording of the song you posted. What CD, d'ya know? * AND ... I'm in eastern Kansas now, no longer Wyoming. Just retained the WyoWoman moniker because KansasKid wasn't quite as descriptive. Besides, it'd be too complicated to retrain all you Mudcateers to recognize the New Me. ;->

Nerd-- thanks for that poem. It brought a tear to mine eye, even though it's probably one of those trite things that you all have heard all your lives and are sick of.

What on earth possessed the teenagers to set these fires? (I don't have television ... only NPR and it hasn't been covering this as far as I can tell ... )

ww

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Dec 01 - 01:36 PM

Hell of a way to start the New Year. Stay safe friends. Any new word on Alison?

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 29 Dec 01 - 06:46 PM

G'day,

WyoWoman: Goats are an evil feral pest in this country ... they eat everything and have no natural predators, so using hem to clear brush is suspect. the proven method (~60 000 years worth) is what shaped these forests ... gentle winter burns by intelligent, concerned residents. When people let the bush "grow free" - they are dooming it to 5 - 8 years cycles of destruction.

BTW: The papers are talking lots about teenagers ... the definite arsonist sightings and descriptions I have heard about were all middle-aged men!

SINSULL: Alison will be up at Gulgong, for the New Year Revels. Her home is pretty suburban ... away from the bush fringes, and should be quie safe. (Gulgong did have a fire alert on an outer road, but the township is reasonably clear.)

Regards,

Happy New Year to all,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Haruo
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 12:25 AM

Based on data supplied by Bob, I have posted The Three Drovers, with a rough MIDI, in my online hymnal. And here is a picture of the melody (w/ chords and lyrics).

Liland

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 06:58 AM

G'day Liland,

I have MIDIs as well for all the carols I posted ... they are a straightforward save from MusicTime ... I can e-mail them to your private address ... when I dig them out.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 09:51 AM

WyoWoman: Eastern Kansas now, eh? I wrote a song about losing my reverse gear in Kansas.. goes..

"I was driving out in Kansas where the land grows flat Where you wave at the wheat and the wheat waves back Where the road keeps going just as far as you can see And I pity any dog that's looking for a tree."

I know it ain't Australia, but I wanted to say Hi to Bob, anyway. I keep seeing this thread going on. I hope that the firest have long since died down.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: nutty
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 11:40 AM

Just been watching the TV reports (BBC) and things seem as bad as ever. There's a huge pall of smoke hanging over Sydney and being outside must be most unpleasant.
Once again , all credit must go to the firefighters ..... I hope they, and everyone else, keep safe

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 01:18 PM

*wishing all the residents of OZ a speedy respite from this unwelcome Christmas gift...stay safe!*

several posts have mentioned poems and stories by Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson....in case anyone would like easy access to most of their writings, listings may be found from several sources... a good place is for Lawson and

is some places the works are in HTML format, some have plain text. (I downloaded "The Man from Snowy River" and a couple other things months back)

The "Books Online" site has extensive listings of things that you would ordinarily have to search thru several libraries for....and if you don't live near a major city, this is an invaluble resource.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 01:22 PM

*sigh*..in too much hurry.... here are the URLs cleaned up

Lawson

Patterson

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 06:31 PM

More grim images of Sydney and the suburbs enshrouded in smoke on the CNN website. Looks terrible from here for man or beast, although I understand the vegetation has adapted to bush fires. Just a week or so ago Judy and I were there watching roos graze in the fields, bright colored parrots flying through the trees, and one fat wombat snoozing by the river. Damn!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Blackcatter
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 07:06 PM

Hope everyone is safe in the Sydney area. Like Paddymac mentioned earlier - I haven't really heard word one on the news about this in Central Florida. - kind of odd, because forest and brush fires are very real threat here as well. Guess we're still only focusing on the 9/11 and its aftermath.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful collection of poetry and songs on the list. This thread is a wonderful example of the 3 things I like most about Mudcat. Friends connecting, good music, and interesting trivia.

as alison (my Santee) always says:

slainte

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,hrothgar
Date: 30 Dec 01 - 09:29 PM

Some people should remember that "idyllic bushland setting" in the real estate agent's ad means "firetrap" in real life.

I tend to have unpopular opinions.....

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Blackcatter
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 01:40 AM

hrothgar...

You're at least right on one account. Those who live in the bush should accept that fires also live in the bush. We get that with beach erosion and people wanting to hold onto their ocean front property. The same is true with sinkholes - people do not check where they buy property if it is prone to sinkholes and then complain when one swallows their house. pax yall

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 01:52 AM

G'day Jerry, Charle, blackcatter et al,

Things are improving. We did not get the really bad (hot and windy) conditions feared, over the weekend. Winds and temperature have kept low; firefighters have mostly been able to burnback and hold containment lines ... today (5.50 pm, new year's eve) is cool, with variable, bud mostly north / east, onshore winds ... and they have clerared the NEw Year's Eve Fireworks spectacular! (Well, they can't really set fire to the Harbour ... and they paid for the whole shebang a year ago ...).

Regards,

Happy and safe new year to all,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 09:11 AM

Good to get your update, Bob. How are you planning to greet the New Year? Is the Bush Band planning a dance hours away in the outback or are you planning a quiet party at home? Judy and I are skipping Portland's New Year celebration, opting for the stay-at-home get-together with our 3 cats. Maybe a special round of catnip for them, and another nip for us.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 12:04 AM

G'day Charley Noble,

: ... How are you planning to greet the New Year? ..." By the time you posted that question, Patricia and I had greeted the New Year with a toast in champagne, over at the home of friends Kathy, David and their kids Sarah and Harriet ... and quietly tacked on a few more sips at 1.00 am Eastern Summer Time for the non-Daylight Saving Time New Year (on EST, we are 17 hours ahead of you!).

The evening was pleasant; the bushfires has been kept in check with moderate temperatures, low winds and the efforts of ten thousand firefighters; the north easterly winds cleared off the smoke pall and brought perfect conditions for the NYE fireworks (going ahead after consultation with fire authorities!). We saw a bit of it above the rooftops of Mosman, where Kathy (plays flute in Backblocks) & David live.

Very few band gigs, New Year's Eve ... too hot and evryone is watching the fireworks ... or drinking too much.

I hope you enjoyed your far cooler NYE!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 12:21 AM

G'day again, I guess I should have said that fire authorities predicted that all the fires, behind containment lines last night, could get away again in we got predicted heat and wind today.

We did get the heat - well into the 30s (C.), even on the coast, and fairly high winds with warning of another 'Southerly Buster' ... a strong, gusty cool change from the south. The 'Buster' hasn't happened yet, but there are still 100 separate fires burning ... several have got away and are threatening homes in Sydney's north west and Wollongong's outer suburbs.

BTW: I 'phoned Roo and couple of days back. She lost her back fence and the trees in her yard ... but the house was saved. I have a cousin down the road from her on the same side of the road and the fire reached her back fence as well, but there was no damage as the fence is 'Cyclone Wire' (steel frame and wire mesh) and the area is well cleared.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 08:24 AM

good grief Valda... glad you are safe... that was a close one...

thanks for your concern.... I'm back in Sydney, (wasn't at Gulgong Bob... I went to Nariel Creek.... beautiful clean air) I've just got back from 5 days in the bush about 600km from Sydney.......... so I was perfectly safe all the time......

the news report was not for "Baulkham Hills" (where I live) but for "Baulkham Hills Shire" which is a huge area... (the fire had jumped the Hawkesbury at windsor... I think)...... and nowhere near us.....

as I came back into sydney today you could see the smoke from several hundred kms away...... when the moon came up it was blood red.... then changed to orange.... the air here is horrible...

tomorrows forecast is for 39C (110F -ish!!)... and more winds.... prayers and good thoughts to all those brave firefighters....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Roo
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 12:04 AM

well, here we go again! Fire is threatening towns in the Blue Mountains yet again - it has been going on for a week now! For anyone who is interested, we've documented the bushland which was hit by fire a week ago.

Bushfire in the Blue Mountains

There are thumbnail images which can be clicked on to see larger photos. It was hard at first to get images that show the real devastation as the smoke gave an orange filtered effect which made the images look quite attractive! As the days passed and the green pockets died from heat stress, the true extent can be seen. Sadly still very little wildlife to be seen. The pic on the first page is taken from our bedroom window.

Hi Alison!

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 07:13 AM

looks bad Roo...........

I remember after the last big fires going up to Anvil rock outside Blackheath and looking out over the trees that had been burnt.........

they were all the colours of Autumn... looked quite pretty until you realised that it was because they were burnt...

stay safe

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: alison
Date: 06 Jan 02 - 07:06 PM

good news... it is absolutely pouring down in Sydney..... after 18 days with no rain.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 06 Jan 02 - 07:25 PM

G'day Alison and all,

It looks pretty good - I can't get a radar image right now, but an earlier one showed rainfall coming in from the norh west, over most of the fire-affected areas (and I just heard mention of flooding in Orange ...?!?).

Ah well that's Australia - I can remember being in Forbes (west of the Blue Mts) a few years back when there was a bushfire alert for the town ... and a flood alert for the Lachlan River (rain that fell elsewhere ... in the Abercrombie Mts!).

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Jan 02 - 08:01 PM

Thank the Great Thunder God for rain! The name HE went by in the hills of Ethiopia back in the 1960's was "Boja"; he was particularly fond of mead served up in a ram's horn.

Sure hope the damage is not as extensive and devastating as it appears on CNN.

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 06 Jan 02 - 09:38 PM

G'day Charley,

If we get a good stretch of rain, particularly in February, most of the bushland that the media has described as 'destroyed' will look fairly green ... but it will be 'recovery growth', sprouting straight out of the naked trunks of the eucalypts. This will fuel the regrowth of the crown leaves over winter.

However, these fires, because of reduced winter hazard reduction (a combination of increased Naitional Park areas, increased Government paperwork to arrange hazard reduction and some degree of misguided prevention by people who don't want to allow the hazard reduction that has shaped this bushland for 60 000 years, at least) have been hotter than any we have known. A particularly nasty phenomenon of this year's fires, has been the number of times that a low level fire has been through an area and then a few days later, the same patch of bush burns again when a wind change brings the fire back. I don't yet know how well these trees will recover, but regular - preferably as mild, winter fires, is natural to these forests.

You get some damned silly people writing to the papers. One bloke I read a week or so back claimed that "experiments had shown that bush that was not burnt back (hazard reduced) would show an increase in rain forest growth" ...! Rubbish - a vast experiment that is still smouldering, has just shown, for the third time in a decade, that bushland that is allowed accumulate tonnes of undergrowth will cyclically burn to blackened cinders ... and the only species that will come back are the fire-adapted eucalypts and the wattle scrubs that leave hardened seeds in the earth to be cracked open by the next bushfire.

Damn ... I'm getting annoyed!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 06 Jan 02 - 10:10 PM

G'day Again,

I suppose I had better get back here, before someone else chides me over it, and say I was getting a bit steamed up over the murky problems of hazard reduction ... but the property damage is currently Aust$70 million and rising.

I think we will be lucky to get out of this under Aust$100 million ... and that's if the fires are all extinguished by today's rain plus the efforts of some 20 000 firefighters from all over Australia!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Christmas in NSW, Australia - Bushfires
From: GUEST,sandra
Date: 07 Jan 02 - 07:22 AM

11pm Monday - radio news reports 80 fires are still burning around the state - Sydney is calmer than it was a few days ago, the rain helped but didn't fall everywhere (some places had minor floods - typical Australia - "droughts & flooding rains" as Dorethea McKeller said in "My Country"). The complete state-wide fire ban has been lifted in 2 areas (including Sydney metropolitan), but could be re-imposed.

However folks have been evacuted south of Sydney & today 2 Erikson Air-Crane helitankers arrived in pieces from Oregon to join the one already here. They will be ready for use tommorow afternoon. These helitankers disperse enormous amounts of water & have impressed everyone.

No homes were lost today & people have returned to their homes. Any fire contained can still flare up again, said the expert from fire headquarters. Lower temperatures & southerly winds are predicted tomorrow, but these winds will aggrevate fires. I'm off to bed now & who knows what tomorrow's news will bring.