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