On Saturday 19 January 2003, Canberra experienced it's worst bushfire disaster ever. I was lucky enough not to be involved - aside from having to help prepare my uncle and aunts house against spot fires.

Below is an e-mail outlining events that I sent to friends on 20 January. And the recriminations had already started. Since then there's been an influx of instant experts on anything to do with forest and fire, and much maligning of our obviously evil National Parks. My view stands - we live in a fire prone country, the weight of responsibility is on us as individuals. Preventative burning in wilderness is not an option, and we do choose where we live in the end...

I've also got some photos back - frrom Friday night - 17 January. Saturday pics will arrive once my parents send them...

..read on.

Friday 17 january 2003

One weekend in Canberra
[20 January 2003 - an e-mail sent to friends of mine]

Hi all... it's hit the world media, so in case you're wondering, here's how it all went [and is still going] down...

We've been watching smoke rise from the Brindabella ranges [southwest of canberra - steep, hard country] all week. the bush is burning unchecked in namadgi national park, the alpine national parks south of Kosciuszko in Victoria, and all through the largely unpopulated wilderness in Australia's high country.

A wary eye follows - but due to the nature of the country it is impossible - impractical to get in and actually do much. So, containment lines are bulldozed along ridges to the north and west of fire fronts near Canberra, and it's a wait.

Friday night - 17 January 2003 - a westerly wind change blows in, with strong gusts... a nightmare. And suddenly containment lines are not quite enough.

Saturday morning, it starts a clear day. The smoke of the past few days is blowing high. My parents are in town, so I cycle to my aunt and uncle's house in the south of canberra, where they're staying. The smoke is blowing in - and from their house we can see the glow of fire - still out in the brindies. it's 11am. Emergency services are aware that there could be trouble, but Canberra is not on alert-yet.

By 1pm, it's dark. We can't see the hills to the west anymore. Just an orange glow in the sky. At 2pm the fire has raced to the fringes of western Canberra. We're asked to stay home, and prepare to fight spot fires. Gusting winds from the west carry burned leaves, ash... Fires burn all along the western fringe of Canberra - an impossible fight... so the inevitable occurs. Houses are burning.

6pm - still dark - 200 houses have burned down, it's been raining ash, charred leaves and debris for hours... We make a run to check on my house, because nobody is home. Fires burn on both sides of the road heading north, but my area is relatively safe. One of my housemates has taken the only hose, so there's no point staying to defend anything. We clear any easily-burning material from the house, dampen everything and head back south. A long detour around, since we can't go back the same way...

By 8pm, the wind has changed, and the fires slow their advance... enough to back off from suburban areas. And the count begins.

Evacuation centres are busy - thousands of people spend the night camped in schools and community centres around Canberra - either counting their losses or wondering if their house will be there when they return. Many suburbs are without power or gas - sewerage treatment plants are damaged - no showers or washing clothes.

..and four people have died - from smoke inhalation, or being trapped while defending their homes.

Sunday, the weather was kind - and the recovery has started already [as have, unfortunately, the recriminations]. I spent my day working to make sure critical data was secured at work... we're not out of the woods yet.

Today, more of the same. We wait on the weather - a forecast westerly due this afternoon keeps us all on our toes.

It's been a disaster of unprecedented scale here - many Canberrans will be counting the costs, wondering how to begin again, and mourning the loss of loved ones. Many more Canberrans have no idea how lucky they are.

Fires are part of Australian life, and we're incredibly lucky that so much of Canberra has survived unscathed. No amount of human effort can control some things - and wild fires are one of those. An incredible effort by emergency services and ordinary Canberrans - and a dash of sheer luck - has kept the casualty count so low. Nothing more could have been done - no matter what anyone might say... those of us who were unaffected really were lucky.

The total cost? over 300 houses, along the fringes of Canberra's western suburbs. Incredibly, only four deaths. Thousands of acres of bush, national park, and plantation forest... a national monument - Mt Stromlo's telescopes - and the infrastructure damage that comes along with such disasters.

Summer in Australia... what a season!

Images will arrive on adstereo.net soonish - for those interested.

hope all is well in the rest of the world :-)

cheers
.a