![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20191229_135635.jpg\")
<\/a>A stark reminder on an age-old sign near our property – the risk of fire is extreme<\/p><\/div>\n
For all its beauty and benefits Australia can present some serious challenges for those who live here. This big brown land is vulnerable to years-long drought followed by devastating floods, throw in the odd cyclone, then go back to interminable drought. And then lay over the top of this the worst four letter F word of all time \u2013 fire. Australia does fires better \u2013 or worse \u2013 than anywhere else on earth and this summer huge swathes of the country have been decimated by its relentless and unforgiving destruction. And we should know because amongst many hundreds of thousands of other Australians we\u2019ve become a victim of fire this summer.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>First impressions – the sad look of the blackened land on our narrow winding road leading down into our valley<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
The summer fire season is getting longer each year and this\none started back in September as fires spread across multiple states, including\nin the national parks just to the west of Sydney. The fires were usually started\nby lightning strikes which found ample fuel in dead foliage, leaves, grass,\ntrees and bushes that had gone brown and lifeless due to the prolonged\ndrought. We started hearing about over\n200 fires in NSW alone, most out of control, many burning property and homes as\nthey swept through rural communities. \nAnd Sydney, a city of five million people, now had a ring of fires all\naround it.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>This is not promising – the drive just to get to our property gave me a taste of what was to come<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
By mid-December we knew our beloved property in the Wolgan Valley on the western side of the Blue Mountains was in danger. They closed the valley to everyone except residents, such was the imminent threat of fire and the road being the only way in and out of the valley. I went to the property on 17 December and saw the destruction already wrought \u2013 fires had swept through the gap that connects the valley to the outside world, the land and trees all blackened. I cut down trees that were near our shed and partly-built home (which did not have any insurance because it was not at lock-up stage yet) and ran the slasher on our tractor over all the nearby dead grasses. I wanted to minimise as much fuel as possible for an approaching fire. <\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>Hmm…the fire up on the escarpment behind our place was getting closer<\/p><\/div>
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<\/a>I cut down trees that were close to our shed and water tank – this one fell the wrong way and grazed the tank before hitting the ground<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n
On Thursday the 19th<\/sup> I returned alone for another\nday trip, again to check on the place and take further precautions to protect\nour property. I worked all day to clear the land and make the place as\nfire-proof as possible but the fire was approaching on the escarpment to the\nwest and from the north. There was more\nwork to be done before the fire arrived and I used a neighbour\u2019s Wi-Fi to call\nJulie and tell her I was safe but I was planning to stay another night to\nfurther shore up our defences. <\/p>\n\n\n The fire coming from the north was unexpected but getting very scary<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The fire grew as it burned up the escarpment and had moved from the west to join up with the fire in the north<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n What’s a guy to do in an emergency but open a beer and contemplate life<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n That evening around 8pm the fire crossed a neighbour\u2019s\nproperty to our north and began its relentless sweep across our 200 acres. I drove out to the site and stood in horror\nas our beloved property burned, there wasn\u2019t a thing I could do. The dead grass burned quietly but a fallen\nlog or a cluster of trees would light up the early evening darkness and made\nfor an eerie and somewhat scary scene. I\nshed my first tear.<\/p>\n\n\n The moment I’ll never forget…I drove around to the back paddock and saw the fire moving across the large open space, burning piled fire wood and trees as it relentlessly moved towards me<\/p><\/div>\n Here’s a video I took of that first encounter… <\/p>\n First encounter with fire<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n That night I woke every hour to check on the progress of the fire, conscious it was slowly moving towards our house. The smoke was thick and the noise from the fire \u2013 who knew fire was so frighteningly loud \u2013 was like a crashing train as it raced up the thickly wooded escarpment walls. It was an awesome, if not totally destructive and intimidating, display of an unstoppable force.<\/p>\n\n\n The fire put on a spectacular display that night as the escarpment burned in several spots; the noise of the fire was like no other<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n The next morning was cool and calm, thick smoke hanging over the valley, the fire slowly burning through the leaves and ground cover on the ridge in front of our house. I devised a plan to use the fire trails on our property as natural fire breaks, clearing ground cover around them, hoping that the fire would die when it ran out of fuel. I had already loaded our 200 litre water tank that we use for spraying blackberries onto the back of our ute and filled it with water from the dam. My last line of defence would be this water and I knew I wouldn\u2019t have time to fill the tank a second time.<\/p>\n\n\n The fire showed no mercy – an old loggers wagon left in the trees probably 50 years ago went up in flames<\/p><\/div> The fire approaching my well maintained fire break – I was confident I could stop this fire<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n But I was na\u00efve. The\nfire toyed with me for a short while, resting up against my fire breaks,\nwaiting for the wind to change which it inevitably did, and then easily jumping\nthe containment line, embers flying over my head and landing on the other side\nto continue its onward journey. Two\nhours of back-breaking hard work in searing heat with my metal rake was all for\nnought. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
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