Bushfires & staying behind to protect one's home
well its been a long time, too long.
Ive been busy with working on the house, enjoying the finished product & trying to clean up madly before the bushfires.
We have been hit by the driest January / February period for Melbourne's history.
Two weeks ago with temperatures reaching 47C (a new record for Melbourne), fires swept across many areas of the state, and hundreds of lives lost. Worst bushfire ever for Australia. There are probably very few people in Melbourne who didn't have relatives or friends affected.
This week was my turn, a bushfire in the nearby park, Birdlands was on fire. It was a 35C day (a 'normal' hot summers day) and the fire raced south from Upwey, not too much of a threat to me, but a big threat to Lysterfield, a fair distance away. The the wind was turning to come from the southwest, and I live about 2km northeast of the fire front. I decided to drive home to protect the house from ember attack, especially since the area where my house was now roadblocked off and a CFA warning
"residents south of Burwood Highway and Belgrave Gembrook Road between Morris Road, Upwey to the west, and Temple Road to the east"
So it was race back home, dodge all the roadblocks by going via tiny little back streets. The make sure I had my protective clothes.
The smoke kept getting thicker and thicker during the evening, and everytime I went outside the smoke was chocking, so I dug up my old boy scout scarf, wetted it and tied it around my face so I could breath through it.
Kept updating the CFA link, to find that 299 tire trucks had been deployed on the fire at one stage, well less after a couple were destroyed.
Here's a map of the fire at the time of the wind change, with the firefront heading directly towards me.
I expected the CFA to stop the firefront so I only had to worry about ember attack, of course with what happened to all those people on Black Saturday and whole towns being wipe out, I couldn't be certain that the CFA could stop it, but the weather was closer to normal conditions, and I was really hoping that no firestorm would flow up the valley from the parkland.
So Monday night I was up till very late, ready for the embers with wheelie bins full of water & a spa filled ready to be bucketed out.
The neighbors on either side of me evacuated, however the one who helped me with all the building left his cat behind, as it was hiding at the time, so with the aid of food, I locked him im the house, so if I evacuated the cat would go with me, but If I became trapped, well, the cat you share my fate.
But both I & the cat survived. No damage to the property. No ember attack after all
Racing up the hill after dodging police roadblocks to get to my house before the fire got there
the wind changes and blows smoke from the fires
Smoke from the fires
coming down the following morning, the last of the emergency vehicles
A fire ravaged hillside
Oops, they left too early, the fires are back
Elvis the firefighting helicopter
being moved on as the fires were on their way back
and some photos from a local paper (Herald Sun)
Taken from Lysterfield South looking north east towards the fire that is rapidly building close to Upwey, Tecoma and Belgrave Heights.
The blaze, which started as a small grass fire, threatens houses in Upwey.
Elvis dumps water on spot fires over Mt Morton Reserve in Belgrave South.
A CFA truck waits on standby on Hallam-Belgrave Road in Belgrave South as the smoke from the fire continues to build overhead.
Herald Sun reader Glenn sent this picture of Elvis dropping water on the fire in Upwey.
Ive been busy with working on the house, enjoying the finished product & trying to clean up madly before the bushfires.
We have been hit by the driest January / February period for Melbourne's history.
Two weeks ago with temperatures reaching 47C (a new record for Melbourne), fires swept across many areas of the state, and hundreds of lives lost. Worst bushfire ever for Australia. There are probably very few people in Melbourne who didn't have relatives or friends affected.
This week was my turn, a bushfire in the nearby park, Birdlands was on fire. It was a 35C day (a 'normal' hot summers day) and the fire raced south from Upwey, not too much of a threat to me, but a big threat to Lysterfield, a fair distance away. The the wind was turning to come from the southwest, and I live about 2km northeast of the fire front. I decided to drive home to protect the house from ember attack, especially since the area where my house was now roadblocked off and a CFA warning
"residents south of Burwood Highway and Belgrave Gembrook Road between Morris Road, Upwey to the west, and Temple Road to the east"
So it was race back home, dodge all the roadblocks by going via tiny little back streets. The make sure I had my protective clothes.
The smoke kept getting thicker and thicker during the evening, and everytime I went outside the smoke was chocking, so I dug up my old boy scout scarf, wetted it and tied it around my face so I could breath through it.
Kept updating the CFA link, to find that 299 tire trucks had been deployed on the fire at one stage, well less after a couple were destroyed.
Here's a map of the fire at the time of the wind change, with the firefront heading directly towards me.
I expected the CFA to stop the firefront so I only had to worry about ember attack, of course with what happened to all those people on Black Saturday and whole towns being wipe out, I couldn't be certain that the CFA could stop it, but the weather was closer to normal conditions, and I was really hoping that no firestorm would flow up the valley from the parkland.
So Monday night I was up till very late, ready for the embers with wheelie bins full of water & a spa filled ready to be bucketed out.
The neighbors on either side of me evacuated, however the one who helped me with all the building left his cat behind, as it was hiding at the time, so with the aid of food, I locked him im the house, so if I evacuated the cat would go with me, but If I became trapped, well, the cat you share my fate.
But both I & the cat survived. No damage to the property. No ember attack after all
Racing up the hill after dodging police roadblocks to get to my house before the fire got there
the wind changes and blows smoke from the fires
Smoke from the fires
coming down the following morning, the last of the emergency vehicles
A fire ravaged hillside
Oops, they left too early, the fires are back
Elvis the firefighting helicopter
being moved on as the fires were on their way back
and some photos from a local paper (Herald Sun)
Taken from Lysterfield South looking north east towards the fire that is rapidly building close to Upwey, Tecoma and Belgrave Heights.
The blaze, which started as a small grass fire, threatens houses in Upwey.
Elvis dumps water on spot fires over Mt Morton Reserve in Belgrave South.
A CFA truck waits on standby on Hallam-Belgrave Road in Belgrave South as the smoke from the fire continues to build overhead.
Herald Sun reader Glenn sent this picture of Elvis dropping water on the fire in Upwey.
