OT: Update - Canberra Wildfire

[Roger Pye]

8.30pm Sunday

A semblance of normality. Garbage (wheelie) bins out the front of houses all down the street for the regular collection tomorrow, if it happens. Temp outside about 22, very welcome cool wind from the east/southeast, the smoke blanket has cleared which protected us from the high temps forecast for today so well that the dreaded west/northwesterlys did not develop, and we even managed to make it up to a restaurant (not far away) for dinner.

But the water-bombing choppers are still flying overhead every 30 minutes or so to refill at the lake not far away and go on back to dump their loads on smoking smouldering fire-ravaged areas. The firebreak making continues, now with teams of five bulldozers running side-by-side converting enormous swathes of grass and bushland into bare dirt. For tomorrow high temps are forecast again (but not as high as first feared, 35 instead of 39) and winds.

Four confirmed dead now, no details of the last one. Temporary power restored to some of the shattered and other suburbs. Traffic lights still out of action in most areas of the south side of the city. Residents allowed to return to Holt and Duffy and Chapman for short periods under a checkpoint/registration system.

Unfortunately a lot of unfair criticism surfacing now about the apparent unpreparedness of the emergency and fire services. Except they weren't - what they were was out on the far flung flanks trying to keep the fires contained in the Namadgi National Park, and scattered across rural areas to protect property. When the fires broke through, they roared across those open areas of grassland driven by superheated winds gusting to over 70 kms an hour, flames rising to over one hundred metres. No one could get back in time to prevent them reaching the suburbs at such speeds and with such power that trees literally exploded into fireballs igniting everything around, dry or not, houses, sheds, garages, cars, power poles, even green lawns. Indeed no way the flames could have been stopped at all.

In fact the people in the emergency services have done - are still doing - a magnificent job. Many have lost houses and property but they are still out there to try and prevent a recurrence tomorrow or later.

God bless them - and you for all your thoughts and support

roger