Victoria Ablaze!

I know I often complain about Australia being backward and I guess in some respects it really is. One thing I am proud of however is the amount of volunteer support that goes in to the emergency services each year and the way Australians always pull together whenever there a crisis to help each other out. Right now is one of those times. Currently there are 100 000 hectares of drought stricken North Eastern Victoria on fire. 40 firefighters have been recruited from New Zealand to assist the 2000 firefighters already fighting that battle and authorities are worried with an expected 40 degree temperature and a northerly wind this weekend, that things are only going to get worse. It's beginning to look like that these could be the worst bushfires the country has faced since 1939. Added to this is the fact that Australia has now officially been in the grip of a draught for the last 7 years and it's very conceivable that they may just not have enough water to be able to fight the fires which have already burnt many homes to the ground and have many more at risk. One of those houses belongs to my aunt. Already emergency services have advised her to pack as many belongings as she can and prepare to leave at any time. It must be hard for her as this is the house where she lived with my uncle, the house where my uncle died and where so many family gatherings have been held. I am insanely proud thought that three members of my family make up some of the many thousands of volunteers who each year give up their time to protect and preserve the lives of fellow Australians. My youngest brother aged 21yo has just returned from doing his part in helping to do just that. He spent many long days, up to 14 hours at a time trying to save homes and lives. Now it is my mother (aged 50yo) who leaves tomorrow to go and help fight these fires. She will be working with the New Zealand recruits and is rostered to work nights on 14 hour shifts. All of this completely as a volunteer and the for the satisfaction that she played a part in protecting people, homes and wildlife. I'm a little nervous about her going and in fact I sent her a text message tonight asking her to be careful and questioning why she didn't take up a more risk free hobby like glass painting. The fact remains that her and all the other strike teams out there fighting this fire are highly trained. They give up hours of their time each weekend to attend training, to run fire drills, to learn first aid and how to control hazardous materials in the event of a spill. These are the people who are the guardians of rural Australia. The ones who attend house fires, train de-railings, road accidents and of course bushfires. These are the people who do themselves and Australia proud.

(Photo from theage.com.au - "Towns on alert as fires rage in state's east.")