This is a post I did back in 2014 and when I was looking at all the old posts on my old blog I came across this one and thought we need to be reminded of this. Once again summer is coming and we haven’t had the rain that other parts of the country have, so that puts us in danger of bushfires. There hasn’t been any yet, and maybe we will be lucky. I really hope we are. I hope everyone in the country stays safe and doesn’t lose their home this summer from any fires.
In Australia, Summer starts on the 1st of December, and while we tend to think of summer as hot weather, beaches, sand, barbecues, water, flies, and snakes, there is something else that usually happens that none of us want to think about, bushfires. There are always fires here, somewhere. It is the unfortunate reality of a country like Australia, there will be fires, and we just hope they aren’t anywhere near us and that the loss of life will be nil or close to that. The other day, I was back up in Kinglake, taking another look at how the bush area there is growing, and I also went to some areas that I hadn’t been to before.
In February it will be 6 six years since the worse bushfires in Australian history, the Black Saturday fires. It all happened, pretty much, in one day, 173 people lost their lives and 2100 homes were destroyed, and it is something that none of us ever want repeated. Now, 6 years later the communities are still rebuilding and the only place where you can still be reminded of the fires is the bushland. The new trees are growing, but the dead wood of the burned trees still dominant over the landscape.
Kinglake was one of the worst-affected areas, with the fires decimating the surrounding area. The bushland around Kinglake, the national park, was completely destroyed, and most homes around it were as well.
I love going back and watching how the area is slowly growing back. One day, you will hardly be able to see the dead trees sticking up out of the canopy.
There are already areas that have regenerated enough that it is almost impossible to tell that the fires went through there.
So I thought I would dedicate this post to the bushfires and the victims as a reminder to all of us that we need to be vigilant and that we need to be very careful, especially anywhere where a fire could start. The black Saturday fires were close to home for me, they stopped less than 30 kms from my home, and if the wind hadn’t changed when it did, well, a lot more people would have been homeless.
This is what summer in Australia can be, it is part of what happens here, and we have to be prepared for it. I should apologise, I didn’t mean it to be a morbid post, but more a reminder of what was and what is now.
I’ve seen some photos of the snowstorm that has hit part of the states, and I hope everyone there is safe and sound. I also hope the snow has stopped. Take care if you live there, Amy if you are reading this, I mean you. So I will leave you with a gallery now, my reminder of what can happen, but also how much we recover and move on.
We need to be reminded of what we had, and lost. If not all will be gone…as I hear the sound of trees being lost forever.
That’s true Ted, thankfully here the trees have adjusted to fire since the first people started living here, so they always come back.
Fire does ultimately help with the forests and land. We have controlled burns often. So often I have driven right into the middle of one a few times 😂😂. These burns control growth, dead vegetation, and actually reseed the pine forest.
It does, we are meant to have them, but with the country being run by volunteers and only being able to do them on weekends, means the conditions that are good for them don’t happen enough, so it doesn’t get done properly, so we end up with fires like we had in 2019. Pine trees here just die after fires, but the native eucalyptus need fires to germinate and grow.
Sending rainy thoughts your way…
Yes please Tracy, thanks.
Life goes on…….hope!
It certainly does, you probably can’t even tell that there were fires there now. Thanks Geoff.
A timely reminder, thank you, Leanne. I think we all need to remember those people that lost their lives and the towns than were decimated.
When I was a small child, I well remember the bushfire that came up the back of the hill where we lived in Ringwood. Perhaps a mile or two away. We had our caravan and car packed ready to move out when there was a wind change and our home was saved. Back in those days I think you didn’t move out until the fire was very close, whereas nowadays, they evacuate many hours (if not days before) if possible.
I do have photos taken in the RBG in South Yarra on 11th February 2014 when the air was thick and almost looked like fog, the bush fires were so close to Melbourne. I think that was the hottest day on record in Melbourne at 46C +. All the plants in my apartment garden were roasted brown and not a green leaf in sight. Literally. Same with the Botanic Gardens.,although there were a few green leaves in the RBG probably due to the water catchments and lakes.
Yes, I agree Vicki, I think it is good to remmeber too.
The fires in 2009 are the closest fires to me ever, thankfully. We do have parkland near by, and that is always a bit of a worry. I wouldn’t try and save my house, I would go.
The hottest day was 2009 Vicki, the black saturday fires. I was always curious how I we didn’t get much smoke here, but when the fires were in the highlands we had smoke for days. That was hard. Yeah, the garden likes sun, but not hot days. Thank you Vicki.
hopefully no return to the fires this year
Hopefully,though the state I live in hasn’t had a lot of rain, that isn’t good, but we are getting more now, so fingers crossed.
This is a great post and the reality of living in a hot country. I remember the bush fires well in 2019 and hope every year it never becomes that extreme again.
Yeah it is the reality, we have fires every year, somewhere in the country. I think Victoria might get it this year with our lack of rain. Let’s hope the bits we have been getting will continue. Sadly I think we will see a repeat of 2019, especially if our gov won’t do anything about climate change. We are going to suffer more and it will get worse sadly. Thank you.
Yes I think you’re right sadly, it will continue to get worse. I’m hoping we had a lot of rain in NSW, we might be ok. I feel so bad for the environment and all the wildlife too. Also the smoke can’t be good for us.
Oh yes, you guys in NSW have had so much, too much probably. I do too, it is very sad when they happen. Definitely not. The smoke is bad for everyone. Let’s hope for a wet summer, and no fires.
Absolutely 🙏🏽
😊😊
Nature is resilient and takes back what was destroyed. Your beautiful images tell that story!
That is so true Anne, thank you.
Well done for revisiting….a timely reminder
Very much so, thanks Sue.