Scary times - surrounded by [sometimes] out-of-control bush files

G'day all
For the past 2-weeks we've had a fire in grasslands & low forest burning about 10km to the west of us. It was covering an area of about 5km N-S x 2km E-W.  Depending upon the wind direction, on many occasions it has blown smoke across our small town.  While the fire has been awful for farmers 'over there' for me as a photographer, I have enjoyed the extra-colourful sunrises / sunsets.

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However yesterday with additional days of both strong winds and higher temperatures, this fire returned with a vengence, jumping the river towards us and via flying embers started new fires downwind.  All yesterday afternoon we could hear the sirens on the other side of the town, along with the aerial water bombing planes and the Fire Service spotter planes going downwind of the firefront looking for spot fires up to 1,5km out from the main fire.  

After sundown yesterday the sirens were still going as fire trucks criss-crossed the area, and we could see the glow of the fires - now about 1km away - in the smoke overhead

This morning we're back to coloured smoke all around us, along with the smell of fire for the first time.  It has burned grasslands now only a 1km to the west of my place, very scary for residents only those few streets away and closer to the drama.  Today's maps of the fire damage now show an area of about 15km N-S x 10km E-W has been affected, along with some homes & many farm sheds being lost

The local news website says
NSW fires claim homes as heat and high winds fuel blazes across the state

Residents in northern NSW have been told it is too late to evacuate their homes as bushfires burn at emergency level in the region.   The Rural Fire Service says a fire has crossed the river and is burning on the western side of Tuncurry. The fire at Tuncurry has burnt for more than a week, with strong winds fanning the flames. A fire to the west of Tuncurry which has been burning for weeks flared up this afternoon, prompting its elevation to emergency level.  High temperatures and strong winds had resulted in high fire danger across the state.  At 10:00pm AEDT there were 90 bush and grass fires burning across NSW, with 42 uncontained.

Deputy Commissioner Rogers said crews were tired and limited by the lack of water in drought-ravaged areas.  "Some of these fires … we have been dealing with them for the last two months now," he said. "It will get worse before it gets better."  RFS spokesperson Anthony Clark said conditions are expected to ease slightly on Sunday, so today is a "race against the clock".  He reminded people to report any fires to triple zero immediately.

For us now in the town, it's "just another day" - but for others more deeply involved, it's a damn sight more than that
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

Darn well dramatically illustrated story, Phil, even if I
can hardly old back the coughing reflex! Well done.

Very good shot. The first shot is my favorite. 

Thanks Kelly

Yes I also like #1 for its colour and image simplicity ~ it will probably end up on a wall in the apartment someday soon

ps- we're still encapsulated in blue smoke that stinks!
Phil

G'day all

Our local fire is out - we've just got heaps of smelly smoke haze around us. The fire authorities say that we've lost about 25,000 acres / 6000 hectares, only a few houses and many farm out buildings

Contrasting this to the TV news about California and the residential evacuations - and we seem to have been lucky

I hope that all the US locals come out of this as okay as possible
Phil

My heart goes out for you Phil. These photos are incredibly well-illustrated. 

Thanks Adam

While our local fire was a small one when compared with others it certainly had its impact ~ as does the California fires I also refer to.

What does not get much international publicity [for Aussies] are other fires in the north of the state, one of which has now been burning for 7-8 weeks, has been wind borne for about 75 miles of forest!!! in a series of stop-start outbreaks where the main fire eventually catches up with the wind-swept embers that have started another fire 5-kilometres ahead - and so on it goes. Mostly it is in national park forests, but it has devasated several small towns with dozens of houses lost along the way.

We Aussies are all too well aware of the issues with eucalypt forests and our fire service people train regularly with their fire-explosive nature in mind

Phil

G'day everyone

A quite different fire a few kilometres away from the above yesterday crossed containment lines and several 6-lane streets to enter one of our major shopping centres - it's all locked down at the moment so we do not know the damage.  The emergency services & radio/TV are broadcasting the civilian phone calls for help & radio calls from the fire trucks and it seems to be a hell for those in the middle of it

The state fire authorities on the morning news stated that so far, the state has lost about 500,000 hectares / 80,000 acres of forest & bushland + up to 100 houses and farm buildings  ~ and our summer fire season has not officially started!
(The New South Wales state is about 1,25x the size of Texas ~ &/or 1,25x size of France)

Phil