It’s raining in that beautiful steady way outside and I wonder whether all those who have battled bushfires in the ironically ‘Red Centre’ and north of here, into Queensland have had their burdens eased…
Who would have ever thought that this sparse grazing country, that up until last year I have only known during my duration as a resident, as bare of all things burnable, would take such a quick turn into fire country, and so quickly and easily? The term ‘bushfires’ and outback haven’t met in my vocabulary until now…in fact it’s a joining of words – bushfire prone, that I never thought I’d utter…
But here we have it, and graziers, the smart ones who have been here for decades and generations, are preparing for an intense summer of spotfires, should the pattern be followed from just the last week alone. While in the state next door, there are probably exhausted graziers and workers who haven’t even begun to count the cost of the feed, fencing and stock they’ve lost in fires that burned for over a week...
No, once again Dorothea Mackellar was right in her description of extremes in this land of sweeping plains…And there is no free pass to a good season. When you’ve got no feed you’re frustrated and broke, and when you’ve got beautiful grassy paddocks, you risk a freak lightning strike and a run away blaze…
On the weather channel just now the clouds delivering rain are sweeping across the areas hit hardest by lightning strikes and the resultant fire.
I hope the tractors and dozers are resting now from the intense activity of fire breaks and the rush to protect all that they can…
