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They run, they hide. Crawl into caves, into rotting tree trunks, others hide behind rocks. Some climb the tallest trees. Others burrow into the ground. Unfortunatly it is all in vain as a 60 foot wall of fire is heading their way!! No Escape. No place to hide. Even some of the birds cannot escape. The smoke blinds them and they fall helplessly to the ground below. The fire moves with such speed. Engulfing acre after acre of once beautiful bushland. One of our National Parks in NSW is 80% burnt out as these words are written. Fire is not new to this part of the country. Summer is upon us and the temperatures rise. All it takes is a careless camper forgetting to put his fire out, a cigarette flicked carelessly from a passing motorist, even a lightning strike can cause these monsters. However this year, it is much more worrying as a large percentage of the fires are thought to be deliberty lit. Why would someone do this? Someone who has never seen the end result, the hurt, the devastation of a family who has lost everything. A real sense of urgency now, homes are being threatened. Businesses are being lost, evacuations daily. Australias best, the firefighters are already on the scene. They work between ten and twelve hours a day to save peoples homes. Everyone cheers when another home is saved. Some people come home to a smoldering pile of ashes that once was their home. They loose a few too. The people cry. These brave men and women do everything they can. They pump water from swimming pools, dams, gardens hoses, but when your fighting a fire with 60 - 80 foot high flames and a 25 kilometer front, you may as well have a water pistol. You can see the hurt and the disappointment in their eyes. Yes, they will keep fighting together with all the interstate firefighters at their sides. You can see the true blue Australian, never say die attitude in each and every one of them. I take my hat off to you men and women. Thank you for your strength, courage and sacrifice for most of you dear people didn't spend Christmas this year with your families, but were saving someone elses family. Our prayers are with you. Our prayers are with the victims who have lost so much. Our prayers are with the wild life casualties. Our prayers are for rain.  |
