The Fire
Written Late Sunday Night, 19 January
We watched the fires come at us over the
hills. We live in Percy Crescent, Chapman,
just off Hindmarsh Drive and look North West.
We could see heavy smoke in the distance
at lunch time. It was a Saturday morning
and we were catching up on the weekend papers
and expecting the fires to burn in the distance
and be a backdrop to a hot, dry weekend.
The fire moved closer and we could see flames
in the distance. They looked bright, almost
cheerful but distant. The wind was blowing
from the west and it looked as though the
smoke was passing over new parliament house
and that the fires might be traveling that
way.
Half an hour later the flames were much more
visible and closer. They looked as though
they were moving east and would pass us by.
The sky to the west was clear and the wind
was blowing harder but across our view of
the burning pine plantations.
Finally, I decided that maybe things weren't
as safe as I had thought. I put on jeans
and sneakers and a tee-shirt. Not the sort
of clothes normally worn on a hot Saturday
morning in a Canberra summer. Shorts and
thongs are much more usual.
Feeling a bit foolish, I ran out a hose in
the back yard and another in the front. I
even got out the ladder and put it up at
the front of the house. For the first time
since we had bought the place in August I
went up and had a look around. The gutters
were empty, thanks to the previous owner
who knew what he was doing when he had built
the house over twenty years ago and who had
not let last autumn's leaves gather in dangerous
places.
The view from the roof was not alarming,
yet. I played around with the hose, working
out how to spray the tiles and the trees
I could see from my vantage point. The fires
were getting closer, but not too close. I
still had time to go back down and check
with my wife, Lyndsey, what we would do if
the fires came closer. She was going to stay
out the back and keep the decking wet and
I was to get back on the roof and put out
flying embers as they landed. Looking back,
the ignorance and naivety is almost comical.
Suddenly the wind was blowing like a hurricane
and the fire was upon us. The grass on the
plain between us and the pine forest was
alight. This wasn't supposed to happen. The
trees were miles away and grass doesn't burn
and spit embers. The equestrian centre was
between us and the pine forests, we shouldn't
be threatened by bush fire.
Within about what seemed like a minute, the
fire moved from the open area across from
Kathner Street into the gardens in front
of us.
Lyndsey was on the decking in the back garden
watching the fire come at us horizontally.
The wind and noise was tremendous. Embers,
flame and burning plants went past her, eastwards,
- into next doors' garden and house which
exploded into flames.
I was on the roof hiding from the heat and
flames coming over the roof. All I could
do was spray water over my jeans, arms and
tee-shirt to protect myself from the embers.
I remember thinking, "why are my arms
black?", and realising as I washed the
dirt off them that I was getting covered
in a thick layer of ash.
I looked around and saw that the fire had
caught hold in the front garden. It had started
burning the vegetation strip that runs between
our house and the one on the other, western
side which, thankfully, had not been touched
by the flames.
It was then I noticed that the ladder was
not there. It was lying on the ground, where
the wind had taken it. I had a choice - stay
where I was and be totally useless or jump.
A 15-foot drop later saw me crawling around
the front garden in agony. I had landed on
my left heel and it hurt. I had sensations
of bone rubbing against each other, but the
fire was burning down the hedge towards the
house.
If the fire took hold along the property
boundary and reached the bushes under the
eaves, it was likely to get into the roof
cavity. This was not something I wanted to
happen, considering that's how most houses
burn down.
I managed to drag myself and my garden hose
with its rapidly diminishing flow of water
up to the flames and after what seemed an
age, doused the fire and stopped it progressing
along the hedge.
I then noticed that a bush, just the one
in a garden of many, near the front door
was burning. After a lot of crawling and
untangling of hosepipe I was able to make
an effort to put it out. Fortunately, a neighbour
from across the street arrived with his hose
and helped control the flames that were heading
off down the drive towards the house.
I hobbled off round the back of the house
where Lyndsey was still trying to keep the
decking wet, while she watched trees and
next door go up in flames. She told me later
she had a fit of the giggles, standing there
with a dribble of water coming out of the
hose while fires raged and houses were destroyed.
I managed to hop up the stairs to the decking
and had a look around. This was the first
time I saw what Lyndsey had been through
while I was cowering on the roof. The large
trees in our garden were bursting into flames,
all our fences had gone, electricity cables
were sparking in the wind, gas mains were
exploding and the paint work on the down
pipes of our house was peeling off in the
radiant heat from next door.
It wasn't too long before we decided that
we had better get out of there. Going was
a difficult decision to make. It seemed as
though the worst might be over as a lot of
the trees and bushes had gone. Next door
was burning fiercely but didn't look as though
it would spread. On the other hand, I couldn't
do much with a foot that was starting to
attract attention. I could crawl, hop or
fall over. Not much help in a life-threatening
situation. We decided to live to fight another
day and got out of there. I took my laptop
computer, mobile phone a pair of jeans I
had just bought, a couple of pairs of underpants
and socks. Lyndsey had her wedding ring and
handbag. Neither of us had a watch, handkerchief
or comb. We didn't expect to find much when
we returned.
We got in the car, with me driving - a broken
foot doesn't rate much when there are flames
to drive through - and headed off to the
hospital. We drove down our street past many
houses burning like beacons and turned left
down Darwinia Terrace. The car on fire on
the street corner didn't look out of place,
even though it wasn't expected.
We were rather taken aback by the sight of
an electricity power pole swinging in the
wind in front of us. It didn't have a base
and was being held up by the cables. Without
much choice, we shot past it up to Hindmash
Drive and turned right towards Woden.
That was when we realised just how dark it
was. This was four o'clock in the afternoon
and it was pitch black. The car headlights
were worse than useless because of the thick
smoke so I turned them off and drove by the
light of burning trees and houses until it
cleared.
The traffic up until the Tuggeranong Parkway
was heavy in both directions. Traffic lights
were out and police and emergency services
people were everywhere. From there it was
reasonably clear, but still very dark and
smokey.
Canberra hospital was busy but didn't look
overwhelmed. The staff were amazing and could
not have done more. We got there at about
4:30 and left at 11:00pm after two lots of
X-rays and an appointment on Monday morning
for a CT scan. The social worker had arranged
for a hotel room and we finally got to sleep
at about 1:00am not knowing if we had a house
or just a pile of debris. I didn't sleep
much that night.
We decided next morning to try and buy some
clothes, but Lyndsey heard people in the
car park talking about getting back into
Duffy and Chapman. We decided to give it
a go and headed off dreading what we might
find. After being told that we had to leave
the car and walk the last mile or so, we
noticed cars going up Kathner from the other
direction. We managed to sneak in past fallen
power lines and burned-out houses, up our
road and into our drive.
The experience of seeing our house sitting
there, untouched, will live in us forever.
We both burst into tears. It's one thing
to say that it's your life that's important,
but the thought of losing over 30 years of
family history and memories hurts.
It seems that I have shattered my left heel
and we have lost our garden. Of the eight
neighours around our house, five have lost
their homes. We will be looking at empty
blocks and reminders of a horrendous experience
for months if not years.
At least I have my house, a wife who gets
to boss me around for a while, and an injury
that will heal.
I don't know why it happened or why we got
off so lightly. I do not blame the authorities
for anything. Our road is miles from the
bush, the fire came over acres of grass in
very low humidity and driven by high winds.
We saw it approaching from about 15 kilometres
away and were stunned that it came so fast.
One fire truck per house may have helped
but no society can afford such a civil defence.
Maybe there will be changes to the way Canberra
manages the way it sits in the bush. Canberra
people have already been changed because
of the fires. I don't yet know how I have
been changed, but the memory of that day
in January, will stay around for a while
yet.
This story was writen for ABC News On-line
and appeared on their website http://abc.net.au/news/indepth/featureitems/s766029.htm
Bernard and Lyndsey Robertson-Dunn's Canberra
bushfire website
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