The Fires and a childs reaction

This week has seen several fires in Gunnedah

Thankfully, i havent heard of any loss of property of life

at this stage, thank God.

But its really scary!!

Just this week there was a fire close to home

at the back of Porcupine Lookout

This is where Stu and I walk everyday,

so its not far from us....

And the really scary thing was,

was that is was buring for two days, and we didnt know!!!

We werent notified of these fires!!!
They were about 3 kms away from our place

Which really considering the windy and dryness of the land

isn't that far...

Anyway, Emelia who is 16

had been cleaning her room

and obviosuly was so worried about the fires.

She went to bed and the next day woke up with this beside the bed

Its her fire escape basket.

She did it in her sleep...and really doesn't remember much about it.

Shes got her thongs, a torch, change of clothes and a jumper, a first aid kit,

her dad's teddy bear from when he was little and her ribbons from the horse events.

And a note telling people what it is....

Thats pretty scary!!
She must have subconsciously been so worried, poor thing.

But she feels better for having everything in one place

and more power to her that she knew whats important to pack!!

Thats very grown up of her.

Here are some local photos from yesterday...

This is from the lookout...

This is overlooking the town..

The dust haize is back again..

Here is a wider view of the fire damage...

Its heaps bigger than this... This is just one tiny section.

But look how close it got to houses!!

They were so lucky!!

Our fire brigade out here is Voluntary.

I dont know about other towns.

How lucky are we that we have trained dedicated people willing to give up their time to keep us safe. And the employers of these people, that give them jobs to support their families knowing that they willl be called away from their jobs at any time to protect the communtiy!!

What a privilege that these people feel the desired to protect us.

Thank you.