It is warming up in Australia. Today we had a big fry up on the outskirts of Canberra. The Pierces Creek Bushfire is believed to have been started from a burnt-out car. With temperatures in the mid-30s (celcius) and gale force winds, the fire quickly spread and has now burnt out 147 hectares of bush and farmland. The fire is not yet under control.
We were told that the blaze is unprecedented for this time of year. Throughout the day, water-bombing planes flew overhead to deliver their load to the fire zone. The city and surrounding hills were shrouded in a pall of smoke.
As if to compensate for the fear the fire aroused, the sun set in a blaze of glory.
At my place, the crested pigeons perfectly matched the colour scheme of the day.
Hopefully the fire crews will get a break tomorrow. Our thoughts are with them.
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Kind Regards
Tracy
Response to the Ragtag Daily Prompts — Friday. Looking for blogging inspiration? Click on the link to join in the fun.
Fires like this were a problem all over Europe this last summer. Tough times. but great photos, all the same.
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We need rain desperately, Margaret. I hope there has been some decent rain in your part of the world since those terrible times.
We are getting prepared for a hot, dry summer. I need to get my pet evacuation kit ready.
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I’m so sorry. It seems like this stuff is starting earlier and earlier all over the world. ❤ 😦
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Yeah, it is not good, Martha. 😦
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😦
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Oh, no — I do hope this fire will not creep into the city of Canberra! Our fire season in California is now year-round — some of our worse fires have been in November!
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Thank you. Some good fire containment work was done overnight, so we have fingers crossed that the situation will improve.
Those fires in California are really scary. Seems a new record is broken every year!
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Yes — we used to have one nasty fire a year — last year it seemed like at least one a week! The fires are hotter and faster, and they are feeding on drought-dried brush. We are hoping for a wet (but not drenching) winter!
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Californians must dread the summer.
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It really depends upon where in California you are. In Northern California, it is cooler, and there are mountains that are snowy in the winter and generate water in spring thaws, thus rivers. In Southern California, where I live, there’s less snow, and we are truly in a desert. The droughts are more intense, and the heat is more intense. All the brush is currently dry — one small spark starts a fire (in fact one began this evening!) — and it is truly dangerous in many areas. In the summer, my eye is trained to scan the horizon at all times for signs of smoke! It’s a way of life!
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So sorry to read this and our thoughts are with the fire crews too 💜 xxx
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Thank you, Xenia. Hopefully the situation will improve soon.
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Good luck, Tracy. Hot as all heck over here too. Better today, I think.
We now have 4 months of Summer.
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Thank you, Frank. Hope it is better for you today. Still quite windy and hot here today but thankfully not as bad as yesterday. Fire crews have been doing a lot of containment work overnight so hopefully they will get it under control.
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Not bad here today, Tracy.
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That’s good news, Frank.
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I was wondering if that fire was affecting you in any way, Tracy. Stay safe…. It was an awful day here too, hot and very windy. But we were very lucky to snag a thunderstorm and 5 ml of rain.
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That’s a decent bit of rain you got, Jane. We had a storm but hardly any rain. The fire is to the southwest of us and running south, so we are fine. The southern parts of Canberra are more at risk but containment strategies seem to be working. I’m hoping that Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve was spared. There are many animals in enclosures there so they can’t escape.
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Hope things literally simmer down, Tracy. These extended fire seasons are more common now. Scary, and sending cool vibes your way.
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Thank .you, Steph. I am looking forward to a break in the weather. The fans have already been deployed.
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Keep safe, Tracy. The bushfires of 2003 is still fresh in memory.
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Thank you, dawn bird. The whole city is feeling the strain. The SES have leapt into action though and they are throwing everything possible at this fire.
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The amazing SES! Scary time I’m sure. Be safe.
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Hopes and thoughts for safety and successful control of the blaze and the damage
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Thank you, Irene.
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I hope the fire is contained soon, Tracy. The sunset and the pigeon…there is beauty in everything.
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Thank you, Lois. I do too. I’ve topped up the bird baths for the birds and they have been making good use of them.
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Here’s hoping those fires will be under control soon! Here in South Africa we’re also struggling with runaway veld and forest fires as the dry season comes to a close but the rainy season hasn’t quite kicked in yet… Thus far at least 8 human lives and thousands of hectares of vegetation have been lost.
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Oh Dries, I am so sorry to hear of the devastating fires and the loss of life in South Africa. News of the tragedy has not filtered here. It makes sense that your country would have such wildfires given the climate is so similar to our own. The lack of water makes fire fighting so difficult.
The wind is still gusting here but the temperature has dropped so this will help our fire fighting effort. Our fire-fighting authorities were on to it so quickly because they fear a repeat of the massive losses we had in 2003; the loss of life and number of houses lost were much the same as SA is experiencing now.
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Our prayers are with you!
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Thank you. And to those affected in your country too.
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Saw the fires on the news and thought of you Tracy. Hope it is soon contained and the rain comes. It is so early for bush fires. Not looking good for summer… hot and windy here too
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Pauline, they seem to be under control now. Thank goodness. We are expecting rain on Tuesday. Hope you get some relief from the heat and wind soon.
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Think the heat is here to stay, summer has arrived a month early
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Ugghh. It is not too bad when it is dry heat, but I find the humidity in your part of the world very difficult to cope with, Pauline. However, higher humidity does mean less bushfire risk.
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Heat and now humidity is ramping up, I’m sitting under the fan tonight
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Like I said. Ugghh. 🙂
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They do seem to start earlier every year. We’ve had wild winds all day today but with some rain in southern Tasmania where I live. There were fire alerts though, it doesn’t take much for a fire to take off in this type of weather.
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So true, Vanda. The wind seems to suck the moisture out of the air and ground. And with so much forest in Tassie, things can deteriorate quickly. I’m relieved to say that the wind in our area has dropped now and it is quite gentle.
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I wasn’t here for the big one in 1967 but they seem to start earlier here too. I remember the bad ones in Canberra some years ago as my friends had just moved there and we had not long arrived in Tassie. That was a bad summer.
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Yes it was, Vanda.
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So sorry to read about the fire Tracy. Hope things are under control now.
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The situation is much improved, Punam. Hopefully they can put this fire out before the weather deteriorates as is forecast around mid week.
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That’s good to know Tracy. I do hope the fire will be out before that. Praying for the fire crew.
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I’m so sorry to hear about the fire! Here in the states, we’ve had terrible fires this year as well, mostly along the west coast. And the sad thing is, they are often started (deliberately or not) by humans.
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Hope the fires are under control now. Every year the threat becomes greater and greater it seems.
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They seem to be now. Thank you, Su.
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Hope they put the fire out okay. That can be pretty scarey. cool pigeon — much better looking than ours. reminds me of Amadeus in the Amadeus movie in the 80s.
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We are expecting rain on Tuesday, Mary, so hopefully that will put the fire out.
The pigeon does look a bit like Mozartish from that film. 🙂 Our family call them the parasaurolophus birds.
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lol, that’s a looong name for a bird. I hope the rain does put it out and that it comes earlier
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And, I guess, the fact that you’ve had a dryish winter has added to the problem, hope you and yours remain safe, in fact I hope all are safe.
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Everyone is fine, Paul. They seem to be on top of it now. Thank you.
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Glad to hear that.
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Hope everything is under control now and that everyone is safe.
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Yes, everything is under control, Sue. And we had a drop of rain today so that was a bonus. 🙂
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I’m so sorry to hear that fires have started this early in the season and hope that there will be lots of rain to help the firefighters in their heroic efforts!
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We had some decent falls in the last couple of days, Sarah, so that will help a lot.
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So glad to hear it!!
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