Fire that's just a bit too close to Home...

Start of the real fire, at Gladfield...
Yesterday, coming a little too close for comfort...

Taken 1/2hr ago...

Last week and for the beginning of this week, every time that Joshua and I would go outside at night to shut the chooks and ducks in, we saw off in the not too far in the distance that someone was burning off piles of cleared trees. These spot fires where only four or five of them a night but they showed up nicely up against the range in the background. Looked great actually...

That was until this last Tuesday, when during the midday heat it got totally out of control. The local paper reported it as having started with a lightening strike, yeah right!!! As if.

The poor farmer has had many fire fighters around since. It has also taken out allot of land. All of it in the hills which most of the farmers are very happy about as it is getting rid of lantenna ( a horrible weed in these and many other parts of this great country of ours) and allot of debris that would not be back burned normally.

One of our close friends here is in the local Rural Fire Brigade and he has been called out again this afternoon to help. At the moment he is helping Russell with our cubby. What a treasure. He has just spent the morning helping with diggers digging a new road up the mountain as to contain the fire. Now he is going back to help with many others to light it from that end and force the fire into itself. Will be spectacular to watch. But as least we know that it is intended that way.

Lets just hope and pray that the wind doesn't change. On that front we have been very fortunate over the last week. Even though the fire is close and just across the Cunningham Highway we have had just about all of our breeze coming in from the east and not the north west which is just as well or we would not be doing anywhere as well.

I know it will be very hot up there for them and just hope that the job gets done quickly and safely.

Cheers Damaris