Christmas fire message from Robert Hall ... very depressing.

From: Robert Hall <roberthall@ozemail.com.au>
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2019 at 21:47
To: Andrew Byrne <andrewbyrne444@gmail.com>

Andrew

You have the correct details for me.

Something that might be of interest to our colleagues: Since I have pretty much retired, and we now live in the Adelaide Hills, I joined the local bushfire brigade (the SA Country Fire Service) as a volunteer firefighter about 6 years ago. As I am sure you have read, we have had a major fire here over the last week. We were called out last Friday morning, 20 December, and then worked all day to try to prevent the fire spreading (not successful) and to protect houses (successfully with some, not so with others). It was surreal; at one point we were working about 10 metres away from a wall of flame about 15--20 metres high. The CFS brought in resources from other parts of the state, and we rested on Saturday. On Sunday we spent most of the day doing a big backburn to contain the fire in the Cudlee Creek state forest. I gather this was successful, but it was touch and go for a while, and we nearly lost control of it. The fire has covered nearly 25,000 hectares, and travelled 30 km from 9 in the morning to about 8 at night on the first day. We had a wind shift which meant the fire very rapidly grew in size. The bush, paddocks, orchards and vineyards that have been affected are often completely devastated, with perhaps only the odd tree trunk or post left standing. The burnt out houses are just awful to see; there is nothing left, the destruction is pretty much total. Some people round here are having a terrible Christmas. There has been at least one death and quite a few injuries, and many people have lost everything. Our house was a few kilometres from the fire edge, so we have not been affected. I would encourage everyone to think about what they might be able to do to help people affected by the fires, not just here in SA, but also in NSW, Qld and WA.

Cheers.

Robert Hall
roberthall@ozemail.com.au
(08) 8389-8019
(04) 1859-5507
90 Leslie Rd Lenswood SA 5240 Australia

PO box 412 Woodside SA 5244 Australia