Armageddon in the pool

I walked to the bakery to get bread at 8.30am. Stepped out of the shade into the sun and went "OK, it's going to hit the 40s." The sun is just burning (although under the shade is still quite pleasant!)

According to BOM, it's currently 34.9oC, which is up from 27.4oC when I went to the shops. And the wind's just picked up from the north, which OK, not good.

Still, I refuse to call it "The Worst Day in History" until after it's over.

If the Apocalypse happens, I'll be in the pool.

(Oh and it's apparently 37oC where I am. With predictions of 44oC - it's gone up a degree.

Still, could be worse, could be in Mildura where the prediction was for 46oC but has probably gone higher as well...)

I still pray

Listening to the fires reports on 774 (formerly 3LO). Urgent updates from all over the state it feels like.

West Gippsland, Central Gippsland, Wimmera, Geelong, Alpine region...

The West Gippsland fire is the one I know all the town names from. The fire started off near where the parents of my first boyfriend lived. It crossed the freeway at the town another friend's from and is now causing ember attack on the outskirts of a main town.

I rang my Mum.

"The sky's gone a really weird colour."

"You know that the fire's jumped the freeway and is about 40km from you? You should probably start looking out for ember attack soon."

"Hm.. a piece of ash just blew past. I'll ring you back later."

I don't really believe that my parents are at risk. For starters I can't let myself believe that, and for seconds there's a whole town in the way. Doesn't stop spot fires I know. I don't really believe that they are though.

Last summer when the fires were up in East Gippsland they came very close to the farm of a friend of mine's parents. I was talking to my friend's mother about it a couple of months ago, about the noise, and stuffing tennis balls into downpipes to fill the guttering, clearing flammable materials, making sure to wear long sleeved shirts and pants to protect against heat, about trying to get the cattle to somewhere they might be safe. About how you decide whether to stay or go, and when you decide to go. About the darkness that comes with ash and the strange light and the smell getting through the entire house and making it reek for months.

My parents don't own a farm, they're on the outskirts of town. And the fires are still a long way off. So no, I honestly don't really believe they are in danger.

The creeping fear in the bottom of my gut about people I know in the area doesn't stop though, and the constant warning litany of town names that I used to play tennis at isn't helping.

The real burst of fear for me came at 1pm when the wind suddenly burst into huge gusts as I was hanging out the clothes. It will be hitting Gippsland about nowish. I hope like hell the containment lines hold.

And yeah, I still pray. Pray like hell that no one gets killed. Pray that the change comes early, that the fires will be contained and, again, that no one gets killed.

And listen obsessively to the radio.

The change is coming. It's at the borders and should hit Melbourne CBD by 6, my parents at around 7.

Mum just rang again. From the house she can see the huge plume of smoke from the Central Gippsland fire, which is in a pine plantation, and a dark cloud from the nearer fire. Lots of ash, no embers yet - but they're going out to check for any landing. I'm not worried about the main body of fire, but I am concerned about spot fires starting.

God help the arsonists if they get caught.

(no subject)

Portland's dropped to 22oC, the change has crossed the border at least.

We're still at 44.1oC, will probably rise further.

Strong north-west (I think) winds.

And there's a fire near Dean's grandmother, and Dean's parents (and us) can't get up to check on her because they've closed the freeways. Her neighbours should look in on her though.

Dean remains calm and unworried. I, on the other hand, remain a panic merchant.

I may have to head over to the pool to calm down.

Holy crap

Bom just updated and we're at 44.8oC.

(no subject)

Rang Dean's Mum - the fire is moving away from Dean's grandmother. It's now moving towards Dean's parents, however they are still about 40km away as well.

Part of the problem is lack of water - Mum mentioned that their tanks are nearly dry already, and a large number of dams are as well, which is making it harder to find water for tankers and aircraft.

Melbourne is currently listed at 45.4oC.

The winds are still very strong from the north.

We're seeing smoke from the fires near Kilmore, to the point that the smoke alarm started going off until I closed the doors to it.

It's kind of creepy hearing "We have an urgent message for residents of town X - implement your fire plans now."

Dimboola fire crew are safe after they were believed trapped.

The change has passed through Warrnambool. Looks like it's starting to hit Aireys Inlet.

Hopefully it will bring rain. Probably not though, looking at the map. Although there's been 0.2mm near my parents! Go West Gippsland!

My parents still have ash falling on them. No embers that I'm aware of, but I haven't phoned them.

The fire they can see down the Valley is now in pine plantations and effectively out of control. Pine plantations burn really well, as Canberrians know.

Pine plantations are also the worry for the Kilmore fire. "The worry" as in "in the direct path of."

It's kind of creepily amusing hearing "Today is a day of Total Fire Ban" when half the state appears to be under threat. Well that worked.

It's also kind of weird hearing people being asked not to travel on certain roads. Particularly when you know the roads. I wouldn't go near them in a blind fit today, they'd be a death trap if you got stuck there. We're talking windy, hillside roads with bush on either side. Then again, you get the "some roads are being closed because the fires are crossing literally in front of motorists..." hm.

Carn the cool change.

(no subject)

And we have a threat message for the town Dean's parents live in. 2 hours, possibly.

Hm.

I might ring Dean.

(no subject)

Rang Dean. Conversation went like this:

"They've issued a threat warning for the town where your parents live. You should ring them."

"Is this from the Kilmore fire? You know that's nowhere near them?"

"There's a new fire, on Mt Disappointment."

"Oh."

They're now talking ember attack there too.

Connex is also cancelling trains left, right and centre and probably thanking their lucky stars this didn't happen on a weekday. V-line have closed about half their routes, mostly because there's fire in the way.

The Gippsland fires are a potential threat to our main power supply, which could get interesting. Again, the power companies are thankful it's Saturday.

There's a lot of new fires happening, including in the outer suburbs. The change hasn't made it through yet.

We actually followed two fire trucks on the way back from the gym this morning - I'm mildly paranoid about some idiot deciding to start a fire in the wildlife reserve near us. It wasn't, it looked like a false alarm at the golf club.

I might go check if the telly's managed to get its act together and put some news on or something. For some strange reason the websites are a tad overloaded (and they keep announcing that the Bushfire Hotline has waiting times on it. Who'da thunk.)

And a gem from the radio:

"Those attempting to travel between Pakenham and Warragul should... not."

(no subject)

Fuck, Drouin's under ember attack. And Jindivick.

(no subject)

Still waiting to hear what's happening around where my parents are. Rang Mum at about 5.30, they were filling the gutters and she was going to ring me back.

There's now an ember attack warning for the town they live in.

I'm hoping like hell that they're just busy.

Dean's parents are currently good, although they are hosting extra dogs from friends who have been burnt out. Not sure if the friends are staying there too. They've evacuated the nursing home in Dean's town as a precaution, but the fires seem to be some distance away. Kinglake's sounding like it's been hit hard - the radio was reporting houses, sheds and the petrol station had been burned. Yes, this is Australia - we report shed losses. Don't ask.

Wallan had people having to be lifted out by helicopter the fires moved so fast. My ex-housemate's family are from there. I'm hoping they're OK, but I can't get in touch with her to ask.

Wandong was in the line of fire, hoping it's OK by now. Hard to tell from available sources, and I tend to focus more on Gippsland news on the radio. The fire front looks like it may have moved past though.

Cool change is nice, some spitting but no rain. What looks like rain on the radar map over Gippsland is smoke, as I suspected.

Waiting to see if the wind change is going to seriously screw things up.

No one killed as yet - one serious injury.

News footage has quite a few people wearing seriously inappropriate footwear/clothing. You'd think people would know not to be fighting fires in thongs by now.

They're having to ask people not to rubberneck around the fires. Some people are seriously stupid. The first time I heard it on the radio I thought they had to be joking - but then again, people went to Mt St Helens as it was erupting, why would I expect them not to go and see the pretty (bloody enormous and quite scary and quite possibly lethal) fire?

Fires in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne in two places.

A new fire out of Walhalla - dry as buggery up there, gullies galore. Threatening towns mostly to the south.

There is a level of surreality about all this you know. I'm safe and cool and even have power. Meanwhile half the state's on fire. I can smell it, but there's no sirens around here and up until the change came through the streets were dead quiet.

Helicopters going overhead now, probably news crews. Hopefully not Angel of Mercy.

(no subject)

Rang Mum, they're fine. Wind shifted to the north, which meant that the fire that was coming right at them (well, with Drouin still in the way) headed off to the north instead. According to Mum the sky suddenly lightened and everything cleared. This was after they'd filled the gutters with water, and Dad had also filled three neighbour's gutters as well. Seriously I sometimes wonder if the greatest danger is people falling off ladders while filling gutters at times.

Anyway.

Drouin West has been hit as well, some reports say houses lost and the school/hall, others not sure if they've lost the last two.

The relay transmitter near Morwell was burnt out, my parents now have no TV coverage (no great loss) but still have ABC regional radio which is a godsend.

Fires continue around the state, but the winds have dropped along with the temperatures. There's some concern over lightning strikes, which may start new fires (you know, just to help things along).

Narre Warren's still got warnings up as does the Kilmore fire which is now threatening communities from Flowerdale to Kinglake. Well, probably not Kinglake so much at the moment, I think it's been through there already.

Guess if the wind picks up and changes again they'll be banging on doors.

The consensus between Mum and myself was that while it was a Bloody Awful Day it was still not The Worst Day in History. As far as fires go that'd be either Black Friday (1939) or Ash Wednesday (1983) - both of which had significant loss of life. We've got fires all over the state, we've lost houses, sheds, stock and wildlife, but no one's been killed as yet. Touch wood.