One of my favourite National Parks, the Warrumbungles,
a treasure trove of fossils, rockformations and beautiful bushland,
have been consumes by massive bushfires.
A ferocious fire that has already consumed 33 homes as well as
the living quarters of the Siding Springs Observatory, the most
important observatory in Australia and a major link of the great
observatories of the world.
40,000 hectares have been decimated with terrible stock and
wild life losses.
High winds, high temperatures, difficult terrain and zero
humidity were all factors in the difficulty of getting a grip on it.
The fure service threw everything at it that they had available
without much effect, it is still raging out of control and will
take some time manage.
There are still 22 fires raging in New South Wales.
My heart goes out to all the people affected who have lost their
homes and have to put down suffering animals.
We went through the same 30 years ago and the psychological
scars still linger.
Sorry for the quality of the photos, they were shot off
TV news programmes.
I tried to find my photos of this area from our last visit, but with
two computers and two external hard drives full of photos,
it would have taken me a week or two .
Hats off to all the volunteer firefighters snatching a few hours of
sleep on camp beds at the relief centre in Coonabarabran.
These dedicated men and women leave their work places at the
sound of the siren and put their lives on the line for weeks to
keep their community safe, often having their own home burn
while they try to save someone else's.
Please God we are spared more loss of life!
