by Deborah Teazis

Created on: April 01, 2009   Last Updated: April 03, 2009

Hell on Earth

The Kinglake Ranges Bush Fires

Australia

Friday 6th February 2009

We all knew what was coming, but nobody had any idea just how bad it was going to be. For most of the week the temperatures had soared into the 40 degrees, some days 43 degrees, the next 44.

Most of the community of Kinglake, Kinglake West, Pheasant Creek and Flowerdale, had been running water sprinklers for 2 or 3 days straight to try to dampen down the parched dry earth and tinder like undergrowth that had not seen rain in many months.

Hoses were thrown into dams, with generators used to suck up water, bores were run at full capacity and water tanks were emptied and re-filled. Living where we did, we all had a sense of foreboding as the mercury rose.

CFA updates had been going out regularly, clear around your home, fill buckets or any containers you can find with water, get ready to put your fire plan into action, or get ready to leave early if you did not want to stay and fight if the fires came.

Many in the community had lived through fires a few years earlier, but they would turn out to be miniscule to what was about to happen; only we did not know that at the time.

The weather report on the 6pm news was watched by many with trepidation and concern, the forecast for Saturday 7th was not good, it was to be the hottest day on record with very high winds, perfect fire conditions.

With the community on high alert, every one became vigilant. I think we were all praying that rain would come and wash away the threat to our wonderful environment. No one wanted to see smoke and people were constantly on the look out for any one or anything that would bring disaster to the area.

The Kinglake Ranges is mostly National Park, with magnificent trees, abundant wildlife and some of the best picnic and bush walking areas in Victoria. People would come from all over the world to visit this magical place that we called home.

Now we were doing our best to protect what we had, we all felt an obligation to look after this unique environment, our homes and our community. Many of the residents decided to stay and fight if the need arose, convinced that they could save it from devastation, convinced that they could handle what ever was thrown at them.

Were a tough lot who live in the Ranges, many chose to live in this environment for its beauty, the peace and quiet and the strong community spirit that makes you feel like you are a part of something good. But we have to put up with cold winters and a basic

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