03/01: It has been a long night...
We went to the beach yesterday and as we left the house, the temperature was already well above 42 Celsius. Down there I saw a huge cloud at the horizon, exacly where we live and I told Nina to look at that strange thing. I thought it might be a weather related phenomenon. Travelling home and listening to the radio we learned that it is a bushfire and had rising concerns because it's very close to our home. See the following photos to get an idea.
We went to the beach yesterday and as we left the house, the temperature was already well above 42 Celsius. Down there I saw a huge cloud at the horizon, exacly where we live and I told Nina to look at that strange thing. I thought it might be a weather related phenomenon. Travelling home and listening to the radio we learned that it is a bushfire and had rising concerns because it's very close to our home. See the following photos to get an idea.
The cloud yesterday, 2 km up the hills behind our home
Scary
A neighbour called us around 4 am today, because there were leaving for an evacuation centre. I think it was a bit premature, but I started to pack our necessities (documents, cash, computers, etc.). We weren't really well prepared to be honest. The temperature didn't go below 30 C this night, we were sweating even without a blanket.
A large number of planes and helicopters were busy fighting the fire througout the night and they are still flying nonstop.
A large number of planes and helicopters were busy fighting the fire througout the night and they are still flying nonstop.
All our important things in an aluminium box, the most important paper being the home insurance
View from Golden Grove tonight (twitter photo by David Coad)
Looks like it is getting worse today. The weather forecast says up 43 Celsius and wind up to 110 km/h.
Sampson Flat fire information
9News report here
Sampson Flat fire information
9News report here
Helicopter returning to re-fill right above our home
It looks a bit better now, at least here. Wind is coming from west and the fire heading towards Montacute. We hope for changing weather conditions.
4/1/15: The fire is still burning. The wind changed direction and comes from east now. However, it's not that bad; there doesn't seem to be much fuel left, so the fires are probably smaller. Roads into the affected areas are blocked by police now and desperate people are waiting to be able to get back to their homes. The cfs provided map shows the extend of the blaze. Something about thirty homes are lost. The fire stopped less than 2 k's from our home.
North East Rd blocked
Look like it were slightly cloudy but this is smoke. Everything in and out of the house smells of it
Map provided by the CFS
More on Twitter
Humbug_Scrub
16/01: Most roads have been opened now. We did use the opportunity to travel around and take some pictures.
16/01: Most roads have been opened now. We did use the opportunity to travel around and take some pictures.
Upper Hermitage
