Firey Day

This has been one of the worst bushfire days for New South Wales that anyone can remember. Dozens - possibly hundreds of homes burned to the ground. Smoke and flames whipped along by 110 km per hour winds ... and yet no lives have been lost, it would seem. Thank heaven for that.

As I write, the fire to our north casts an ominous red glow across the night sky. The winds still rage and Sydney is virtually ringed by fire. THIS particular one, now most often referred to as the "Lithgow Fire", is the blaze of most immediate concern to those who live in Blackheath.

Nonetheless, despite appearances, this inferno is still a fair way away. The settlements at Dargan, Clarence, Mt Wilson, Mt York and even Mt Victoria face an uncertain 24 hours or so unfortunately. With the winds the way they are, no one (not even Blackheath) is entirely safe. This fire roared along some 30 kms of territory today, burning out 25,000 hectares of bushland in its path.

THIS is the reason we desperately need some rain. We have been anticipating such an occurrence for some while. It is the one big "downside" of living in the Blue Mountains.

UPDATE .... UPDATE ..... UPDATE .... UPDATE .... UPDATE

The wind has died down overnight. Water bombing helicopters have taken to the air again. "Emergency warning" status has been removed from all Blue Mountains fires. In neighbouring Mt Victoria, dozens of homes were destroyed in the fire last night and late yesterday afternoon. Thousands of fire fighters have continued (in shifts) to fight the fires on the ground. An emergency evacuation point was established at the Blackheath Community Centre. Friends of ours from Mt Victoria are unable to be contacted by phone. No one knows where they are. We went to sleep last night to the non-stop sirens of emergency vehicles racing along the highway just to the west of us. I was off the internet for many hours yesterday. We'd lost power due to trees falling on power lines in the strong winds.