The Fear of Summer

What we all fear most in summer is the smell of smoke. We regularly scan the horizon for any signs of fire on hot windy days. Yesterday it was not too hot, nor very windy, but the plume of smoke on the horizon still sent shivers up my spine.

Smoke on the horizon

Roger went with his fire ute (ute with water tank and pump with spray hose), about 15kms via the roads but less than that as the crow flies. The fire was probably started by a harvester or machine, although that is just a guess on my part. It burnt some barley and other crop, and also a bit of remnant vegetation and bush. There were many fire units arriving on the scene from local farmers, who are all volunteer fire fighters, as well as aeroplanes dumping water  and the fire was soon under control; but the farmers involved will have fencing to renew, and they will need to monitor any trees that could reignite if a hot wind springs up.

Smoke on the horizon

This is a very hastily stitched image showing the smoke that was blocking the sun yesterday afternoon. All fire restrictions have been lifted since the rain so there have been many fires - farmers burning stubble and cleaning up paddocks ready for seeding. This fire yesterday however was a controlled burn to clear the understory in state forest so that there is less risk of wild fires next summer.