India this morning

19.1.2013

The weather is cooler today and the winds have died down. The CFA in Licola sent someone in to the camp where India is last night and everyone was safe though they are still aware that the fire could go through any time. I think we can relax a bit today as the situation is less dangerous.

We have been in e-mail correspondence with some members of the camp committee. They feel that it was OK not to evacuate everyone because they have done all the right measures for fire action.  According to Al no one even knew there were people left in there until last night. Beni had informed everyone in the morning but maybe the message failed to get through.

The good preparations do not actually reassure us very much as both Beni and I had well prepared friends who were in the CFA and died in fires.  Beni was part of the CFA team who went up into the country around Licola during the 2006 bush fires so she knows what it is like. We both think that the only people who should stay to defend property are those who own the property or business and will suffer enormous loss if they are burnt out.

Edd and I had to fight our guests to get them to leave in 2009. We asked them to evacuate before there was much sign of danger and I remember talking to our woofer from Germany and explaining to him that his duty was not to risk his life trying to save our buildings but to think of his own family and friends and not take chances.

It is now four years after the big fires here but I have spent this year trying to get help from people still struggling. If you face death or have to wait for hours not knowing if your loved ones are alive or dead you release adrenalin through your body. This can persist for several months and can actually make people ill in ways that seem unrelated to anything.

It has been hard for us loosing our business, our stuff, and our home, but I am so glad that I put other peoples’ lives as the priority and I would make the same decision again if the need arose. I can understand India being willing to stay and fight and would probably have done the same myself as a young person in that situation. Basically young people do not understand the effect their actions have on others in the same way people do who are parents or partners.

Bo went through a terrible time in 2009 until she knew that we were still alive. The first week after the fires it was awful as we struggled to find out which friends and neighbours had perished. Normally I would have grieved more for the dogs but with such huge loss of human life it seemed insignificant.  We all love India so much and it is pretty terrible having to go through all that again.