You would have to have been hiding in a log, or maybe practising asceticism, to have not heard or seen that we are well and truly in bushfire season. The drought, warmer than average temperatures and strong winds have combined to make November one of the worst opening periods in a long while, with potentially greater hazard ahead.

You never know really just when or where or even how a fire might suddenly threaten you - they can appear out of no-where and travel at great speed. They create their own micro-climate as they go, making predictions often impossible.

Tomorrow is gazetted as a catastrophic alert for fire in Sydney, the Hunter and the Central Tablelands. A catastrophe exceeds an extreme episode, apparently, and creates circumstances in which property and life are at a great risk. Hazelbrook and the Blue Mountains are within this triangle of death and neighbouring Woodford had a foretaste of what might soon come only a few days ago.

There is no point in dwelling on these matters. Fire is a part of the Australian landscape and has been so for thousands of years. Living in this national park is a risk, as it is a joy. NSW has already taken a battering as the following photo from a mid-north coast town of Harrington shows. Dante, had he seen it, might have written such a ghastly image into his great work, The Divine Comedy, as prose.



Addendum:

The photo below was taken on Friday in Woodford. The actual spot is a mere 900 metres from my house in Hazelbrook, but the wind was blowing from the west, so there was no risk to us. My point is this - you can never know where fire might strike, nor the exact circumstances of its path and progress. A wind from the east would have completely changed the outcome. My heartfelt thanks to this brave RFS volunteer.