Low flying planes

It has been quite hot here over the last few days and I spent two hours exhausting myself oiling the railings on the top deck after lunch today.  Then I thought I’d have a nap, so turned off my mobile and unplugged the phone.  I could faintly smell smoke but I went outside to check and the sky was clear blue, not a wisp anywhere.  So I told myself not to be paranoid and rested my head for half an hour.  Then I could hear voices – I shouldn’t be able to hear any voices from my house, so I got up and looked outside and there was a bloody big cloud of smoke coming over the hill.

I got my proper fire clothes on, brought the fire kit inside, plugged in the analogue phone and it rang right away – my neighbour saying get your sprinklers out there’s a fire headed towards us. Yeah, no shit!  She told me the unit had already been called out and her husband was also nearby, so someone would be down to check on me soon.  DH being at work, and I thought, in Bunbury, I didn’t bother to call him until I needed to know where he had put the new sprinklers we just bought. Turns out he was in town, and ready to come home if I needed him.  Phew.

Anyhoo, the brigade was right onto it, I could see them fighting the flames as they almost reached the house on the hillside.  The voices I could hear were theirs,talking on the CB radio. I watered a bit of dead lawn and tried to hitch the ute up to the trailer with the water canon on it, and failed because it was too heavy to lift (being full of 600l of water).  A couple of nice blokes I’d never met before came along to see if I was ok, followed by my lovely neighbours. And by this stage it was all over, bar one or two bits of floating debris.  Much closer than last time, but much less terrifying, given the fire would have had to run two bare paddocks to get to our house, instead of a stand of Eucalypts.  Plus it wasn’t at the stage of being out of control.

So there we are.  Just a little reminder not to rest on one’s laurels, and keep the phone plugged in at all times.  I wish I’d got a photo of the water bomber dropping a load, though, it was VERY low, VERY loud and VERY impressive.  I guess people aren’t taking any chances, after last month’s episode- and the fact that the arsonist is still at large.

I do feel thankful for living in such a (mostly) caring, tight-knit community. It makes me feel exceptionally safe and well loved. (Apart from the arsonist issue).