Fire Alarm!
So...summer has not even started and yet we are at the start of a heatwave. Today the temperature was nearing 35 degrees and heat means extreme fire danger.
The morning was pretty uneventful but we do have six new chicks in the 'Chickery' with Pacha which is very nice.
I stayed inside cleaning the kitchen cupboards and the fridge while Will was out doing the washing.
Just after lunch we could smell smoke which was alarming since there is a total fire ban here at the moment. We went out to the rocks and saw a plume of smoke just over the next hill. It was very alarming since the wind appeared to be carrying the smoke our way.
We set about clearing all the leaves and branches from the roof on Frogknot and cleaned out all the gutters. Then we raked all around the house to clear potential fuel for any approaching fire.
We even cleared the whole side of the dam nearest to Frogknot of any combustible leaf litter. We packed the cars with our important belongings and clothes ready to leave if the situation got worse.
The Queensland Fires website showed this...
Planes were flying around monitoring the fire and looking for spot fires, we could hear sirens wailing and eventually a helicopter turned up to water bomb the flames. We popped out to the rocks a few times to how things were going. Jenny next door said Dave had gone over there with his bobcat to help clear fire breaks and she said he felt that we were lucky with the wind direction and that as things stood we were not presently in danger.
By 6.00 pm I was completely exhausted after being out in the heat of the afternoon frantically trying to do what we could to lessen the risk to the houses.
We went out after dark, again to the rocks, and could see the glow of the fire over the next hill and it was very smoky which did not bode well, but since then the wind has changed again and we can no longer smell smoke.
To top the day off, we were inundated with flying ants tonight, perhaps because of the heat today or because it is a full moon tonight. I have never seen so many as there were tonight.
Here are some of the pictures from a very troubling day.
