Shocking

I am having real trouble with putting words together to relate to the bush fires that have created so much havoc over the weekend. How can I relate to the absolute trauma that families and loved ones are going through on such a massive scale?

For those who know I grew up in Myrtleford and my parents are still there. The town has not come under direct attack but the surrounding areas have. Beechworth and Mt Stanley and particularly the locations of Barwidgee and Mudgegonga have been hit and hit hard.

No doubt n the next while I will hear stories from friends and family who are with teh CFA and DSE fire crews. I hope they are all safe.

My Uncle's family farm is in Barwidgee and he was able to save the house and live stock. Everything else is gone. he was lucky. He descirbed to my parents that before the fire the steel farm gates were too hot to touch with bare skin and the fire was like looking at a fireball. It moved with a speed and intensity that he had never seen before. Faster and more intense than ash wednesday or the alpine fires in 2003. Again he was lucky.

Up the Yackandandah Road about 2km from him, a couple in their newly completed dream home were not so lucky. They lost the fight for their home and lost their lives in the process. My father played golf with them and knew them since they were kids. He is pretty cut up about it.

For how tragic that sounds I can only think of the nightmare in the towns like King Lake and just how scary the situation was. It is a very sad day in the history of Victoria. Let's hope it makes us stronger and wiser for next time.. because there will always be a next time.