Canberra Burns

[Ronde!]

No, I don't mean we have a reincarnation of the Irish poet here, rather, the weekend was tragic.

We had a serious bushfire, and most of Canberra's North, West, and South city limits have been reduced to ash - more than half the city's perimeter was in flames on Saturday.

We lost almost 400 homes across the city, and 4 people died. Everyone here knows someone who lost their home, their business, or has suffered some other loss. The property where I do horse riding was almost completely destroyed, and the owner's house was burnt down too, along with many of their livestock. My archery club was badly damaged. My gymnastics club has been turned into a refuge. (So pretty much all I have left is Ceroc!)

Even with almost a thousand fire fighters and many times that in residents fighting the blaze, we were completely overwhelmed. It was 2 days closer to hell than anything I've ever experienced before, and closer than I'd like to be anytime in the next eternity.

It's believed to be the worst natural disaster, in terms of damage, in Australia's history; we are still reeling; the city is still choking in smoke.

[Franck]

Originally posted by Ronde!
We had a serious bushfire, and most of Canberra's North, West, and South city limits have been reduced to ash - more than half the city's perimeter was in flames on Saturday.

Sorry to hear about your tragedy!
We did hear about it as the news are following it up here too...

What a scary thing to happen... I am sure you have all our sympathy, and I do hope things start getting better soon.

Franck.

[Lou]

That's awful. Dunno what I can say - I'm lost for words. Just thinking of you, OK?!

[Sal]

It is very difficult for anyone in this country to imagine what you are going through. Although I think we will stop complaining about our climate for a while.

I would just like to echo Lou's sentiment - our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Ronde!]

Thank you all so much for your support; we're using all our Aussie fighting spirit here!

A second fire front is arriving from the North-West in 6-12 hours from this post, accompanied by strong winds and a hot day of 35 degrees (not good); but with the extra time to prepare, a reduced front, and extra fire crews brought in from around the country, we're hoping for less destruction this time around. Special thanks to the USA, who've kindly loaned us a couple of large capacity fire-fighting helicopters during their off-season.

I'll be out there again tomorrow; we could seriously do with a little British rain - what's the secret? It always seems to rain when I organise a tennis match, maybe I should try to put one on tomorrow?

[Tiggerbabe]

If it were only that simple - I'm sure we would all gladly give you all of our rain if it would help.

I hope your worst fears for today have not come to fruition.

Take care, my thoughts are with you too.

Sheena

[LilyB]

We've been following this on the news for the last few days. Immediately thought of you, Ronde, when Canberra was mentioned - hoping that you have not been caught up in it. Glad to hear you are OK, despite the loss of your riding and gym facilities! Thank goodness there's still Ceroc - people need some cheer in times like this.

Our thoughts are with you and all our Cerocing friends down in Australia who have been affected by these atrocious fires.

LilyB

[John S]

There are so many horror stories on TV that we can often become de-sensitised to them all, but messages like yours mean that when we do see your fire on the news it becomes more personal, and we are thinking of you at this time.

I don't suppose there's anything practical we can do, but please keep us all up to date.

[Ronde!]

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers; today's new fires were repelled with considerably less damage. By sunset today, the official figures stood at 419 homes lost, with no further loss of life.

The support we've received here has been nothing short of incredible. In addition to wonderful encouragement from people like yourselves, the first 8 hours of the Relief Fund, launched today, has already raised over $1 million from the local community, providing just a little help for the thousands of dispossessed here.

Thanks again for your kind words: I've passed many of them on to those that need them most.

[TheTramp]

Ack. I hadn't heard about this (being on holiday does strange things to your listening of the news).

Glad to hear that you're ok though. Homes and buildings can be replaced.

And like Sheena said, if you want our rain, you'd be most welcome to it. All.

Steve