We drove
through the area of the fire today
almost seven
years since it happened
and remembered
the day.
A north wind
raged in from the desert
laden with red
desert dust.
An old automobile
battery
left in a
paddock,
probably
related to a disused
electrified
stock fence,
somehow sparked
and the fire
started.
Burning in farmland,
not scrub,
flames leapt to
thirty feet high
and destroyed
more than
ninety dwellings,
hundreds of
other farm buildings,
miles of fence
and thousands
of farm animals,
but fortunately
only two human
lives.
It had burnt on a front
of over a
hundred miles
but was
declared
under control
“watch and act”
within about
ten hours.
Today
there are new
and repaired
buildings,
signs of a good
harvest
completed
and new, green
growth
on the fire
ravaged
roadside
eucalypts.
Not all fences
have been
rebuilt,
but perhaps
they are not
all needed now
with larger farms
and modern
machinery.
We have moved on
but not
forgotten.
We know it can
happen again.
On 25th November 2015 a fire started near the small South Australian town of Pinery.
Despite the
name of the town, it was not a forest or bush fire but one in agricultural land.
It was a
shockingly hot and windy day and the fire spread with almost unbelievable speed
before it was controlled and eventually extinguished.
