Under siege...

The bushfires mentioned here are heading our way. This photo was taken last night from the top of the hill on our property before I headed over to Lake Bolac for NYE with three of my brothers. Mum and Dad stayed up most of the night, sitting in banana lounges on the lawn watching the front approach, and thankfully temporarily retreat. The 2-way UHF radio has been on in the kitchen since last night. You can hear locals getting ready, moving stock and vehicles, hear people that are fighting the fire, spotting flying embers, weather reports. I wish I had a transcript of some of the exchanges I've heard, it's eerily fascinating.

Our house is full of buckets of water and wool blankets. The fire pump is hooked up to the tank, and all the hoses are ready to go. The wind is due to change again at 11am (it's 10:30am now), and will bring it back around at us. I think there's about 500 firefighters plus aircraft and helicopters fighting it at the moment. My brother Luke has donned his CFA gear and gone off to help an elderly neighbour. What am I doing? Having breakfast, nursing a headache, and posting about it on the internet.

It's interesting to see what things have been stuffed into bags and put on the kitchen table. That is, laptops, mobile phone and charger, the business diary, the wedding photo album, and photos of the house.

Update: Saved by the rain and a favourable wind change...