Black Sabbath

You've probably seen stuff on the news about the fires in Victoria. The long and short of it is, they're bad. Very bad. And they've been around the area I live in. On Saturday, one of my friends and I went down to the city to escape the heat. Watched a couple movies, enjoyed the air conditioning and then decided to head home around 9pm, seeing as it was cooler by then after the absolute baking hell of the day.

The sky was black, and not just because it was getting dark. Enormous clouds of smoke were covering the valley, and a vivid orange glow was being cast up by flames we could see kilometres away. And it was in between us and home. So after talking with my Mum and Dad and calling some other people, we decided to find a place to stay in town.

Spent the weekend at a motel room, which had a suspicious lot of mirrors. And a notice about making sure "visitors" leave by 10.30pm. But it was somewhere to stay, and a somewhere that wasn't likely to result in us burning to death. We stayed glued to the news over the weekend and in contact with the Bushfire Information Line, as well as friends who were staying in the area.

Anyway. This morning we headed back up to home. The terrifying thing was all the burnt pieces of branches, leaves, bark and so on that were around the house, obviously blown from the firefront by the insane wind we had on Saturday. It's safe enough for the time being, but we're prepared to leave at any time if things get bad.

And it looks like they will. I spoke with my neighbour this morning, who said the fire is predicted as being likely to be in this area by Thursday. His parents have lost their home in Kinglake, and their neighbour is missing, presumed dead - one of the many who have been killed. Another friend was telling me that he's lost some of his friends who lived in St Andrews.

It's horrible to think that were it not for the wind change, there probably would have been no home to return to. But then that may not matter, because of the fires still burning out of control in the area. And the big fire might turn back and end up here.

It's a terrible situation.

But the car is packed with the most crucial, absolutely vital things and hopefully we'll be safe. Although I know there's still stuff I want to take with me. Such as the entire house. But it's amazing when you're in this sort of situation and know you can only take a couple suitcases worth of stuff how clear it becomes about most possessions. And how heart-breaking it is with the larger items that cannot fit in a car, but are worth so much to you.

Hopefully people who are missing family and friends can be reunited with them, insurance companies pay up, the fires can be brought under control and no more lives are lost and properties destroyed.

Praying my house and everything will be okay in this time.

But I'm terrified.