Post by Get off of TMB on Jan 7, 2020 9:47:52 GMT -5
Hi all,
Saturday afternoon here and I have a few spare minutes to fill you in on the last day.
C., T. and others are here helping and J. has provided us with great clothes. B. is coming back on the boat tonight with C. after tearing around Adelaide collecting all our requests, and I have been instructed to make tea for all the helpers and I can’t work the stove!!
We lost our house last night sheds, pasture, sheep, chooks and 3 dogs. Thought I had lost John too as we became parted with me, in the car, and him in the ute following each other up the road which was burning on both sides (scrub) on our way to the airstrip on the property opposite ours. After about an hour when the horrific winds and blinding fire eased down a bit, I drove back home looking for him and found our completely burnt out ute on the corner and I presumed he had died in it.
unknown.jpgunknown_1.jpg
Went back to the airstrip and after what seemed an eternity, he turned up on the 4 wheeler. He couldn’t find me and it was too dangerous to drive on the road, so he parked in what he thought was a safe place while the fire burnt over. When the ute caught on fire the paddock next to it was safe to go into and he walked to the sheds and came looking for me! I had one dog, wet woollen blankets and left the car running with the lights and air conditioner on. It was SO windy the car almost blew over and I was sure it would be all burnt on the outside, but it came through unscathed, but not our house and everything in the garden and orchard is burnt, including the lawn.
This is a scene from the garage,.
unknown_2.jpg
The helpers are here today helping shoot sheep, and decide which fences need mending to put the rest in. C.brought out a generator as all the power is off out this way and he also brought 4 big bales of hay for the hungry sheep. One of the group officers from CFS called in at lunch time and he doesn’t know for sure, but there might be 100 houses lost and 3 lives. Amazingly, H.'s house across the paddock from us withstood the fire (it is clad in corrugated iron) and we slept here last night (well sort of, after going to bed after unloading the work shop till we were too exhausted to do any more, at 2.30am) H., B. and C. were on the mainland for 4 days after fighting fires for 11 days straight from the 20th December. H. flew back this morning and we picked her up from the airport after taking J. to out patients at the hospital as his eyes are burnt, sore and dripping and his face is black, plus his lungs have been burnt too. Also we both had to get prescriptions as all the pills burnt too. Only have the clothes we were wearing, and had to buy some work clothes for J.and J. has very kindly given us 2 cases of clothes. Very, very acceptable when you haven’t any.
Below is a photo of the CFS. So showing how much got burnt. The three small bits at the top were the original fire and the rest was burnt in a roaring inferno in a very short time.
unknown.png
Smoke still issuing forth from any road side scrub and other burnt vegetation, but it’s not a worry as there’s not much left to burn.
Thanks for all your messages, Josie. I think my phone got left in the house and is no longer!
Sent from my iPad
(This sent out from one of their daughters .....E.)
Mum and Dad are alive!! They are on the way to hospital now though, as Dad's face and eyes are quite badly burnt, and he sounds terrible with coughing and spluttering. The house burnt to the ground. They dont have (anything at all!) any daily medications, and need to get tinkered at the hospital. H's house survived. The fire went through the farm, and kept burning farms out down to Stokes Bay.
It all sounds fairly horrific. We are having second-long conversations, and asides from finding out that they are alive, I havent asked too many questions.. and they dont really have answers yet. I am glad they rang for 20 seconds this morning so I knew they were alive. I have been filling in some gaps with N. and H., but they dont really know very much right now either.
All the details will come, but for now, they have just survived the night, and have gone to hospital. I dont think Mum slept much at H's house looking out for fires.. I would do the same!! H. is on her way back over to the Island, and will start assessing damage, and see if its safe to bring C. over. We will know more details about livestock etc once she gets there. There is no electricity over there, and know one really knows much. But the great news is Mum and Dad are both alive!!!!! ...This could be a very different morning, and I am grateful that its not worst case scenarios. It looks very grim though.
I will send this so you know they are alive, and you will get updated as we do.
Lov
Saturday afternoon here and I have a few spare minutes to fill you in on the last day.
C., T. and others are here helping and J. has provided us with great clothes. B. is coming back on the boat tonight with C. after tearing around Adelaide collecting all our requests, and I have been instructed to make tea for all the helpers and I can’t work the stove!!
We lost our house last night sheds, pasture, sheep, chooks and 3 dogs. Thought I had lost John too as we became parted with me, in the car, and him in the ute following each other up the road which was burning on both sides (scrub) on our way to the airstrip on the property opposite ours. After about an hour when the horrific winds and blinding fire eased down a bit, I drove back home looking for him and found our completely burnt out ute on the corner and I presumed he had died in it.
unknown.jpgunknown_1.jpg
Went back to the airstrip and after what seemed an eternity, he turned up on the 4 wheeler. He couldn’t find me and it was too dangerous to drive on the road, so he parked in what he thought was a safe place while the fire burnt over. When the ute caught on fire the paddock next to it was safe to go into and he walked to the sheds and came looking for me! I had one dog, wet woollen blankets and left the car running with the lights and air conditioner on. It was SO windy the car almost blew over and I was sure it would be all burnt on the outside, but it came through unscathed, but not our house and everything in the garden and orchard is burnt, including the lawn.
This is a scene from the garage,.
unknown_2.jpg
The helpers are here today helping shoot sheep, and decide which fences need mending to put the rest in. C.brought out a generator as all the power is off out this way and he also brought 4 big bales of hay for the hungry sheep. One of the group officers from CFS called in at lunch time and he doesn’t know for sure, but there might be 100 houses lost and 3 lives. Amazingly, H.'s house across the paddock from us withstood the fire (it is clad in corrugated iron) and we slept here last night (well sort of, after going to bed after unloading the work shop till we were too exhausted to do any more, at 2.30am) H., B. and C. were on the mainland for 4 days after fighting fires for 11 days straight from the 20th December. H. flew back this morning and we picked her up from the airport after taking J. to out patients at the hospital as his eyes are burnt, sore and dripping and his face is black, plus his lungs have been burnt too. Also we both had to get prescriptions as all the pills burnt too. Only have the clothes we were wearing, and had to buy some work clothes for J.and J. has very kindly given us 2 cases of clothes. Very, very acceptable when you haven’t any.
Below is a photo of the CFS. So showing how much got burnt. The three small bits at the top were the original fire and the rest was burnt in a roaring inferno in a very short time.
unknown.png
Smoke still issuing forth from any road side scrub and other burnt vegetation, but it’s not a worry as there’s not much left to burn.
Thanks for all your messages, Josie. I think my phone got left in the house and is no longer!
Sent from my iPad
(This sent out from one of their daughters .....E.)
Mum and Dad are alive!! They are on the way to hospital now though, as Dad's face and eyes are quite badly burnt, and he sounds terrible with coughing and spluttering. The house burnt to the ground. They dont have (anything at all!) any daily medications, and need to get tinkered at the hospital. H's house survived. The fire went through the farm, and kept burning farms out down to Stokes Bay.
It all sounds fairly horrific. We are having second-long conversations, and asides from finding out that they are alive, I havent asked too many questions.. and they dont really have answers yet. I am glad they rang for 20 seconds this morning so I knew they were alive. I have been filling in some gaps with N. and H., but they dont really know very much right now either.
All the details will come, but for now, they have just survived the night, and have gone to hospital. I dont think Mum slept much at H's house looking out for fires.. I would do the same!! H. is on her way back over to the Island, and will start assessing damage, and see if its safe to bring C. over. We will know more details about livestock etc once she gets there. There is no electricity over there, and know one really knows much. But the great news is Mum and Dad are both alive!!!!! ...This could be a very different morning, and I am grateful that its not worst case scenarios. It looks very grim though.
I will send this so you know they are alive, and you will get updated as we do.
Lov