The Scrivener: Will It Happen Again?
...In the State of Victoria, we have had the worst bushfires ever experienced in Australia. After six days, 5,000 fire-fighters are still out there, trying to bring 30 fires under control. 5,000 people are homeless. Over 1,000 homes have been destroyed. Over 180 people have been killed. Many people with terrible burns are being treated in hospital. Tent cities have been set up for refugees and survivors. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of head of livestock are being sent to abattoirs because of injury or lack of fodder. Over 400,000 hectares (that's nearly a million acres) of land have been burnt out.
Today, as I write, a haze of smoke covers the suburb where I live. It is being blown by the wind from fires about 50 kilometres away...
Open Writing columnist Brian Barratt sends this report from the stricken State of Victoria whose citizens are struggling to come to terms with the loss of life and property in the aftermath of Australia's worst natural disaster.
We remember Marysville as a picturesque little town in the foothills of the Australian Alps. In past times, I spent many happy days wandering through its deep damp tree-fern gullies; listening to the gentle gurgle of mountain streams hidden in the undergrowth; gazing in delight at the nearby waterfalls; meeting possums who knew food was coming their way when visitors went for night-walks; watching black cockatoos amid the upland snow; making snowmen when we trudged to the higher rocky reaches of Lake Mountain.
It was at Marysville that I first tasted real Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, Black Forest cake. Next to a row of little shops catering mainly for tourists and visitors, an old theatre had been turned into a small restaurant. It wasn't too expensive but the food was, in a word, superb. When I took one of my visiting brothers there in 1979, we ordered Black Forest cake. It was so rich and the portions were so large that we were given 'puppy bags' to take some home and finish it off the next day.
My brother has long since passed away. And this week, Marysville died.
In the State of Victoria, we have had the worst bushfires ever experienced in Australia. After six days, 5,000 fire-fighters are still out there, trying to bring 30 fires under control. 5,000 people are homeless. Over 1,000 homes have been destroyed. Over 180 people have been killed. Many people with terrible burns are being treated in hospital. Tent cities have been set up for refugees and survivors. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of head of livestock are being sent to abattoirs because of injury or lack of fodder. Over 400,000 hectares (that's nearly a million acres) of land have been burnt out.
Today, as I write, a haze of smoke covers the suburb where I live. It is being blown by the wind from fires about 50 kilometres away.
Every day, The Age newspaper carries pages of graphic photographs of the destruction and the people who have in many cases lost everything. Today there are photos of Marysville. An inset shows the quaint timber A-frame building that once housed the tempting restaurant. A larger aerial photo shows what's left — nothing but grey ash. Marysville is one of two towns which have been wiped out.
A Christian pastor in Melbourne has announced that the fires are God's punishment. Evidently his God burns out thousands of innocent people for the sins of others somewhere else in Melbourne. There is no room in civilised society for this sort of God or this savagely primitive theology. Will the pastor condemn Indonesia for sending $1.5 million for relief, because Indonesia is a Muslim country?
Within a few days, a Red Cross appeal for donations brought in over 40 million dollars. Every hour, more pours in.
Everyone is more than thankful for the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Country Fire Authority, Special Emergency Services, Police, Army, commercial companies, banks, ABC radio, sporting bodies, and other organisations in Australia and overseas, Christian or not, for all they are doing in so many ways to clean things up and relieve the suffering.
Questions are being asked. Can communities really be protected from such devastation? Should homes be built in forest areas? Should building regulations be changed? Is previous cautionary advice, about staying or leaving, out of date? Can warnings be given earlier? Will future fires continue to grow in speed and ferocity? Will global warming heighten the risk of such fires?
There is inevitable confusion and disagreement. A Royal Commission has been set up to investigate the whole complex issue. We don't want it to happen again, but it might.
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Footnote: Let's not forget that, simultaneously, a huge area of the State of Queensland has been devastated by floods.
© Copyright Brian Barratt 2009
