I hope this finds you well and recovering from an enjoyable holiday season.
Normally, I’d be talking about family celebrations and all the books I’ve read. However, the holiday season here in Australia has been one with little to celebrate.
As you will no doubt be aware Australia is facing unprecedented bushfires with a State of Emergency declared in NSW and a State of Disaster declared in Victoria. As I write this 28 people are unaccounted for, 8 have lost their lives and 1300 homes have been destroyed. As a good chunk of those are farming properties, those people have also lost their livelihoods.
Australia is Burning
News reports have led with headlines like “Australia is Burning”, and with cloying smoke during the day and a brilliantly red setting sun, it has certainly felt like Armageddon.
“I’ve got one fire 3km to the west of us and another 5km south.”
Just before Christmas I met some of our neighbours on my regular beach walk with Alfie. After a short greeting they told me they were flying back to Kangaroo Island (KI), an island approximately 110km from Adelaide to fight a fire threatening their farming property over there.
“I’ve got one fire 3km to the west of us and another 5km south,” Bill said. Then he put his phone to his ear and asked how close the fires were as he ran off to prepare to leave.
His wife told me they were flying back to protect their property. To the best of my knowledge they are still there. I only hope that they have managed to contain the blaze—from the news reports things do not look promising—and I hope they are safe.
With the devastation in the other states, Kangaroo Island has barely rated a mention on our news.
Until now…
Local Fires
Though the island is Australia’s third largest, it is only 4,405 km square (1,701 square miles). It is now estimated that one quarter of the island has been devastated by fire. KI is a big holiday destination with many camping and holiday grounds and an exclusive resort. It is now estimated that one third of the island has been devastated by bushfire, and effectively the entire island has been told to evacuate.
Living on the coast of South Australia the closest we have been to bushfire is 50 km’s–the bushfire in the Cudlee Creek region of the Adelaide Hills. Yet the blood red sun and the smoke haze has still been with us. We’ve found ash on the balcony and soot on the cars.
We’ve been lucky.
The worst we have faced is having to keep the house closed up. The temperature in much of Australia has hovered in the 40s for days at a time—higher inland—and we can be grateful that the power failures we usually face during such times did not eventuate.
Others have not been so lucky.
Mallacoota
On New Year’s Eve, 4000 residents and tourists in Mallacoota, a beautiful stretch of the Victoria’s coast, fled to the beach as the sky turned red behind them and smoke made it difficult to breathe as fire ate through the town and bushland. Even there, they had no certainty they were safe. It was three days before the Navy was able to evacuate them and their pets by sea.
I guess this fire particularly resonated with me because I’ve always told myself we are safe on the coast.
Where I live is different from Mallacoota in that we don’t have bushland right down to the coast. We do down south, so the threat faced by Mallacoota isn’t impossible. None of us can afford to be complacent.
Cool Change
Most of the east coast, and KI, is now facing greater danger as the cool change sweeps across the lower half of the country.
The change brings high winds and, so far, little rain. Last night, the wind blew the smoke from KI across the gulf to cloud over Adelaide bringing with it the scent of burnt timber and more.
When you are not directly facing the threat of fire, nothing brings home the devastation like that smell.
Experts estimate that almost half a billion animals have also perished, and that doesn’t take into account the loss of habitat that will impact many of the native species in the months, perhaps years, to come.
*Nope, not posting images of that!
There are so many tales of simple heroism as people band together to save their friends and family. This story about 11 year-old Finn Burns bought so much home to me.
In South Australia the fire in Cudlee Creek, located in the Adelaide Hills and roughly 50 km from our home, is still burning after more than a week. Spot fires have flared up and been contained by the hard-working fire crews, most of whom are volunteers, as are the crews working the NSW and Victorian bushfires.
Gratitude
We are all very grateful for those who give tirelessly of their time and skill to fight fires with little reward then a heartfelt hug and a handshake. After months of fire-fighting, crews are exhausted and distressed and some have lost their own homes in the process. I join with others in the call that these humble heroes be compensated for their time and sacrifice.
Information on how you can donate
Huge thanks too, to those the New Zealand, Canadian and US fire crews who have given up time with their families to come and help.
Much of the fallout of this disaster is yet to be felt. Notably the mental health of everyone touched by these fires.
Personally…
I have struggled with the overwhelming news of disaster and loss of life, and particularly the sense of helplessness in the face of so much. I’ve been finding it hard to keep going with my normal life while others suffer. We’ve donated money to various charities. To cope I’ve been focussing on gratitude. Gratitude for those who step up in the face of dire need, and gratitude for the good things in my own life. It helps.
Here are some of the things I’m grateful for:
- Alfie and Harry, who are always there in times of need.
- The safety of my own environment
- The closeness of the beach where I do my best mental health walks
- The kindness of neighbours and friends, even when it is just a wave and a hello.
- Family—even when they drive you crazy
- Good friends
- Good books
- Reliable power
- Volunteer fire-fighters who face danger to keep us safe
- Volunteers in general who keep so many services going
And of course, I’m grateful that you are part of my supsense community.
A personal dilemma…
One of the biggest questions I faced this week was whether to go ahead with a scheduled promotion at this time.
After the success of the 0.99c BookBub deal last month—thank you so much for your support!—I’ve scheduled a 0.99c flash sale on Bad Things Happen for January 8th, 9th and 10th 2020
As all the promotion is paid for, I’ve decided to go ahead with it with one major change…
All the proceeds from the sale of Bad Things Happen during the sale will go to support our volunteer firefighters.
>>Click here for the links to your favourite store<<
All the proceeds from the sale of Bad Things Happen during the sale will go to support our volunteer firefighters.
And finally…
Appreciate the good things in your life…
If you take anything away from this I hope it is that you take the time to appreciate all the good you have in your life.
I hope there is much in your life to be grateful for. <3
I consider myself a reformed academic who discovered fiction writing was preferable to the real world. My love of suspense fiction is thoroughly indulged through writing novels and short stories about Fractured Families and Killer Secrets. My novels have been nominated for the Ned Kelly Award and semi-finaled in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, and my short stories have been included in several anthologies including the Anthology of Award Winning Australian Writing. I also review my favourite books, interview fellow writers, and blog about books and writing.
- the links to various sites in this article are purely for your convenience. I do am not affilliated with any businesses and do not generate income when you click a link.
