Photo credit: Aaron Raggio, Gwandalan and summer land brigades
Australia is in a state of emergency, with over 5.5 million hectares currently on fire. States of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia are on fire, and have both RFS (volunteer) and Fire and Rescue (paid), on the job, working without enough food, water, or resources, risking their lives to protect ours.
No doubt you have heard about the fire taking homes and risking lives in Mallacoota, Victoria, forcing Men, Women, and children to flee in boats, leaving thousands trapped on the beach, with not enough room to take them all. These devastating effects caused by one of the world’s worst fire epidemics are spreading as more and more people are put in danger. While many celebrated New Year’s Eve with fireworks, thousands were stranded, forced to seek shelter in the burning town of Mallacoota, with only 1,000 of 4,000 people seeking refuge in Naval Vessells ‘HMAS Choules’ and ‘MV Sycamore’. Those that were fortunate enough to leave on the ships provided by the Victoria Police and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), were required to register via a formal process.
The catastrophic conditions of the fires have left many contemplating if the fires are a result of climate change. According to scientificamerican.com, Australia is more fire-prone then any other country, “Australia’s climate has warmed by more than one degree Celsius over the past century, and this change has caused an increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves.” While on the other hand, Tony Abbott is denying the effects of climate change as being any connecting factor, “The so-called settled science is not quite as settled as people say, and that's my position,” he has stated, as well as saying, "Nevertheless we have only got one planet; we should do what we reasonably can to rest lightly upon it. We should do what we reasonably can to reduce emissions,” He has stated.
Photo credit: Jess Cox, Warnervale brigade
Some residents believe that rather than climate change causing the issue, it is the fuel left from not enough back burning. With this being said, Victor Steffensen, an indigenous man, and member of the Firesticks Alliance, an Indigenous group that organizes programs within Australian communities to help people recognize the method of ‘cultural fire management’. They are hoping to reintroduce the way back into Australian lands owned and run by Aboriginal people. Steffensen has been quoted saying, “I find myself following on from those old people who have passed and continuing the journey of educating and teaching the younger people just like I was taught, My big dream is to see the culture of fire in Australia change, where everyone knows the country and knows fire properly and that we are looking after the landscape again."
Regardless of whether or not you believe that climate change has anything to do with the fires, they continue to blaze, with our local fire brigades having trouble beating the fires on their own, backups have been called from overseas to help, with a likeness to the Catherine hill fires that were once upon us. Twenty-Two New Zealand firefighters have come across to Australia to help out, as well as firefighters from the US and Canada, helping in these troubled times. Since the beginning of the fires, a state of emergency has been declared three times, fourteen locals have been killed, roads have been closes, trapping people who didn’t have the chance to escape the fires, and food and water is running out- are some terrifying statistics that have been floating around the internet.
Photo credit: Karen Jackson, Charmhaven resident
With that, I wanted to get some opinions from the people risking their lives fighting the fires; Kattie James, RFS member of Salt Ash brigade, has said that the fires were jarring, with some of the crew being on the fire grounds at Willombi for eight days straight with no end in sight, “ I attended the Wollombi fire with my brigade and it absolutely floored me. Some of our crew had been on that fire ground for 8 days straight with no reprieve in sight. At the time I was out at Wollombi, the fire was 500,000 Ha and growing. We were sent into the depths of the bush to protect a handful of properties under threat and faced 3 fire fronts heading towards us. Our team utilized dry fire fighting techniques in the form of dry earth breaks and back burning to protect these properties, which we were successful. With the ongoing threat of bushfire, I strongly urge people to have their bush fire survival plan identified and to listen to the advice given by the RFS.”
Shalana Raggio, the wife of an RFS firefighter has said that each night, her husband Aaron, comes home smelling so strongly of smoke each night after days of fighting the fires with Gwandalan and Summerland brigades, that it actually wakes her. To go along with those quotes from inside the fire grounds, I have compiled a bunch of terrifying images of the state of the current fires.
Photo credit: Aaron Raggio, Gwandalan and Summerland Brigades
Photo credit: Jess Cox, Warnervale Brigade
Photo credit: Aaron Raggio, Gwandalan and Summerland Brigades
If you are in need of shelter, food or water, please follow this link for more information - https://www.abc.net.au/news/emergency/plan-for-an-emergency/bushfire/
If you would like to donate to help out the courageous firefighters, go here - https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/about-us/fundraising
Donate to Wires to help the animals in need, that are running from the bush that they call home - https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/bushfire-factsheet