The wildfires in California

should be a warning to us. We are not prepared.

Several days ago Middle Cat and I went up into the hills behind us. To get there we go up what we call "the freeway". The Germans would probably consider this is a minor road but it is one of those places where going 100km an hour is the right thing to do. 

There is not much time to view the scenery if you are driving but of course I was in the passenger seat. I could see how dry the country is. We have had no proper rain for months now. It would take one fool with a match to set that straw yellow grass alight. It would take very little for it to jump the road in a wind.

We travelled further on, turned off the freeway at the exit which leads into all the small "towns" (villages) in the hills. We went left but the right hand turn is similar. Many of the houses are close to the road but public transport is almost non-existent. Having a car is essential here. There are trees everywhere, often very close to the houses. 

It all looks lovely. If we had gone up the "old" route into the hills there would have been even more. The roads wind in and out, go up and down, end in "dead ends" or cross the railway line that now goes no further than half way to the highest point.  The Senior Cat's late cousin K... once lived in one of those streets. The driveway was steep. The house was surrounded by gums and native "scrub". K... was no gardener. He did the minimum to keep the place accessible. His "spare" time was spent rebuilding classic cars. 

Every summer we would watch the fire reports and wonder if it might be this summer that K...and his family would be forced to evacuate in a hurry. His wife, F...., kept some things packed so they would be ready to grab and leave. We wondered if they would even be able to leave because of the location. If a train was halted over their crossing then getting out of the hills in an emergency could be a real problem. 

I looked up there again this morning. It is going to be another hot day and I can see houses tucked in among the trees. In its own way it is very beautiful. The flora can be magnificent. The wild life is very varied.  "Cooler up there," someone said to me in passing.

It may be cooler but come a fire and it will be very different. California's climate is similar to this one. They have other winds and have not had nearly enough rain. The fires have gone right into the suburbs there and the idea that they would never do the same here is ridiculous. We need the council inspectors out checking to see that people have removed the undergrowth around their homes and cleared their gutters. We need the police on patrol. We need people to be fined for failing to abide by the regulations. 

It is a privilege perhaps to live in an area which has so much to offer. The problem is that we are treating it all much too casually, as if we have a right to live there and disturb the natural balance of nature. It would be better if we acknowledged the privilege with the proper preparation.