I am reeling at the stupidity of

some people. I have just lost my temper. Anyone who knows me will also know it takes a lot for me to actually lose my temper. I can get angry but this is something different.

There is a fire in a conservation park south of here. I know the area. It is very difficult terrain. There are a lot of eucalypts there and a lot of other growth. It is pretty dry right now. There has not been a lot of rain recently.  The wind is changeable. There is no rain in sight. The roads in and out are narrow and winding. It is the very worst sort of fire to have to fight. 

The police are asking people to "stay away". The last thing the fire fighters need are thrill seekers - sight seers - people "going to have a look" or "to see if they can help".  No you can't help. Stay the hell out of there. Stay away. Let the people who are risking their lives to put the fire out get on with the job without hindrance. 

If you were told to get out then I hope you got out. Don't rely on those firefighters to come and rescue you.

I know something about bushfires (wildfires). I have been too close to one for comfort. Let me explain.

There was a fire when the Senior Cat had a school in a rural area. The school, like most area schools, had an agricultural stream. There were sheep and some small areas of crop and the like. The Senior Cat and the teacher in charge of the agricultural stream were responsible for the safety of that as well as the safety of the school. It was a weekend. The children were not at school which was a good thing because the school was needed for other purposes. It was the command centre. 

I do not know too much about the details of the fire. What I do know are some things which will stick in my mind forever. We herded the sheep into the back garden of the school house. They were bleating fear. My brother was set the task of hand pumping the water into the overhead tank (which is how we had any water pressure at all) and he also had to control the hose which was there to make sure that any sparks which landed did not start a major fire. 

I was sent over to the school's domestic science kitchen where food was prepared for the men fighting the fire. The town's only shop had sent up all the available bread along with other supplies. I spent the night and most of the following day making sandwiches as the men came in to the kitchen in relays.  They would lie on the floor in the room next day and "get some kip" before going back out on to the front lines having had an hour or so's break. They were filthy dirty and red eyed. Some of them had minor burns and blisters. They were exhausted but they had to go back. There were simply not enough men to do the job which needed to be done without them. The school's generator had to be kept running so there was power at the school. 

Eventually everything was under control. The area around the school was a mess but it was not as bad as it might have been. Everyone was exhausted and I mean exhausted. They were not just "very tired". There was still a lot of cleaning up to do, spots to be watched and roads to be cleared. 

Compared with what they are now fighting I suppose it was a "small" fire but it did not feel small. The terrain was not as difficult but other issues made it awkward. The cause of the fire was thought to be a dry lightning strike. Nobody lost their home but some people lost sheds and many of them lost sheep or had to go out and shoot the injured sheep. Contrary to the belief of many farmers do not like doing that.  

It was talked of quietly for weeks. I remember the vague feeling of trying to be as grown up as the women working in the kitchen but it was hard. I knew where my parents were but they did not know where their fathers, husbands and sons were or if they were safe. I was the only teenager in the room and it was one of those times when I definitely kept my head down and my mouth shut. I suppose it was a "growing up" moment but it is a memory which still disturbs me. 

So, when some fool thinks it would be "interesting" to go and look I let him know how selfish he would be. The last thing they need is someone getting in the way and putting their lives further at risk. Please just let the men out there get on with the job and let the back up women get on with theirs too.