Bushfires near Tolmie

[scooter]

Spoke to Rob this morning, bit of a hairy night around Tolmie but they (& their property) are OK.


Cheers............Sean

[Iain]

Thanks Sean, was thinking about a call but thought they might have their hands a bit full, some relief in sight today we hope, it is actually spitting rain here at the moment.

[Cliff Rogers]

Any news?

[Gra]

Any news?

I think I am following you around the board tonight.... but was thinking the same thing, the pictures on the news looked pretty grim, and they are talking of a couple of houses lost. So getting a little worried down here.

WB when you read this, our thoughts are all with you and Mrs WB. We all hope you and yours are safe

[dadpad]

We are getting a little light rain in Mansfield this morning so hopefully they are getting some at Tolmie.

[Wood Borer]

We are all fine up here however my woodwork is at a standstill

The other night we were sitting on the roof looking at three fire fronts all within a Km or so wondering which one was going to get here first or whether they were all going to have a party here. None of them have made it yet.

The fire on the range North of us continues to creep towards us and cannot be fought but just steered by strategic water bombing. It will eventually reach more open ground near us which will give the fire fighters the opporunity to attack or steer it.

Yesterday and today we have had rain - 3.5 mm yesterday and I haven't quite woken up enough to check todays rainfall. The rain of course will not even make a dent in the progress of the fires but it slows them down a bit which gives extra time for bulldozers to make fire breaks.

At the CFA Operations in Tolmie the power and the phones have been restored after being off the air for 2 days. I had to do shuttle between there and home to make phone calls because radio communications is not always possible.

We get regular visits from Fire Tankers and Slip Ons (not kinky clothes you foul minded people). Slip Ons are Land Cruisers with small tanks and pumps that can quickly get into difficult areas and put out spot fires and call up for support if required.

Our spirits are high, we have good people like yourselves letting us know you are caring which greatly helps. It will make a good story over a beer or two in the future and we are living it now

It is shocking to think that we welcome wind changes that will steer the fires away from us but it would mean some other poor soul will cop it.

Gee the rain is coming down now. Big decision, do I remove the plugs from the spouts and collect the rain water or not? If I remove the plugs, I will have to fill the spouts again. If I leave them in, I miss out on valuable tank water. If I knew it was going to rain all day - no probs, the plugs could be removed because there would be a net gain. If I remove them and the rain suddenly stops, I have gone backwards.

I can't use the water sitting in the spouts because it is dam water and it contains ashes. It is really the least of our worries at the moment.

I will try to keep you up to date but you can imagine things are a bit hectic at the moment - a bit like gluing up a chair with tight mortise and tenon joints with the glue drying, the glue running, the chair is out of square, you are busting for a leak and the phone is ringing with some marketing pest whilst dinner is getting cold on the table.

I think I would much prefer the chair gluing problem but sometimes we can't choose.

Don't worry yourselves about us too much, we will be fine, there is always something good if you look hard enough.

For example, whilst under severe threat of fire the other day, we were topping up the bath and were distracted (by walls of flames etc coming our way). Of course the bath overflowed flooding the bath room, the kitchen and a bit of the carpet in our bedroom. What a disaster you would be thinking - an unecessary mess, a waste of valuable drinking water, someone who could be more usefully employed mopping up a flood etc.

A week earlier, someone did not close the lid on the enclosure for one of the girls (pythons) and little Cissy went walkabout (slitherabout?). Looked everywhere, left some mice around the place but no sign of my little Cissy.

The flooding flushed her out. So we have been reunited at the slight expense of a bit of drinking water. There is always a positive if you bother to look hard enough.

[Big Shed]

Great news Woodborer. When we saw the aerial shots of the fires around Tolmie on the news last night, together with the news that 5 houses were lost, we feared the worst.

Keep your chin up and remember.............strength through adversity.

Hope the rain is more up your way than here, just enough to make it humid here.

[ptc]

Thinking of you.

[Driver]

It's great to hear that you're OK, Rob. Hang in there, mate!

Col

[Grunt]

Glad you're girls are safe and sound too.

[Iain]

We get regular visits from Fire Tankers and Slip Ons.

Pigs is the terminology for those beasts, and were illegal for a while because of the weight when full.

[Gumby]

Thanks for the update Rob. I heard that some homes were lost up there so I'm glad you are OK.

At the same time, you tend to feel a little guilty thinking 'thank goodness Rob and Meg are OK'. The others who lost property have friends hoping for them too.

[AlexS]

Glad you, Meg & Cissy and her mates are all OK.

[oldbob13]

Good grief Bob, I thought you guys moved up there for the quiet life!
Don't know if youv'e seen it yet but have a look at "you tube" and search for "rabbit vs snake" you'll get a well earned laugh.
Good luck
BobT

[dadpad]

Some pics from up around Tolmie.