29th January 2012
(Written Sunday morning)
Dull days, Saturdays.. shopping, laundry, finishing leftover jobs. Until I heard the sound of a helicopter for the second time in a week. Odd to hear any aircraft at all here, so I went out to have a look. The first time, Jeff and I thought it was a medical evacuation, being in time only to see the yellow and red flash on the tail as it turned away. This time it came closer, then flew on overhead. I turned to the mountain… two great plumes of smoke, one to the East, and another to the West – in the direction of Steve’s house!
I left everything as it was and charged across. As I traversed the main road, I gained another perspective and could see that the fire was further up the mountain, in fact quite a way from his property. Sandy began to tell me what they knew. They had received a phone call earlier that morning from one of the helpers at Klub Tessalonika, the pensioners charity club. Fire had been seen on a property – also owned by a film maker – just above the RDP development. It was soon evident that the fire brigade would be needed. Steve arrived home from the site of the fire on a borrowed quad-bike with the news that the fire crew appeared to have that situation under control, but that a new concern was that the fire was burning back into the stiff breeze, along the mountain above me, which explained the second plume of smoke. Steve’s neighbour Gerhardt had by now hopped over the fence, and we were delegated to dash across to take drinking water and see if we could be of use.
On the way past Boggy Pond, I stopped off to grab a rake, panga (machete) gloves and more cold water.
STOP PRESS! (Sunday morning)
Just took a break and looked outside. Smoke in all the wrong places and a stiff wind blowing. Going to investigate…
To Be Continued…