The drought and
fires continue
By Ian Reeve. 21st October 2002
The drought and fires continue. Two lives lost in fires so far
in NSW this summer and some 30-40 homes burnt. There are fires burning out of
control near Guyra, Glen Innes, Tenterfied and Stanthorpe. So far Armidale and
Uralla have not had any fires, partly because we had slightly more rain (still not much
compared to average) in winter and the grass has not turned brown and dry yet. But
our turn will come soon unless the drought breaks. There have been several days with
thick smoke covering Armidale and Uralla, such that even inside your eyes are irritated by
the smoke. It is a difficult time for people with breathing difficulties and lung
conditions.
Sue and I have been getting up at 5am when it is still cool enough to work outside, and
clearing firebreaks around the house. We have to rake up all dead grass and leaves
for a distance of at least 100m out from the house, as well as prune out all the lower
branches of the flammable native shrubs and trees that are capable of carrying a fire from
the ground up into the tops of the gum trees. This is to avoid a crown fire (a fire
in the tree tops) which is usually unstoppable, intensely hot and sends showers of burning
embers on the wind for up to 2 km in advance of the fire front.
All the prunings we put through our chipper, which turns them into small pieces which can
be spread on the ground in the middle of grassy paddocks where there is no danger of a
fire getting to them.
I also have to get up on the roof and sweep the gutterings completely clean of leaves, so
that there is no chance of a burning ember from a fire starting a fire in the roof
guttering which would then spread into the roof of the house. I will be putting
containers of water up on the roof, so that if a fire approaches I can tip these into the
gutterings so they are wet and will extinguish any embers landing in there.
The fire research statistics in Australia show that about 85% of the houses burnt down in
bush fires survive the passage of the fire front, but burn down 15 minutes to several
hours after the fire has passed, due to embers landing in the gutterings or lodging in
crevices in the wood of the house, or in dry leaves on the ground against or under the
house. The other cause is radiant heat from crown fires coming through the glass of
the windows and igniting the interior furnishings of the house. So in fire prone
areas like the Blue Mountains, houses are required by law to have fly screens on the
windows made of copper. The copper absorbs much of the heat from the fires, for
sufficiently long to prevent the interior of the house igniting as the fire front passes.
Great climate we Aussies live in, isn't it! :(
Regards
Ian |
