Greetings All

Have been away on holidays and, as noted, am 2,500 miles from Sydney so well out of harm's way. I'm very touched by all your concern though - thanks.

My folks are a lot closer to the action - they live in Cheltenham, one of Sydney's many beautiful "leafy suburbs". It abuts the Pennant Hills forest (I grew up in West Pennant Hills) where the northern suburbs fire started just after Christmas. I called my Mum to check they were OK but wasn't expecting an observation of hers - among other things, the fire trucks' sirens had kept her awake all night! Of course they were concerned by the whole thing - but so were millions of other people. Their plans to spend a week or two at their holiday house were cancelled because of all the road closures in, out and around Sydney.

The Australian cricket team just "whitewashed" the South African team 3-0 in a three test (ie match) series. Upon receiving the winners' cheque they donated the lot to the bushfire appeal - a highly appreciated act of generosity considering this is how they earn their income. (I know the players could not be thought of as "doing it hard", but nevertheless it was generous of them).

One feature of the fires that's getting plenty of airtime is the "Sky Crane" fire fighting helicopter known as Elvis that was lent by the state of Victoria to New South Wales for the fires. The powers that be were so impressed that two units have been hired for the next ten weeks out of Florida. They arrived today at Sydney and will be used immediately to assist with the fires that are still in progress. Fotunately there was rain overnight and the "firies" are making headway.

The biggest environmental tragedy was the near complete devastation of the Royal National Park which forms the southern limit of suburban Sydney proper (anybody that's ever flown into Sydney on a southern approach will have passed over it). I believe it's the second oldest national park in the world and unique for a number of other reasons. The plants will regrow eventually, but it will take decades (if ever) for a good level of biodiversity to be established.

The usual arguments over whether to do preventative burns have started and will no doubt persist. I was interested to hear however that Western Australia (where I now live) is considered by many as setting the benchmark for wildfire prevention. Our Department of Conservation and Land Management ("CALM" - good acronym hey!) apparently spend around 25% of their time and manning budget on fire control. Its NSW equivalent, the Dept. of Parks and Wildlife however spends around 6% of its time on the matter (by the same measure). I think this says it all - maybe a case of false economy when the toll so far includes 172 houses around the state and something like US$40 million just to fight these outbreaks - so far. I heard that another 1,500 people were evacuated from two NSW south coast towns this afternoon - the action continues it seems. Expect also to see a few insurance companies go under soon - and a huge hike in fire insurance premiums.

Having grown up in the bushfire belt of Sydney I am only too familiar with the terror of these things. My family and I helped fight a fire that threatened a friend's house when I was a kid and I'll never forget what I saw and heard. The house was on a 5 acre lot carved out of the forest with no trees closer than about 50 yards. The fire came with the speed of an express train, but about a hundred times the volume. 100 foot high trees just turned brown in seconds and burst into flame ahead of the blaze, the fireball jumping from crown to crown. Wooden fence posts just burst into flame from the ambient heat (they were 150 feet from the blaze) and sparks blew with tremendous force through the cracks around the doors and windows - like the shower of sparks from an angle grinder. Us kids spent most of the time putting out cinders on the carpet. We soaked towels in the bath and used them to cover up the gaps - but they'd steam dry in a few minutes and had to be replaced. Unbelievable.

Stales