BEYOND BRAVE
As I sit down to write our summer
magazine I look outside at what
should normally be a beautiful
clear blue sky, but in its place
there is an eerie thick smoky
haze blanketing the skyline. I
am listening to news reports
telling anyone with respiratory
conditions to stay indoors, and
other reports stating our air
quality is currently the worst in
the world!
It beggars belief that some of these
fires have been deliberately started, it
makes absolutely no sense. Our amazing
fire fighters answer the call whether the
fire is started by an idiot with a match or
by the wrath of Mother Nature. (Don’t
get me started on global warming!)
Whilst everyone else is fleeing the
flames our fire-fighters are charging into
them to save lives, homes and wildlife.
These courageous men and women
experience the highs and lows of life on
a daily basis and witness things the rest
of us couldn’t possibly imagine.
Fire-fighters know that no fire
is predictable, and no day on the job
is ordinary. They don’t know what
heartache or danger they will face when
they rush to a call. Will they discover
a severely burned child curled up in
the corner of a charred bedroom? Will
they save a life or recover a body? Will
they get hugs of thanks from grateful
survivors or give hugs of condolences to
victim’s relatives?
Their day to day work may not make
the news, or the front page, or earn them
a medal or even a simple thank you, but,
you can bet these dedicated men and
women will be putting on their steel
capped boots tomorrow ready to plunge
through a wall of flames when needed
because that’s who they are and that is
what they do.
The scale and ferocity of bushfires
sweeping NSW and Queensland is
testing the resources of fire-fighters,
charities, and animal rescue groups.
Many have issued public pleas for
financial help, warning of a worsening
bushfire threat and a long road to
recovery for affected communities. Most
organisations are calling for financial
donations - rather than donated goods
- to help them best meet the varying
needs of victims.
A few editions ago I wrote about the
devastation of the floods, and today it is
the extreme opposite. But we all need
to do what we can to help, so please as
we enter the season of giving, please
donate to any of the various charities
helping our communities that have been
devastated from these fires.