Well....

Well I'd like to say that it rained all night and that all the fires are gone and normal life can be resumed...... but I can't. We had only about 2mm here (a little more in some other areas), so the grass is wet, but the ground is still nearly bone dry, there's still smoke in the air and columns of smoke still rising in various directions. Very frustrating.

Certainly it has dampened things and it will slow the fires down, but also make backburning more difficult, so it's a mixed blessing. Certainly however it should reduce the danger of spot fires (especially since there's no wind again - even though it's supposed to be blowing a gale??!), so that's a really good thing. The Buffalo fires are still burning strongly on two sides and so the Buckland Road is still closed to traffic. Just as I was writing this 5 firetrucks rumbled past, so........ so we need more rain!

Nonetheless, we'll unpack the emergency trailer today as a gesture of optimism - and put back the welcome doormat. However the elegant roof sprinkler will stay.

Yesterday


The day before yesterday