bushfire #4 - 'Elvis'

Posted by Kathryn (Warburton, Australia) on 10 February 2009 in Documentary & Street.

This is one of 2 of the sky crane/waterbombers, nicknamed 'Elvis', that have been continually flying over our town today on their way to/from filling with water at the Upper Yarra Dam (located near to us) and fighting the fires in the area. As you can see by the air quality and sky compared to the recent images i have posted, the situation in my immediate area has improved quite a lot and the presense of these aircraft is oddly reassuring (any other time, this sight would have set me panicking!) as it means that the threat level of the major bushfires must have lessened just enough to allow these valuable firefighting resourses to work on other slightly 'less serious' fires that are closer to us. The situation as of today seems a little more positive with some fires being 'contained' at least for the time being during this stable and quite cold weather (about 18C/64F - a BIG improvement!) while for the first time since this tragedy began, instead of hearing 'urgent alerts' we are now hearing 'downgraded' messages. Despite all of this comforting news, today we did have a scare when, as a result of the inevitable but panick-inducing rumour mill that is in full flight throughout the area, we got a phone call from a friend saying that they had heard that the biggest threat in the entire state at that point in time was a blaze in Warburton - i.e. my town - less than 2 minutes drive down the hill from my house!!! As you can imagine with so many people having been on edge for the last 4 days and hearing all of the horrifying stories of what people have been through, it was a scary moment. Thankfully though about 20 minutes after that call we realised that the rumour was false.
With the death toll from this natural disaster now officially rising over 170, though still expected to rise even further, and with the some firefronts still posing serious threats to communities and assets in areas of the state, many people are still suffering quite horrendously. The whole situation is still quite overwhelming and unfathomable.
Thank you again so much for all of your wonderfully caring, supportive and kind comments and well wishes. You are truly a great community!! Thank you!

UPDATE: Within 30 minutes of posting this image we have heard of more of the dreaded 'urgent alerts' issued for some towns near to us. There will be a community meeting held later tonight, which my mum and I are going to attend, regarding this affected area as well as our area. Will it ever end?!?!?

FURTHER UPDATE: Just got home from the meeting - OK for now but we were given the first CLEAR, REALISTIC and SERIOUS information that we have recieved since this situation began and it has given me a bit of a reality check - it has really sunk in now! i am quite rattled right now but i think that it is again a positive thing - i am more prepared now (or at least will be in the morning!) to face what is still continuing to threaten us now IF it will happen and we have to assume it will eventually. Hopefully some of that made sense!! i will write more in the morning once i have regained some composure - haha

Thank you all so much for your lovely encouraging comments. I am getting quite busy and am finding that i don't have a lot of time for both photography and maintaining this blog as much as i would like to so i probably won't be able to reply to each and every comment from now on but i promise i will eventually get around to visiting your blog! Happy snapping everybody!

Kaha the Kiwi has set off again on his journey around the world to see all of his AM3 friends. Keep up to date with his adventures on his own blog here. Safe travels Kaha and i hope you have a ton of fun!

Thanks for viewing my photograph!
All feedback, especially constructive criticism is welcomed and very much appreciated. Enjoy your day!

vfxy Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org