It's very dry now in the north east of Victoria. The green paddocks have turned yellow. The land is eucalpt scented. Cockatoos cry high and wild, their screams seemingly flung on the searing northerly wind which is like a burning furnace . No clouds cover the sky as the cockatoos rise up in their slow winged flight to circle and scream.

The dry countryside

Sunset over the Delatite Valley

The dry paddocks cause grave anxiety and we scan the distant horizon for signs of fire. Australia has always had bush fires. Some of the terrible fires might not seem so appalling if they burn where there is no human habitation, if there are no people caught in the path of the flames, no gardens, that have been lovingly tended for years, destroyed. There will always be the tragedy of kangaroos with burnt paws, hind legs and tails, and of possums and Koalas burnt in trees.

The savegy of the fires in the last fifty years may have many causes. Possibly the dense pastures caused by the spreading of superphophate make the fires hotter, Possibly the Aboringies' slow fires kept areas of less inflammable bush, here, there, everwhere, and those areas stopped fires from becoming general. Possibly there has been often a combination of severe drought and careless burning off or a slasher hitting a stone and causing a spark (as in the case of the recent Yea fire), or the cycle of years where forked lightning and the dry thunderstorms combine with severe drought.

The extremely good organisation of country fire-brigades all though the closer-settled country has stopped many fires getting out of control, but one cannot but be beware that a vast general conflagration could occur, such as Black Friday, and Ash Wednesday, even with all the possible care being taken.

If you live in the country, surrounded by paddocks and State Forest you are aware of the inherent risk and dangers.