“Spreading like a wildfire”
Note: We are currently visiting our family in Gold Coast, Australia and I was asked to share my impressions regarding the devas- tating bushfires raging in many Australian states.
We are currently not personally affected but it has now been five weeks where I have had the opportunity to watch videos and images of the present disastrous, frightening and at times uncontrollable wildfires on Australian TV and to listen to the news on the radio.
One of my first impressions of listening to the many anxious and fearful people who looked over the devastated acres and acres of farming land, plantations and buildings razed by the uncontrollable wildfires, was the extent of the loss, pain and often helplessness. Affected people could not hide their emotions – tears running down their face. There were people who called these wildfires “Armageddon” – tribulation and an “Apocalypse” – event involving destruction of the world on a catastrophic scale. I can fully understand such a drastic statement Australian citizens, whether they were directly affected or not, shared this catastrophic burden with all Australians.
People opened their hands and reached out with unconditional support and unconditional love as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. Fire fighters were called from far and near to help extinguish the wildfires some of which were difficult to get under control. At times a wall of flames stretched over many hundreds of kilometres. Ordinary citizens came to help as volunteer fire fighters offering their assistance despite the danger.
In addition, the Australian Defence Force and Navy was called in to assist espe- cially with the evacuation of citizens and holidaymakers whose life was in dan- ger. The fire fighters stood up for the people and fought the destructive fires very courageously, often putting their own lives at risk. All fire fighters, includ- ing the volunteers, and all citizens who helped devastated fellow citizens, showed great resilience for the sake of others.
Towns and cities, despite great distances away from the fires, were at times covered in a haze of smoke. They were advised to stay indoors because of the poor air quality. On some days at 9 o’clock in the morning there was no sun to be seen and the sky turned from black to bright red. In an emergency, high- ways and roads were closed at short notice. There were cases in certain places where fires burnt so hot and so fast that there has been a significant mortality of wild animals in the trees – an incredible difficult time for wildlife. Ecologists fear that the fires could wipe out endangered Australian species off the map.
Here are some estimated figures. At this point in time 2000 homes destroyed – 27 people lost their lives (including fire fighters) – hundreds of thousand peo- ple were forced to evacuate, 1 billion animals, mostly wild animals, feared dead – since September unprecedented fires have destroyed over 2.5 million acres of agricultural and forest land (46% more than the total in the Brazilian Amazon).
In the meantime, millions of dollars have been received as donations by Aus- tralians and by people from other countries. Now the focus will be recovery of broken-hearted people and help rebuilding what was destroyed.
E. Fröhling
