Bushfire anniversary
January 8 is the anniversary of when the horrific bushfires started in 2003.
Not many people will remember this because the fires crept up gradually, faded again and rebounded with greater ferocity.
The reason I remember is that the lightning strike responsible occurred just before the last deadline for our final edition of the Alpine News.
I was filled with a mix of sadness and relief that we were publishing our last newspaper. I was concerned the thunderstorm would cause a power cut and stop me completing the last page before it could be sent by e-mail to the printer in Yarrawonga.
I could have been forgiven for finishing the paper as early as possible, but the news instinct prevailed and I made efforts to track down why the fire sirens were blaring.
I called the CFA regional officer, who referred me to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. I was put through to the man in control, with a warning to be brief. This is the small report I squeezed onto page two of our final edition:
Bushfire threat follows thunderstorm
Lightning struck much of the North East yesterday, igniting numerous fires including several near Bright and Porepunkah.
The lightning came from a dry thunderstorm, which moved through the local area about 10am.
Fire management officer for the Ovens district, Andrew Pook, said at 11.15am it was too early to assess the impact.
Mr Pook said many of the fires had potential to become serious threats, including four on Mount Buffalo. He said there were many fires in remote areas.
Andrew’s prediction proved correct as the fires became the fiercest to strike this area.
It all seems almost surreal now that we lived with the very real fear of being engulfed in flames. Like most other residents, we were on standby to evacuate. I packed the car with some of our irreplaceable belongings, like photo albums.
The smoke haze lingered for weeks and became more depressing than the fire threat. It was bizarre to experience the relative coolness beneath the thick layer of smoke.
We knew from the weather bureau it was touching 40 degrees throughout the North East, except here, where it was in the mid 20s thanks to heat inversion.
Then the wind would change and clear it all away for a few hours. We saw the flames on Mount Buffalo, where a few months later there would be snow.
After the immediate fire threat had passed we went down to Gippsland for a few days to escape the smoke. It took weeks to finally clear.
It’s interesting to compare some of the differences between this summer and the year before.
December 2002 was the hottest on record and very dry (19mm). December 2003 had average temperatures and near record rainfall (141mm).
Bright was like a ghost town in January last year. The tourists stayed away and few people ventured outdoors unless they had to. This year it’s again a vibrant bustling place.
On a purely domestic note our lawn is still green this year without any watering. In January 2003 it was a brown and grey dustbowl.
As I sit here today it’s currently 14 degrees at 10am and a light drizzle is falling outside. Such conditions in January last year were unthinkable.
The bushfires touched us in a small way as bit players on a greater stage. Many people saw flames on their doorsteps. Thousands of people fought the fires on the front line.
None of us will forget them.
I'm a 41-year-old father of four working as a newspaper editor at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
