The 25th of February, 2009- has been labelled, Black Saturday.
When, with the ferocity of the flames, even the soil was alight with lapping red flames and fireballs- many families were caught unaware and unprepared- at least for this magnitude of fire. Entire families were found in their homes, outside their homes, in their cars, in make shift bunkers- as they either bravely stayed to defend their homes, or sadly did not have the time to escape.
The 25th of February, 2009. It will be a date etched in every Victorian’s heart and mind.
Those of us safe in our homes, surrounded with the ones we loved, watched helplessly with tears streaming down our faces at the visions that confronted us at every news break as ever so quickly the death count began to rise.
Distraught families that were lucky enough to make the escape cried uncontrollably for the members of their families that did not make it.
Others pleaded for news of missing family members, while all the while, we sat helplessly watching…
The skies burned orange and ash fell like grey silken snowflakes and all the while, us fellow Victorians, all of Australia and the rest of the world that came to our aid, cried and prayed that the heavens would open and the rain would wash it all away…
Our prayers were not answered and the ash continued to fall from the sky, and families continued to mourn the unnecessary loss of their families and the unforgiving fires that threatened our entire State. Entire communities were wiped from the map of Victoria, as if they had never before existed. Where once there was the bustle and laughter of a small country town, visions of metal, brick, wood and other debris littered the still smoldering grounds and hinted of what used to be a community.
And we, still watched with silent tears and sat helplessly…
We prayed for the Firefighters and SES, who bravely fought flames that they had never before witnessed and all their methods of training had not prepared them for. We felt their pain and anguish as tirelessly they fought the inferno around the clock, many having lost their own homes and families and many just too tired to even rest…
We prayed and we watched and we cried and we fell silent as we looked at the skies every single morning as the deluge of silken ash and the acrid smell of smoke filled our eyes and our lungs and dampened our spirits of rain ever coming…
Mother nature is her only boss and only when she had had enough, she relented enough to allow the fires to die down and become contained…
45000 hectares burned, 7500 people left homeless and 173 dead, with more to be confirmed…
