Tuesday triggered some horrible memories on the South Coast. Two vast columns of angry smoke - one from Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay, tihe other from Nowra - were explicit reminders that the threat of bushfire is never far away.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In this summer of La Nina, of humidity, rain and overcast, it's easy to be lulled into complacency, to think fire has taken a holiday. Tuesday showed it has not.
The heatwave which drove temperatures up into the high 30s came with dry wind from the northwest - ideal conditions for a bushfire.
And when it erupted, it came as a nasty deja vu. Once again, focus shifted to the Fires Near Me app for updates, to Flightradar 24 to track the aerial firefighters and to BOM, to keep and eye on the progress of the southerly wind change as it moved up the coast.
Some of us were reminded to think about drawing up our Bushfire Survival Plans. But by Wednesday, when the temperature had dropped and the immediate threat had passed, that good intention had faded when, really, it should have been put into action.
Well ahead of bushfire season, the Rural Fire Service had warned against complacency. It had said that despite the wetter conditions this summer, there was still potential for disaster. Of particular concern was threat of grassfires.
Tuesday showed how real that threat was when a grassfire broke out behind Stockland Nowra and took several hours to bring under control.
The causes of both blazes are now under investigation. The Booderee fire has been described as "suspicious". While we have to allow the invesitgations to run their course (and be aware we may never know the cause), one thing is abundantly clear - the potential for bushfire disaster is still very alive.
Tuesday was a valuable lesson. It showed there is no room for complacency.
