Through The Fire

About ten days ago I had the pleasure of exploring the Kuring-Gai National Park about 20 miles north of Sydney. For being so close to Sydney, its an expansive and impressive national parkland encompassing dense, mountainous forests scattered with aboriginal rock paintings and surrounded by inlet waterways formed by the confluence of the Hawkesbury River and Pacific Ocean on the northern edge of the park. I made the trip on the way up to the Hunter Valley, spending just a couple quick hours driving through the park and promising to return for further exploration before I left Sydney for good.

A few days ago, I had the unfortunate experience to find myself back near Kuring-Gai National Park only to watch it being consumed by a raging bush fire.

My train from Brisbane was stopped about two hours shy of completing its fifteen hour journey back to Sydney. We were advised that three large bush fires had erupted during the day causing the complete closure of all train lines as well as the major highway running north from the city. The sudden fires had engulfed the area in smoke and fire rendering them impassable. I was ushered onto a bus with my fellow passengers to attempt to make the final leg of the journey to Sydney through country back roads around the fires. But, with the highway closed traffic soon came to a standstill on the tiny roads with thousands of automobiles attempting to take the same circuitous route. For more than two hours our bus moved no more than a kilometer an hour.

Four hours later, within just 30 miles of Sydney, the pitch black sky began to glow red in spots on the horizon indicating where the fires were burning as well as their near proximity to our route. As we traversed the peaks of the undulating roadway, we began to glimpse startling views of the fires just a few miles away. Even in the darkness, the outline of large plumes of smoke were obvious as they stretched across the sky. A little closer to Sydney, and much closer to Kuring-Gai, a dozen or so fellow passengers began fits of coughing as the distinct odor of burning timber began to filter into the bus's ventilation system.

As we reached the fringe of the city, I looked out my window to see a sign indicating the train station for Kuring-Gai National Park which was just a few hundred feet beyond. As we passed the station, the image of bright red flames stretched out in a circle for miles all the way to the horizon with the closest edge just a few hundred yards from the street on which we were traveling hit home. The direction of the wind helped weary firefighters keep the smoke and embers at bay allowing the the flow of traffic to pass safely towards the city. But, as we passed, I could see the flames engulfing the beautiful landscape I'd been fortunate to see just a few days prior.

Unfortunately, for the next few days the firefighters came out on the losing end of a battle to keep the flames at bay as they refused to extinguish despite an all-out effort. The highways and train lines remained closed for over 48 hours until just a few days ago when the fire crews finally gained control of the blazes. But, not before a significant portion of the Kuring-Gai had burned.

As the height of summer begins in Australia, the risk of similar fires is unfortunately far from over. That danger is more critical this year than ever as the country suffers from the worst drought in the nation's history making conditions ripe to go ablaze with the slightest spark. Massive bush fires have already burned out a major swath of land and homes just north of Melbourne, searing hundreds of miles along the way. Now, it seems the area around Sydney may be ripe for suffering the same fate and its already taken it's first victim in one of the area's best natural attractions.