Bushfire

this one is taken right next to my work building

Well, it's bushfire season...and with all the extra grass around here, they don't take much to start and most are started on purpose by locals who want to see what they can burn in a day. Some of them just burn out, no harm done, but some pick up speed and take off like this one did yesterday. I took these photos from downtown Alice Springs as I went from my office building to the main DCF office. Lotsa smoke for sure, nearly blanking out the sun. As devastating as fires are, there is also something beautiful about the smoke and how it interacts with the sun. The sunset last night was amazing, as it was again tonight, though I didn't go out for photos. The smokey air was hard to breathe for an asthmatic with a rotten cold like me.
     The grass is particularly long this year due to a very wet summer last December and January. There's grass around here that hasn't been seen in some parts in decades, and now with the dry season these past many winter months, it has become very dry and brittle, perfect for a bushfire. One of the gals at my office said her friend nearly lost her house yesterday but for their preparation for bushfire season - they had cleared their yard of all grass, bush, and debris (twigs, dead trees, etc) and the fire only got to the edge of the yard and ran out of fuel so went off in another direction. Lucky people. It could have been oh so much worse, and I know first hand how devastating a housefire can be.
     There are a lot of months before the rains come again, if they come...there have already been hundreds of bushfires, but there is oh so much grass left to burn yet. It's gonna be a hot and smoky spring and summer I reckon. Spring begins next month and runs into summer which starts in December through to February. Rain can either make it worse or better - more rain means more grass again next year...less rain means things remain brittle and burn easier...mother nature, please find some balance between the two.