Hi Ladies, thank you again for your kind wishes and prayers. I'm fine &
very safe at this stage & wouldn't normally be in the line of fire, as
we're in open farming area here. Caz & Natalie live around Creswick, I
think, which is near Ballarat. They Should be safe, but one never knows.
It was soo frightening. There are several members of the Victorian
Feltmakers who are in the firing line, around the NE of Victoria and
Bendigo, in and around the devastating fires of Kinglake & St Andrews,
in the Bunyip State forest area & the Latrobe Valley, which has been
going for 12 days now. They need our Prayers too. Purple lives in the
Dandenongs, which has been badly affected in parts. We are all shell
shocked.

I have been rather complacent, before, but not now. I never thought that
we would be affected greatly, being so open. Grass fires are our danger
here. We keep the grass short & the paddock grazed, to minimize it.
Having seen massive eucalyptus fire balls travel kms & driven through
fires in forested areas in the '83 fires, I could never live in native
forest area.I used to do burns nursing when I was younger. It's
challenging. So painful. I had a number of burns incidents as a child,
which have left mental, if not physical scars. I freely admit that I'm a
wuss.

That said, plant Blackwoods, Cassuarinas, other wattles. These will shed
up to 400 L water in a fire for protection! Eucalypts are beautiful to
look at & smell, but not safe to have near the house.

I always remember reading of a man in the '67 fires in Tasmania who had
planted oaks & other deciduous trees around the perimeter of his
property. His place was safe, where all his neighbours lost theirs as
they had Eucalypts all around.

We must think of the animals caught up in the fires, so many people have
lost not only their homes, but their lively hood. Those who haven't lost
all their stock have lost the feed, including hay. Perhaps those of us
who have extra can help others out.

The effects of the fire will be ongoing, lasting years. It's not only
immediate help that people will need, but later, when trying to
re-establish themselves, they will need support, both mental, physical &
financially. Little things will be important. Maybe we could set up a
fund to give them a few days break away in the future, or support them
in going to a felting function?

Warm regards,
Barb Mewburn, Warragul, Vic