I hopped along down this road to show you some amazing sights.
It was magical to see the steam's effects in the clouds on the mountains.
As you might have seen, I recently posted a blog about a fire that was burning behind the mountain range and overnight the fire crept over the mountains to burn on our side. You can see the first post Here
So this morning we returned to the scene, but this time round we were much closer. The fear is always that the fire might reach the farms on this side, but fortunately it was not, due mainly to the efforts of our valiant firefighting teams.
But still, there were some magnificent scenes.
Sadly the photos cannot show the full effects as they are silent, but we heard the drones of the choppers and the squeals of the fleeing birds.
This heron decided that things were too busy and hot over here, so he departed.
But all of the action originated from the right-hand side.
Here below it looked like a curtain of steam was drawn up into the clouds.
And this was further along at the right-hand side.
Look carefully between the trees at the left and you can see how a chopper drops its load of water onto the mountain.
Finally you can faintly see a helicopter with a water bag above the trees.
It was mainly mop up operations, as to everyone's surprise, it rained on the mountains overnight and the rain assisted with the dousing of the flames. A pity that we could not get closer to the real action, as I so wanted to show you the brave ground crews in action. Another surprise was that the fire started a far distance away near a town behind the mountains and the strong south-easter winds drove it along at a fast pace.
Now I am happy to tell you that no lives were lost, the farms were saved and only several hundreds of acres were burnt. I say only, but even one acre destroyed by fire is a sad loss. Last year's fire in June 2022, was much worse and it cost a few lives and several houses. That's why we are relieved that it was not so bad this time round.
So all is well again, as the fire was conquered, and I will show you some more sights in another post.
I hope that you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
