Bushfire photos from Bruthen
December 2006 and January 2007

In early December as the small lightening strike fires grew and merged, the fire raged in remote country west of Dargo.  Ten days after it started it had grown immensely and the smoke was carrying long distances and creating strange lighting effects.


Across our paddock at Bruthen 10/12/06 6.25pm

As the fire grew so did the enormous cloud of smoke which darkened the sky over Bairnsdale and Bruthen and surrounding areas on December 14.  The Bureau of Meteorology told us the cloud of smoke was 7,000 metres thick!

Across our paddock 14/12/06  2.45pm

This cloud of smoke blocked out the sun and at 1.40pm the eerie yellow light turned to orange, the sky went brilliant orange/pink then dimmed to total darkness by 3pm.  It was dark enough to need a torch outside and although it lifted a bit it did not get properly light again until around 7pm.  Quite an experience! 


Our house at Bruthen 14/12/06  2.50pm

Getting light again 14/12/06  4pm

At this time the fire was still around 55 km away so although not an immediate threat, we had a definite sense of its potential!

Christmas and New Year saw much cooler conditions and some rain with good opportunities for fire crews to get much of the perimeter of the fire behind control lines, if somewhat tenuously.   Then on January 6, fire broke out with vengeance high up on the Nicholson River, now less than 30km from us and travelling our way.
 

Smoke cloud over the township of Bruthen  6/1/07  5.15pm

This was the view from our driveway 6/1/07  4.15pm

And at 7.10pm

And at 11pm.  We could hear the roar clearly now.

Just as dark was falling on this evening we could see a small plume of smoke from a spotfire that had been thrown ahead of the main fire front into the trees just across the paddock from our house.  We spent a sleepless night watching the glow of the main fire over the hill and the flickering flames of the spotfire which fortunately did not grow much at all in the stillness of the night. 

Spotfire early am on 7/1/07

The next morning this is the view of the spotfire, which grew steadily all day.  Fortunately the predicted north-westerly wind did not arrive as we would have been showered with burning embers.  Instead a gentle southerly blew the fire back towards the main front as bulldozers and aircraft ensured it was secure close to private land.

Dropping water to help ground crews secure the edge of the fire.

With cooler weather predicted for a few days, this fire was used as a back-burn to burn back into the hills and meet the oncoming fire front.

Spotfire turns back-burn on the evening of 7/1/07

This and additional back-burning created a safe buffer for the town of Bruthen, but the main fire then broke out to the north to burn farms at Tambo Crossing to get close to property at Ensay.  The Great Alpine Road was closed for a period as the fire burnt alongside and threatened to cross it. We live just beyond the police road block so had to negotiate it every time we went out or in.   As the risk eased, convoys were arranged  with CFA tankers escorting essential services such as trucks carrying hay and trucks to transport injured or starving stock out of the fire area. 

Police Road block North of Bruthen. Approx 18/1/07

The Great Alpine Road was re-opened on January 21.  On day 63 of the fire, at the beginning of February almost the whole of the Great Divide fire is contained. No communities are under threat and the focus has shifted to rehabilitation.

Over the next few months I will add some regeneration stories and photos to this page or to Latest News page.

For information on my 2007 ecotour and walk program in areas not affected by fire go Calendar.