Fire .... and some good news

Winmalee - Yellow Rock area, Blue Mountains

I live in Springwood, in the Blue Mountains. Many years ago, I wrote this:

The sound of sirens

winding up the dry ridgetops:

bushfire season

That season has arrived already  - it's only October, supposedly spring.

Here are the haiku I've jotted down, in the midst of the worst bushfires for a long time.

Helicopters 
chop the smoky day
into jagged pieces

So far, we've lost 193 houses, but no human lives. Last Thursday the house of my friends Will and Sue who lived in Buena Vista Parade, Winmalee, burned down. They are safe.

In the smoky haze

particles

of people's houses

Sunday morning:

Morning birdsong
drifts up
through the smoke

This is some of the damage in Buena Vista Parade - Friday evening - some houses.

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The NSW Department of Planning has recommended that the Coalpac open-cut mine near Lithgow should be rejected because of the damage it will do to the natural beauty of the area. This is great news, but the fight to save the Gardens of Stone is not over.

 

You could explain to NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard and Environment Minister Robyn Parker that to properly safeguard the Gardens of Stone they should take steps to reserve the area under the National Parks and Wildlife Act.