Ghost Town

They called it a ghost town on TV tonight and that’s a good description.
Apart from the lost homes and worse you have to feel for local businesses who should be enjoying the Christmas rush. Instead most are closed. I took some pictures of the signs in the windows. Not sure if you can read that one in the thumbnail but it says “Thank You RFS” (Rural Fire Service). Something you see a lot

It’s been quiet for us but there was a fair bit of activity in town during the night and this morning.
Communication is very good. We got an SMS Emergency warning about 2am. I was able to check on the map which is frequently updated and could see it wasn’t likely to affect us so we went back to sleep :-)  They actually come and door knock if there is an immediate danger.

Good as it is, the map can be a bit deceiving. There was a hotspot marked in our street 2 blocks away and it appeared that Rhododendron Gardens might have been burnt so I walked down there but apart from some smoke amongst the trees and a few police cars and fire trucks cruising it seemed OK.

There  is no doubt the fire is encroaching more upon the town. We were saved by the weather today. It is a ridiculously cool 9C now.  A repeat of yesterday’s 39C and strong winds would have just about taken us all out out I think.
Still it is all very unpredictable and we can’t be too complacent. I think this is going to go on for a while.
Thank you for all your concern and I am sorry if I don’t get back to everybody.