Fire Fire Fire!

I'm not taking about the recent riots in London but a few fires that have been lit on the property. While you might think that is a little scary they have actually been either lit by us or the RFS (Rural Fire Service).

Having a fire is the most efficient way of cleaning up old branches and leaves or for ensuring in the fire season there is less fuel to potentially cause some damage. We had 2 rather large piles of branches that we had been waiting for the RFS to burn, for 6 months! They were obviously busy and we were rather impatient. Rather than wait we took the initiative, and the match to the piles. The first fire took 5 days to burn all the branches with both Myles and I raking the fire onto itself to ensure it kept burning. Myles wanted to leave the larger fire unlit until his father arrived - as some form of entertainment.

My big fire at night

We lit the second fire with the help of the neighbour, some beer, and a bottle of wine - plus a packet of Doritos. I started the fire from the bottom of the gully using an old Girl Guide trick while the neighbour started up top using some accelerant. Mine ended up wining the biggest flame competition and I can now say mine was bigger than his. Mick, Myles' Father tried to help out but fell down the bank and he was banished to the safety of the track. We still haven't finished that fire but are damn close to seeing it gone.

Te RFS hard at work

On Sunday we arranged to go fishing in the bottom damn - we think there are eels and possible some fish down there. Unfortunately the RFS turned up a couple of hours beforehand and asked if they could practice fire fighting on one of our banks that had a lot of fuel. Naturally we agreed, and were excited that this also meant a large area was going to be burnt later in the week - ensuring some of the houses in the area would be safer in summer. As soon as the fire was started we heard a mighty rumble from out Dorrigo way - the clouds were getting darker and we knew some rain would eventually drown us out. There had been no rain for 5 weeks making it an ideal time to burn all the properties - making them safer. So naturally when a burn off was arranged it was going to rain so it couldn't happen. Not only did it rain 30mins later but it also hailed and we rushed undercover to the safety of our beer.

The burn off might happen on Saturday now - or it could continue raining. With our luck it will continue raining!