Beauty and the Beast OF LIVING IN THE BUSH BY LLOYD GORMAN
FEBRUARY’S HORROR BUSHFIRES ON THE FRINGES OF PERTH WERE ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE FOR THE METROPOLITAN REGION. THE TOWERING PLUMES OF SMOKE RESEMBLED THE SPEWINGS OF AN ANGRY VOLCANO AND WERE VISIBLE FROM ACROSS THE CITY. THE WESTERN HORIZON AND SKYLINE OF THE CITY WAS CROWDED WITH THE SMOKE AND HAZE STEAMING FROM THE RAGING INFERNO WHILE FAR FLUNG SUBURBS EXPERIENCED SNOWLIKE SPRINKLINGS OF ASH CARRIED ON THE WIND. AND ALL THE TIME A HIGHLY VISIBLE FLEET OF HELITAKS AND FIRE FIGHTING AIRCRAFT RELENTLESSY ATTACKED AND BOMBARDED THE BLAZES FROM DUSK TO DAWN, DAY AFTER DAY. 4 | THE IRISH SCENE
It was an extraordinary thing to witness from a distance, but thousands of residents in the affected areas suddenly found themselves engulfed by danger. Originally from Waterford but long term Gidgegannup couple Charlie and Joan Walsh Smith were amongst the thousands of people* forced to suddenly flee their homes and properties. Several bush fire fighters were injured as they battled the flames and searing conditions. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, eighty six houses were consumed and charred to a crisp. The husband and wife team of sculptors were amongst the lucky ones not to lose their homes but that may well be in no small part because they knew a terrible time like this was inevitable. Fred Rea caught up with Charlie to find out more about their brush with danger and how they prepared for it. “Seven houses on adjacent properties very close to us on our western and eastern sides were lost,” Charlie said. “Ninety per cent of our property was burned but if you were sitting in my house looking out the window – everything looks absolutely like a normal paddock, but just a short distance to the right or left is utter devastation, with trees by the thousands gone like matchsticks.” Even though they and their Reen Road property – which is also home to their studio and workshops – were as well prepped for an emergency as possible, they were caught by surprise when the moment came. “It started on the Monday in the afternoon and I thought it was too far away to bother us because we live 40km away, we had no idea the fire would stretch for 40km and in the end the fire front was 142km wide – the biggest one ever seen here,” he said. They had to leave at short notice but they put their bushfire plan into action. “We set up here in 1986 and bought this wonderful 150 acres of bush property which only had a tin shed on it at the time, so that’s what we moved into,” he said. “The first thing that became obvious to us was
