The answer is no.
Many people have asked me about my proximity to the bush fires. (Warning, this will be a word heavy blog post)
Australia is about the same size as the United States. However, many people do not know this. Traveling from Sydney to Perth is about the same as driving from NYC to LA. Australia is the 6th largest country in the world behind Russia, Canada, China, the USA, and Brazil. It is also the smallest continent and largest island in the world. For me to fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast, it was an hour and 25 minute plane ride or ~524 miles! This is like to driving from Boston, MA to Fredericksburg, VA (+23 miles). So this means, if a fire is burning in LA, it isn’t going to affect you if you are in NYC. And same thing for me here in Oz.
Bush fires have always been part of the ecology and environment in Australia and happen every dry season. We just have not heard about them as much in previous years, because they haven’t been bad in about a decade. The term “bush fire” is based on the concept of “the bush”, which refers to sparsely-inhabited regions of Oz. Bush fires are uncontrolled, non-structural fires that are burning in a grass, bush, or forest area. Indigenous Australians even used fire to clear grasslands for hunting purposes and to clear tracks through thicker vegetation (only during times of high rainfall). The most intense fires typically occur during heat waves and droughts. It is easy for the fires to spread in the hot, dry, summer months in Australia The bush fires that have resulted in the largest loss of life are often named, such as the 2009 Black Saturday Bush fires and the 2006 December bush fires. Bush fires are typically seen from October to March (the hot/dry months).
The main states affected by the bush fires this year have been New South Wales and Victoria, however, there have been at least some smaller bush fires in each state this season. It is estimated that 29 people have died (4 of them were fire fighters) and an estimate of 18.6 million acres were burned. Additionally, it is predicted that half a billion animals have been affected by these fires. It is estimated that about 1/3 of the koalas in NSW have died and that 1/3 of their habitat has been destroyed. However, koalas are not endangered because they are spread out throughout the country. Species that have niches are at risk because their entire habitat can be wiped out. These species mainly include certain birds and frogs.
There are a few reasons why bush fires start. Lightning is one of these reasons. Lightning in areas experiencing drought can easily start a fire. Humans also cause these fires. Sadly, over 20 people were arrested for starting fires this season. The fires this year are so bad because Australia has been experiencing a severe drought. Additionally, there was a heatwave in December 2019 that had the highest national average temperature in history. The strong winds have caused the fires to spread quickly . Some experts have stated that climate change has made things worse for the bush fires, but this a more complex topic that I won’t get into here. But there are plenty of articles online about it if you are interested!
The state and federal authorities have been working for the last few months to fight these fires. There have been over 2,000 fire fighters responding to the fires. Australian military forces have been working alongside the fire fighters as well. Additionally, the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and other surrounding countries have sent fire fighters/military personnel to assist.
In the last few days, NSW and Queensland have received a lot of long-awaited rain. The locals have been rejoicing the return of rainfall to their lands. Over 100mm of rain hit Queensland yesterday (and that isn’t even counting the rain on Thursday). According to online resources, the area has not seen rain like this in 15 years or any rain really since last March! I can definitely vouch for them and say that it rained A LOT! I have never seen rain like this in my entire life. On Thursday, we had a BBQ with our abroad program and as soon as we got off the bus, it suddenly down poured on us. I have seen heavy rain before and have certainly been drenched head to toe, but this was NEXT LEVEL rain. I took my flip flops off (or thongs, as they call them here) and sprinted probably about 600 meters to the little beach pavilion that we were having our BBQ at. It took less than a minute to be absolutely soaked through (even with my raincoat on!). A few minutes after arriving, the rain stopped and we had our BBQ (which was a lot of fun). On our way home, we missed the rain by maybe 30 seconds as we got to the bus stop just in time. However, we did have to run from the bus stop back to the dorms in the rain. So I got soaked again.
It rained the rest of the night on Thursday. But, on Friday morning it was hot again. Friday night, around 9pm, the rain came down again. And MUCH harder this time. It sounded like drummers were banging on the roof from 9pm-5am. I woke up around 2:30am due to the noise and took a look out the window. About every 30 seconds, the sky would light up from a lightning strike, followed by thunder. It was truly incredible to watch. Some areas on campus were flooded early Saturday morning. There is rain predicted throughout the upcoming week (however this can be very unpredictable so we will see what actually happens). NSW also experienced rain the last few days, that has helped the fire relief. I am very happy for the people of Australia that their lands have finally been blessed with the rainfall that they so desperately needed.
There have been many people and foundations donating to the bush fire relief here. Pretty much everywhere you go in Oz, you’ll see a donation bucket for the fires. Countries like the United States, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Canada have also been very generous in their efforts to aid the relief efforts. Many of them sending fire fighters or military personnel to Australia to assist in responding to the fires. However, it is going to take a long time for repairs to be made. Many people have completely lost their homes and have been left with nothing. It is estimated that over 2,600 homes have been destroyed, with 2,100 of them being from NSW.
I suggest that everyone look up photos of animals that have survived the fires and photos of the fires themselves to get a better idea of the trauma that Australia has been facing for the last few months. I will warn you that some map images will make it seem like huge fires were burning in every part of the country, but those images are showing the entire season and any fire that was reported. So, yes it may appear like Brisbane and the Gold Coast are on fire, but I can assure you that they are not.
So the answer is no, I am not near the bush fires right now. Even during the time that I spent in Sydney, I was completely safe. It has been a very interesting time to be in Australia and I am looking forward to learning more about the culture and the land throughout my abroad experience. If you are interested in donating to support injured wildlife and the restoration of their homes, here is a link to donate to the World Wildlife Fund of Australia: https://donate.wwf.org.au/make-a-donation/one-off-donation#gs.t5hk3b
Ali's Australian Adventures 