Bush fires

The news from Australia is bad. Our part of Victoria has had the hottest day ever recorded - and, as tends to happen in such circumstances, there are serious bush fires.

It seems one of the worst fires started just east of Kilmore - the town we lived in for 12 years. It swept down on Wandong and Whittlesea before turning east and burning through to Kinglake.

We can see from a service called Sentinel Hotspots [http://sentinel.ga.gov.au/acres/sentinel/disclaimer_B.shtml] that there are presently no fires in our district. We have just been on the phone to our son - who is at Moora. It was good to talk through with Neil what he should do.

At present there are 14 reported deaths - with fears that the toll may rise to 40. From Sentinel I can see the fires sweeping north and west towards other other areas where there are many houses in vulnerable settings.

The last really serious loss of life in Victoria was on Ash Wednesday 1983. Areas close to Moora burned then. When we arrived in 2005, you could still see the signs of the level of preparedness that the previous owner thought prudent after that conflagration.

Removing the gorse and long rank grass - which we did 4 years ago - makes us much safer, but we would still have some vulnerability to grass fires.

Tonight we're praying for friends and acquaintances who may have been affected by the fires - indeed for all affected.