Looking East from Zonzos after Yarra Valley bushfires -- the hay shed has gone, which diminishes this lovely vista. Fortunately Zonzos is still in business, cranking out the best pizzas in the southern hemisphere.
Of course this is a really trivial loss compared to the 200+ people who died, countless animals and the 1800+ homes lost leaving ~5000 people homeless.
The area around Zonzos that burnt is instructive. Open but dry country well away from any forests. Yet an ember from the fire 15-20 km North was carried by wind last Saturday night and set the paddock and hay shed alight. The three houses nearby were saved. Closer to Yarra Glen there were a number of fires very close to houses again started by embers. In these cases residents staying and protecting their homes from ember attacks saved them.
I still can't really take on the full magnitude of this tragedy. A whole community like Marysville surely can't be just wiped out in less than 30 minutes - but it was.
Here is a photo spread showing Marysville before and after
http://www.news.com.au/
It is expected that the survivors of Marysville's firestorm won't be returning for up to another 2 weeks.
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