POETS UNITED - FIRE

“The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes.” - Henri Frédéric Amiel

This week, Poets United has as its theme, “Fire”. Whether seen as friend or foe, fire always has to be respected as it can burn more easily than it can warm.

Bushfires in Australia are frequent events during the hot months of the year, due to Australia’s mostly hot, dry climate. Each year, such fires impact extensive areas. While they can cause property damage and loss of human life, certain native flora in Australia have evolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduction, and fire events are an interwoven and an essential part of the ecology of the continent. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have used fire to foster grasslands for hunting and to clear tracks through dense bush (see here for more details).

Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 people lost their lives. Other major conflagrations include the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires and the 2006 December Bushfires.

Victoria has seen the majority of the deadliest and largest bushfires in Australia, most notably the 2009 Black Saturday fires, where 173 people were killed, around 2,000 homes and structures were destroyed, towns were gutted, and some, such as Marysville, were destroyed. Global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of bushfires and will lead to increased days of extreme fire danger.

Perhaps the most distressing thing about bushfires is that some of them are deliberately lit by arsonists, firebugs, demented individuals who get a thrill out of seeing the flames leap up and destroy all in their path. In Australia, we fear and respect fire as it can cause destruction and death and endless misery. Firebugs have no place amongst us…


Drought and Fire

The demon lit the match and hell began

As soon as fire started in the tinder-dry bushland.

Parched earth and dead grass stretch listlessly

As heat waves shimmer in the distance

And oppressive heat mingles with the pungency of smoke.

The crackle of the flames consumes all other sounds

Leaves sublimate as the wave of towering fire touches them.

The wind roars, and the conflagration burns, destroys all,

While in its wake, nothing but ashes, blackened earth

And shells of gutted homes and stumps of trees.

The sun is red, the sky is gray in a vision of apocalypse

And as evening falls the dull infernal glow of bushfire

Colours even one’s thoughts incarnadine.

The embers fly and showers of sparks light up the sky

As fire spreads consuming all in its path.

A lack of water in the rivers of the heart,

A fire raging in the fevered brain,

Black charred remains and ashes in the soul:

The demon lights the match, the flames of hell burn on.

IN PRAISE OF BUSHFIRES

“Australians have stewardship of a beautiful, diverse and unique environment. Positioning Australia to respond to a changing climate, securing supplies of water to meet our domestic, agricultural and industrial needs, protecting our globally unique biodiversity and providing positive futures for Australian communities are the critical issues facing the nation.” - CSIRO
 
Bushfires once again are rampant throughout much of Southeastern Australia this Summer. The relatively wet climactic conditions over the last few years have created lush vegetation, which in the dry heat that we have been experiencing now, is perfect fuel for the wild fires that sweep through the wooded areas. Bushfire has been part of the Australian landscape for millions of years, but while we consider it a major threat, some of our flora and fauna depend upon it for their survival. Australia’s native vegetation encourages the spread of fire and as a consequence of evolution, bushfires create a number of surprising benefits for the Australian environment that cannot be created any other way.
 
Eucalyptus forest litter is coarse and decays slowly, ensuring that after several years there will still be an abundant build-up on the forest floor to carry the next fire. The bark of many native species is highly flammable and loosely attached to the trees, making ideal firebrands to carry fire across natural barriers. The green leaves contain highly flammable oils and resins that act as a catalyst to promote combustion before the leaves are fully dry. These factors predispose greatly to fires and sooner or later, in some part of Australia, weather patterns will occur so that strong, hot, dry winds will blow from the centre of the continent, so all that is needed is a spark to produce a conflagration. If these conditions of hot dry weather are associated with a drought of any length, the massive bushfire that develops will not be stopped until the weather moderates.
 
The Australian Aborigines lived in harmony with the environment before European settlement and they had learnt that they had to break up the forest fuel in order to survive within the landscape filled with many hazards. They burnt off vegetation extensively and often, so as to reduce forest litter. They learnt by observation the responses of the plants and animals to burning and took advantage of these responses to exist harmoniously and sustainably within the natural environment.
 
Since European settlement, the total amount of fire in the Australian landscape has declined. The bushland areas and particularly those around Sydney and Melbourne have thickened and accumulated more fuel. As a result, the infrequent fires that now occur under extreme weather burn much more intensely and have a significant impact on the built environment. Fragmentation of the bush by different land use practices, such as spreading urbanisation and agriculture, means that the Aboriginal fire regime is no longer possible or desirable in these areas.
 
Australian native flora and fauna have evolved to survive in a fire-prone environment. In order to maintain the biodiversity of the native areas of vegetation and its resident fauna, we have to accept that fire is a process that must be used to manage our bushland. Nothing else except bushfire does the following:

• Fire produces the chemicals in the ash to stimulate new growth of vegetation;
• Smoke stimulates the flowering and regeneration of particular species;
• The heat pulse of a passing bushfire removes growth-inhibiting toxins in the litter;
• Opens tightly-closed fruits to release new seed;
• Penetrates deep into the soil to stimulate the germination of long-buried seed.

Nothing else except bushfire produces the succession of plant development to which our native fauna have adapted to meet their requirements for food, shelter and reproduction.
 
Australian bushfires fires threaten lives and property and cause millions of dollars of damage each year. To a large extent, this is because since European settlement we have modified the Australian native environment and have made it adapt to a land use and settlement pattern that is more suited to a northern European, cooler and wetter climate, which has a completely different flora and fauna. The introduction of many exotic tree species such as European and American deciduous trees and also the evergreen pines has meant that the response of the landscape to bushfires has become less characteristic and unpredictable. The construction of residences within or adjacent to wooded areas has increased the risk of property destruction and loss of life. People’s ideas regarding the aesthetics of the landscape – i.e. that it should be green and lush and unravaged by the effects of fire is contrary to the Australian environment and the wise management of the land that the Aborigines were in charge of so successfully for millennia.
 
We must learn to accept that in Australia, bushfire is an ecological process that is as natural as the sun and the rain. We must learn to accept that bushfire determines the composition of our flora and fauna and contributes to its success within Australia’s unique landscape. If we want to reduce the devastating and tragic effects of uncontrolled bushfires, we must make fire suppression a strategic and regular occurrence in our lives, in locations that are appropriate. We need to learn that it is the dry undergrowth and dead leaf, bark and twig litter that provides the fuel for bushfires, and use prescribed, planned burn-offs at appropriate times of the year in order to reduce fuel loads. This implies that people need to individually take responsibility for managing the fuels in their properties, and maintain their gardens and adjacent land so that they do not burn uncontrolled in summer.
 
Fire services and land management agencies need the support of individuals and community groups even when there is no fire emergency and accept the minor inconvenience of smoke in the air when fire is prescribed for hazard reduction, forest regeneration or biodiversity management. People living in areas adjacent to high fire hazards must plant wisely, manage the flora and potential bushfire fuel in their gardens and construct properties that are bushfire resistant and well-prepared for a wave of fire that may sweep through their property. As part of any bushfire survival plan, farmers and homeowners should assess how they can make their property defendable, consider what fire protection systems need to be in place and ensure they know the location of their nearest shelter in the event that they need to evacuate quickly. As fires can occur at unexpected times, it’s also important to plan for different scenarios, such as on a workday, during school holidays or at a social function. Above all, if people choose to evacuate, they must leave their property early.
 
We live in a vast, beautiful land. It is often that we find ourselves in a harsh and punishing environment. If we respect the land and work with it, we make our own survival more probable, while nurturing and sustaining the native flora and fauna that we are the custodians of.

COURAGE

“Valour is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.” - Michel de Montaigne

While we are still reeling under the effects of the floods in the Eastern states of Australia, Perth in Western Australia has been battling bushfires, with nearly 50 homes lost to the flames and many times more of them damaged. We live in a land of extremes and natural disasters seem to be a fact of life for Australians ever since this land was settled. I can only imagine what the poor British thought in the first few decades of the first white settlement when confronted with cyclones, floods, bushfires, locust plagues, sandstorms, high winds…

There is currently much debate in parliament regarding natural disasters and the way that Australia will rebuild and how we shall pay for it. Although most people support a short-term levy (paid by those who can afford it as a tax payment), there is also talk of spending cuts and allowing the budget to go into the red rather than preserving election promises of a balanced budget or one in the black. The aggregated bill that goes into many billions of dollars demands payment and one way or another Australia will have to pay…

These topics seem to be far removed from Poetry Wednesday, however, there is an underlying theme of adversity and courage that manifests itself in the most unfortunate conditions. The Australian psyche seems to be one that rise to the challenge of adverse situations and typically one can rely on one’s fellows in times of hardship in Australia. It is a harsh land that we live in, but it also one of bounty. While Australians are tough to match the land, we all tend to have a soft spot for those of our fellows that are down and out and we are all willing to lend a helping hand and be generous of spirit. However, the courage shown by the victims is something that is admirable and worthy of acknowledgement.

Today, a poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1902), whose popularity sky-rocketed as it was used in the film of the same name: “Invictus” (2009). The theme of the poem being one of adversity and the struggle to survive, suits my topic well today. Invictus means “unconquerable, invincible” in Latin and if we have strength of character, great stores of courage and fire in our soul, we can overcome anything and we are truly unconquerable!

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1902)

CALIFORNIAN FIRES

Yet again, I am moved to write about wild fires burning out of control and causing much pain and suffering, this time in Southern California. Here in Australia we sympathise greatly with bushfire victims anywhere around the world as we are so familiar with the distress and immense loss of life and property that these wild fires cause. Not so long ago, Southern Greece was burning, now California and this Summer we are bracing ourselves here in Southern Australia for the bushfire season.

The unrelenting winds created a deadly firestorm across Southern California, with firefighters conceding defeat on many fronts. More than 500,000 people have been forced to move away from their homes, not knowing whether they will come back to find them… It is a terrible thought – get up this moment and leave your house, taking nothing with you, and remembering that everything you own will be lost forever…

Our thoughts here, Downunder are with you, people of Southern California. One hopes that weather conditions will abate and that the fires will be controlled soon…

The Burning

The fire burnt my house
The smoke stifled my breath.
The flames licked my memories
The tablet wiped clean.

Wind-carried sparks surround me
Igniting my flammable mementos.
The embers glow, the hot ash flies
My place of refuge, now a hell.

All’s lost up in smoke,
My eyes are blinded by my fears
My tears making of the flames
A watery incineration.

The earth is roasted dry,
Even the air is fire-red.
My house no more a haven
My home no more.

My pockets empty,
All that I have the clothes I wear.
My mind is desiccated
All dreams have sublimated.

The fire burns, the flames destroy.
All my possessions charred and gone.
The fire cauterising wounds
It itself has opened.

The fire robbed me of my home,
The smoke asphyxiated me.
My souvenirs are smoke
All of my pages, now ash.

And yet I live, I still have you by my side,
Things that are lost no more important than fallen leaves.
Stand by my side, hold my hand, and hope,
For the fire in our hearts, can make of this barren, deathly place
A paradise, again.

This poem was inspired by a news report we watched yesterday, where a news reporter watched his own house burning down…