Fire! Fire!

Well, as per those previous photos, we were having a great time relaxing with the family. My grandparents live on a beautiful mountain property surrounded by National Park in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Then suddenly at one o'clock in the morning the phone rang and we were alerted that some nearby wild bushfires had broken their containment lines and were headed directly toward us.

It was high drama in the middle of the night. Some of us (not me!) went up to the top of the hill in the middle of the night and found that the fire was indeed getting much closer. The photos in this slideshow were taken from that same hilltop over the next few days. It was also the main observation point that was being used by fire crews and the media, as well as a helicopter landing point. It was all very exciting for me, not that I ever got to see much. Some of us even had to evacuate for a couple of days as a precaution.

Fortunately no people were hurt and no property was harmed in this fire, however large sections of the national park were burned. I was sad to learn that many animals lost their homes or were killed.