Smoke in the mountains
There is a fire burning in the mountains nearby, perhaps not far from where we were yesterday.
I did see some smoke in the foothills nearby when we were near Birrigai yesterday, but thought it was a controlled burn as it didn’t seem to be bothering any one waiting around for the bicycle race.
After checking the ACT Emergency Services Agency Incidents Map, there are two fires burning in that region of the ACT at the moment, “Hazard reduction burns”.
Screen shot: ACT ESA Incidents Map
I tend to get a bit nervous when I see smoke in the forest, but the weather has been a lot cooler the last couple of days and there has been some rain the recent weeks, so not much to worry about. It is when the temperature is over 35 degrees celcius and the wind howls from the west that is there is potential danger for fires.
The orange smoke reminded me though of the 18 January 2003 bush fires in Canberra, when the whole sky was orange and ashes were raining from the sky. People in the ACT are much more aware of fires and their movements these days, helped by great services provided by the ESA – the Incident Map and mobile app Fires Near Me
We are very lucky to have the beautiful tree covered mountains close by in the ACT, but with that comes the potential consequences of living in such a landscape and dry climate, which is fire.