“Hey, everybody; Phil Chenay here for those of you who are not aware of who I am. Today, I am going to inform you and talk a little about ‘fire’. When the word ‘fire’ comes to your mind, simultaneously, ‘fear’ accompanies it. However, with the right precautions and safety measures taken, fear and fire should hopefully not be able to mix.
Being near a fire is not as frightening as the movies make it seem. The flames are a work of art, a wonder, a complete mystery and fascination. Sure, you may consider yourself ‘inferior’ to the fire at times as you do not possess the same heating power as the fire itself, but if you come to terms with that, it is not so bad. Needless to say that if your job revolves around fire, it is bound to get a little hot. The temperature ranges from thirty degrees celsius to forty degrees celsius most of the time. Because the fire is brighter than daylight itself, I, along with my fellow peers, often feel like we are stuck in a time zone where daytime is unheard of. The flames may come off slightly intimidating as they seek to scare you and look taller and mightier than they truly are. Not to mention that I almost burst my eardrum as the flames roared lion-like in my ears! To add to the noise, the wind is always present, making it awfully noisy at times. If you pay close attention, a slight ‘thump’ murmurs in the background as gas pockets are rapidly being burnt.
You all must have heard about the Canberra fire when it hit all your news’ channels at home. A single fire that goes up to a meter radiates about one-thousand kilowats of energy. You can only imagine how much energy was exerted in the infamous fuel-filled hills of Canberra when it caught fire. No lucky guesses, anybody? Well, about two-hundred and fifty-thousand kilowats were released. Yes, you guys heard me right. It was so out of hand that people were left with no choice, but to guard their own home and belongings.
As for the aftermath . . . it was not pretty. The smell of rotten meat hung in the forest air for about a month even after the fire. The only sign of life were the few eagles and carrion eaters. Reconstructing homes and places that people had many memories attached with was difficult for everyone to deal with, emotionally. Firefighters only require enough information to get a gist of what happened, but once the unfortunate victims of the fire ‘open up’, they spill every detail of the incident.
People should mentally and physically be prepared if a fire were to erupt. Evacuating at the last minute whilst a fire has already broken out is never an option. The best — and safest — thing one can do is remain in the sanctuary of his or her home as the fire simply goes over the roofs. You people also must refrain from approaching the flames if you are not dressed appropriately as the fire could cause serious injuries and burns. Having a grass clearing surrounding your property is a brilliant way to prevent your home from burning down. Unfortunately, people in today’s date and time opt for beauty over their property’s safety and end up with no clearing around their homes. This leads to their houses burning down until nothing remains of them.
The most we can do for now in order to prevent such fires from happening again are managing the fuels used as the weather is not in our control. However, deliberate fires may be caused as this method aids us in ridding most of the natural fuel that is present on the forest floor.
Majority of people object to deliberate fires because the idea of burning plants and trees for no apparent reason puzzles them. Little do they realize that by doing this, they are in the process of training for in case a genuine outbreak was to occur.
Fire is not nearly as terrifying as people make it out to be if the right actions are taken against it. If we work together, we will easily be capable of sparing innocent human lives along with other species. Thank you all for your time and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.”
Froebelian Writers 