Important Documents
In 1983, I was a teenager living with my family on a small rural property in Mylor, located in the Adelaide Hills. That hot, windy morning in February definitely felt different. The sky was dark and there was a hint of smoke in the air. We were dismissed early from school that day as complete chaos ensued – parents rushing to collect their children, school buses departing as usual despite the conditions, everyone scared and unsure what was actually happening.
My mum picked up me and my sister in her Mini where our Golden Retriever, Honey was panting anxiously in the front seat. I can’t remember exactly, but I think my little brother must have also been in the car as she would have picked him up from primary school on the way. We raced home where our cat was still inside, together with all of the important things you would want to save in an emergency. Our house was located in a gully and as we reached the crest of the hilltop it looked as if our roof was on fire. As we neared closer we could see that the house was still standing but it was shrouded in glowing embers that were flying through the air and the surrounding trees were alight. My dad had tied up the ponies, our pet sheep and goat, ready to let them run free on the roads if need be in the hope they'd find safer ground.
The electricity had been cut meaning there was no way to pump water from the tanks so my dad was beating out the flames by hand using one of the horses' heavy hessian rugs soaked to keep it damp. We ran inside and while my mum grabbed things like the photo albums, I managed to coax our reluctant cat from under the bed. We all piled back into the car and drove towards the town oval.
As we drove through the heavy smoke, passing smouldering house after house, with trees still on fire, fences down and livestock running free, we didn't know if the path ahead would be clear and we were desperately worried for my dad who had stayed behind to defend our home with a neighbour - just the two of the them with no firefighter or aerial support.
Thankfully, we made it to the oval along with other members of the township who were sheltering with horses, dogs and livestock in tow.
It was hours before we got the all-clear to head back home, not knowing what would await.
Somehow, our house was still intact – just as the fire started to lick the sides, the wind changed course and the fire moved in another direction. Our house was saved. Our animals were safe. And most importantly, my dad and our neighbour were ok - completely exhausted, their faces and hands blackened with soot.
Many of our neighbours, school friends and members of our community were not as fortunate having lost property and livestock, their horses, their livelihoods and some, tragically their lives.
This week, watching the news about the devastating fires in Australia and the US, I've been feeling on edge. Once you live through a catastrophe like that, it never leaves you, it becomes a part of your psyche. I think Ash Wednesday is probably a part of the reason I like to be so organised. It gives me a degree of comfort – false or otherwise – believing I might better cope with another crisis like that these days.
And while nobody should ever dwell on such terrible events, it doesn't hurt to plan ahead should ever that time arrive.
I've put together a free PDF checklist of Important Documents that you may like to use to get your household organised. It’s by no means definitive, but it's a starting point so you know where everything is should you ever need it – emergency or not.
Jane Cameron