Catastrophe

This is the scene after a wildfire swept across one of my favourite wild places last Wednesday. A place where I've listed over a hundred species of plants. It will regenerate, slowly - it's said, with reason, that wild asparagus thrives after a fire, for example.  But it won't be the same; I won't find five or six new species every time I go there. And I'm not sure it will be fully green in my lifetime.  See here for what it was like before the fire.
Even more seriously, three firemen are in hospital fighting for their lives after being caught in this blaze which destroyed 150 hectares (around 300 acres) of vegetation. There are a number of theories as to the origin of the fire, but maybe it was just a discarded cigarette end.
Whatever the reason, shock and awe have returned.