Healed land

A terrible firestorm swept over the mountains west of Canberra in January, 2003, and roared into the outer suburbs. Four people died, 470 homes were destroyed and 2000 businesses, homes and vehicles were damaged. I remember that Saturday well. In the middle of the afternoon the day sky turned black as night. Soon it was filled with an eerie red glow, as far as the eye could see in any direction. Shopping malls and other public places emptied as people rushed home to be with their loved ones and to protect their property. In our own street, we watched the fire work its way down a hill in an adjoining suburb as we hosed our roofs, plugged the downpipes with rags and filled the gutters with water. We were lucky. That particular front burned out even before it reached the small lake behind our house, and no flying embers fell on it. Today, I stood on another hill, once a forest inferno but now covered with new tree plantings and part of the recently opened National Arboretum. I looked across Lake Burley Griffin to the city centre and Parliament House. I looked out on rebuilt suburbs and healed land. It felt good.