Twentieth instalment of the history of Bulli Lookout. The 1996 bush fires. In the bush fires of 1996 we were lucky to survive. No could remember when the whole of the Illawarra Range had ever been on fire at the same time. The F6 and the Appin Road had not been built at this time. The Princes Highway was in its present cutting but not as wide. There was a huge area of thick bush land adjacent to the west of Bulli Lookout. At 1400 it was obvious that Mt. Ousley would be closed and the fires would reach Bulli Pass before sundown. Peter took our youngest child Donna to stay at Bulli with her grandparents and brought the three older ones home from school. They helped to prepare the building and surrounds ready for the fire. The gutters were filled with water; the windows closed,the surrounds doused with water. A high trimmed privet hedge grown as a wind break was saturated with water. We believe this precaution was a big factor in saving the kiosk. Recent extensions to the west had brought three pine trees too close to the building. All branches were cut off. This precaution was justified when it was noted how singed and burnt the bare tree trunks were after the fire. Everything that could be damped down was done before we had to retreat into the kiosk. Over the years we had been through many bush fires but nothing as terrifying as this one. The firestorm hit at 1730. When the main front of the fire came to us the flames were coming through the cracks in the tearoom door facing the west, as if a giant blowtorch was just outside. The wind was funnelled between the saturated hedge and the recent extension and was roaring. We had our niece and nephew Lorraine and David Vidler who were caretaking at the kiosk as well as Kerry, Sandra and John our children. They were filling up buckets of water and bringing them to me to throw them on the flames that were coming through the gaps in the door. The flames were coming in from twelve to eighteen inches inside the building. While all this was going on we had to keep checking that the windows in the residence hadnt exploded in the heat. As soon as the fire front went over us , Peter and David our nephew , went outside and put out the fires around the building and up the trees. The heat was tremendous. At one stage after this we were all in the cafés kitchen , looking outside and wondering what next when a wall of fire went over our car that was standing outside the window and then in a split second the whole park opposite the windows exploded into flames. No one there will ever forget that sight. It was like being inside a firecracker. (I wish I had been able to take photos) We had hoped it was now finished but no, the fire came at us up the eastern side of the escapement. At this stage I was beginning to feel I couldnt cope with any more fire drama. Then Sandra couldnt find her dog and she thought he had gone outside the kiosk. We had to restrain her until we found her dog hiding under the copper. The fire brigade ,police and volunteers were all at the Golden Fleece Service Station. We had none helping us at the kiosk. The next morning the police came up to count the bodies. To be continued.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 03:11:32 +0000
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