[Groundhog]

I'm sort of smack bang in the middle of the Sydney area, so thankfully we're safe - we've got some bushland near us, but not close enough to cause us direct issues re: property loss, and not directly connected to any of the major fires, although there have been some intentionally lit spot fires that are under control. Biggest issue for us is the air quality - we've had a handful of days over the past six weeks where air quality has been absolutely atrocious, with smoke and ash and burnt leaves raining down all over the city and beyond.

I have family in worse positions, one uncle up in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney who is so far OK but there is a danger of the fires to the north and south of his property joining up and engulfing everything in their path. Also had a cousin who went camping over Christmas and ended up trapped for a few days on a beach with a whole lot of other folks and fire fighters because the only roads in and out of the area were suddenly overwhelmed due to a wind change. Thankfully she was OK, but they barely made it home on what gas they had left in the tank because every gas station was empty or abandoned on the way back. Where she lives is surrounded by three major fires (although she's not in danger as there's no bushland directly nearby), and last week there was one day where her city had the worst air quality reading on the entire planet.

It's a scary time. It's basically been a perfect storm of fire conditions building up over 4-5 years with rising temperatures, drought, and such poor governmental planning and management that it should be criminal. Many people had been predicting a horrific fire season this year, though I don't think anyone in their wildest imagination would have thought something like this was possible.